Matariki Menu 2020
This year's Matariki menu is honoring the Matariki star cluster which rises in the winter sky just before dawn, Matariki (the Pleiades) signals the Māori New Year. Traditionally, it was a time for remembering the dead, and celebrating new life. This year we will be telling a story about each of the 9 stars in the star cluster. Some say that the 9 stars represent different children of the earth mother Papatuanuku and sky father, Ranginui. Both of them were divided over whether to separate and bring light and life to the earth. Tawhirimatea, the god of the winds, did not agree with his brother's actions. He thought that separating his parents was cruel. He was so angry he tore out his own eyes and threw them into the heavens where they have looked down on man ever since.
Snacks:
The snacks will be representing Matariki, the star that signifies reflection, hope, our connection to the environment, and the gathering of people, in this case the gathering of our suppliers.
- Olive and olive oil fry bread, strawberry & olive oil dipping sauce (vegan & gluten free available) - A fried batter flavoured with lot 8 olive oil and olives from two short dogs served with a sauce made from olive oil and strawberries from lewis farms
- Quinoa cracker, Pickled celery, smoked yoghurt, vadouvan- A fried quinoa cracker made from Kiwi quinoa dotted with smoked yoghurt from zany zeus and garnished with sliced pickled celery harvested from Kai cycle, all this dusted with a vadouvan curry spice made with dried celery leaves from the pickled celery.
- Pickled daikon taco, pickled cavalo nero, toasted peanuts, and a nigella and peanut dressing- Pickled daikon taco from capital produce, filled with pickled cavalo nero from mingaora farms and toasted peanuts, dressed with a fix and fogg peanut butter and nigella seed dressing
Bread:
The bread will represent Ururangi which is connected to the entry into the heavens and connected with the winds.
- House made sourdough and rēwana bread - the bread is filled with air which without we could not make bread (or live) which is connected to the air, The rēwana has harakeke seeds to pay tribute to the kites that are flown to celebrate Matariki.
- Smoked Aged Butter - The butter is made from zany zeus cream and aged for 1 month then smoked to provide flavour that has been passed through the smoke.
1st Course: Mushroom tart (gf requires a gluten free cracker)
This course represents Waipuna-ā-Rangi which is connected with spring and the rain
- Mushroom and Pine filling with a mushroom jus in our sourdough tart shell, garnished with nasturtiums and flowers and sprayed with a lemon, soy, and mushroom liquid. - this course represents the rains that helps the mushrooms grow and provides flowers and greens in the spring. The lemon, soy, and mushroom dressing that gets sprayed at the table to provide the illusion of rain and droplets.
2nd Course: Seaweed taco (vegan +gf)
This course represents Waitā which is associated with the ocean and the food sources within it
- Freshly pressed and cooked popcorn kernel tortilla with an avocado and nori sauce topped with a battered and fried cucumber that has been brined, frozen, and defrosted (to mimic fish fingers), also dressed with pickled foraged sea lettuce, wakame, and bladder kelp. Topped with some lemon pickled red onions and foraged coastal herbs. - this course uses a load of produce sourced from the sea or near the ocean. The idea is a fish taco but since we’re vegetarian i’ve substituted a brined, frozen, and defrosted cucumber to mimic the texture/flavour of an oyster. The seaweed is gathered from Awatoru on the wairarapa coast.
3rd Course: “Boil up” (gf (vegan alternative gets grated horseradish rather than yoghurt)
This course represents Waitī which is connected with all fresh water bodies and the food sources that are sustained by those waters
- Our play on a boil up, In the bowl we have Taro that has been diced, poached, cold smoked, and seared, it is dressed with a curry leaf and chilli oil, garnished with puha and watercress and dusted with a yoghurt, horseradish, and mint snow. At the table we will pour a roasted vegetable, puha, and watercress broth - everything in this course is grown in or near fresh water sources, it’s designed to give homage to the classic boil up while using produce that many wouldn’t pair with it.
4th Course: Celeriac, Onions, Dirt (vegan gets a walnut sauce, GF gets toasted nuts)
This course represents Tupuānuku the star connected with everything that grows within the soil to be harvested or gathered for food.
- Pan seared celeriac terrine sitting atop an onion jam hidden by a dirt hollandaise, sprinkled atop with fried breadcrumbs and slippery jack mushroom powder, sliced onion weed and onion weed flowers. Served with a side salad of foraged greens dressed in a burned corn husk vinaigrette and piccalilli. - The dirt hollandaise is made by infusing butter with dirt, spent coffee grains, coco husks. This is then mixed with burnoisette, eggs, and lemon juice. Sourdough breadcrumbs which are fried and then mixed with slippery jack mushroom powder to give the illusion of dirt. The sides offer a refresh from the rich main.
Cheese course: Crumpet with Cheese (gf gets OMgoodness crumpet and Vegan gets walnut cheese and no butter or honey)
This course represents Papatūānuku - earth mother it’s not a star of in the cluster but rather a homage to the story of the separation of Papatūānuku and Ranginui (sky father)
- Whole wheat sourdough crumpet topped with butter, quince jam, grated mount eliza farmhouse cheddar, and topped with honey and roasted kumara skin powder - this dish tries to use a range of produce that come from the earth even the cow that grazes on the grass which provides such lovely cheese and the bees that help pollinate all the plants that grow.
Palate cleanser
This represents Tupu-ā-rangi the star connected to everything in the sky, fruit, and berries (it’s also portrayed as an eye to represent Tāwhirimātea as he crushed it and threw it up into the sky in anger at the separation of his parents)
- Apple sorbet, Tamarillo slice, Blueberry gel
Pre dessert: Cloud (vegan (gf check about oat allergy, gets candied nuts and fig sorbet)
This course represents Ranginui the sky father, separated by their offspring which is why is portrayed in the menu by being separated by the previous course
- Sponge Cake that’s been prepared in various ways topped with poached peaches and hidden by an airy cloud made of oat milk and peach syrup, garnished with rosemary flowers and fennel - the sponge cake has been baked and half dehydrated and the other half diced and frozen, the peaches have been preserved in sugar syrup and jarred then opened. The Peaches are served warm and the syrup is used to create an oat milk and peach foam which sits atop like a cloud. This is garnished with rosemary flowers and fennel.
Course 5: Chocolate and Porcini (gf & vegan get no fondant but chocolate tofu mousse instead)
This course is connected to Pōhutakawa, the star connected to those that have passed on and an ode to those of colour that have passed due to systemic injustice.
- Chocolate and Porcini fondant, chocolate sorbet, chocolate soil, black berry gel - The chocolate and porcini fondant is freshly baked, everything in this dish is either brown or black to make the connection to black lives matter
Petit 4’s
This is paying homage to Hiwaiterangi, the star connected to granting wishes and realising our aspirations for the coming year.
- Miso caramel and oatmeal cookies - a traditional take on the japanese fortune cookie
- Pat de fuit lamington
- Chocolate and honeycomb pieces
- Served with Mū tōrere for the guests to play while they finish there meal
