Marlborough Soup Kitchen

Omaka Marae - Marlborough

The Real Local Experience

The Real Local Experience



Once again I have been very pleasantly surprised, yes it does happen now and again, that I find something that I believe is a real asset to the Marlborough community
Slow food Marlborough was hosted by Kiley Nepia at our the Local Omaka Marae’s, and while I have been on many Marae’s before in the North Island this was my first experience in the South Island and what a great experience it was. Hosting our group of 32 Marlborough and international guests, Kylie and his family welcomed us with open arms and I urge all restaurateurs and hospitality people to take a leaf from their book. It is not about the food, or about the wine, it was not about the furnishings, or the heat (or lack of as it was about 2 degrees C) but it was about the welcoming and respect that we learnt for the meeting house and there customs and culture of the Maori people of Marlborough. If this could be emulated into our own restaurants and staff then we would tbe the Official Gourmet region on NZ If only we could all take a little of this back to our own houses and families then I believe that our community would be a stronger place. We paid respect to the ancestors, to the woman and children, to the food and land where we sourced our meal from and more importantly there was the respect to other cultures and people around us who shared the food.
There are two paths we can take, the Americanised path of preserved and processed with little regard to the sustainability or long term harms of the fuel we call food. Or there is the other path which we can take which follows the European and Maori cultures where food is a part of your culture and life, that we sit at the table and communicate, laugh, cry, get angry, be happy, network, negate and love as a family and friends.
It is about balance, about ensuring that people live enriched and fulfilling lives and if we can do that around our breakfast, lunch and dinner tables then we are sure to be building healthy and strong individuals and communities
Thank you to all those people that emailed and phoned in with regards to last weeks photo of the Buddhas Hand. You can buy them from the Devon Nursery in Marlborough. The fruit has a thick peel and only a small amount of acidic flesh (if any) and is juiceless and sometimes seedless. It is very fragrant and is used predominantly by the Chinese and Japanese for perfuming rooms and personal items, such as clothing. The peel of the fruit can be candied into succade. Once again I was pleasantly surprised

Succade of Buddhas Hand
Recipes vary from region to region, but the general principle is to boil the fruit, steep it in increasingly strong sugar solutions for a number of weeks, and then dry off any remaining water.
The high sugar content of finished glace fruits inhibits the growth of microorganisms, and glace fruits will keep for a number of years without any additional methods of preservation.
Fruits that hold up well to being preserved in this manner include buddhas hands, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, pears, starfruit, pineapple, apples, oranges, lemons, limes and clementines

Egg seller voted top stall at market

Happy free-range chickens lay great eggs, and great eggs have made Jono Lovatt's stall at the Marlborough Farmers' Market a winner.

Mr Lovatt, of Manuka Hill Free Range Eggs, was named supreme stallholder of the season by customers who voted for their favourite stalls through the season.

Market manager Tina Fortune said the egg stall was in a three-way tie with Gourmet Deli and Hewton Plants, until one vote on the last Sunday of the season decided the winner.

She said the most common comments about the stallholders were that they were friendly, cheerful, reliable and consistent, and had great products .

The best-chef award went to Margaret McHugh, of Gourmet Deli, who created delicious baked items from local produce.

Most improved first-season stallholders were John Soper and Matt Thomas, of Johns Quality Greens, for their move from the Community Stall to their very own stall with a bigger product range.

The Out-There-Cafe's Ben and Heather McAlpine were named the most steadfast stallholders, because they had been at every Marlborough Farmers' Market from the day it started.

Sherrington Grange was recognised for its commitment to product quality and consistency. The company and owner Lisa Harper has received prestigious awards and featured in magazines.

The unique product development award went to Heaven Scent, owned by Neville and Sharon White, with their gardening philosophy and the creation of their Heritage product range.

Jordan Shallcrass was given the staff award for 2009 because of his ability to work with teenage boys and still smile, his reliability, initiative and punctuality.

The awards came as the Sunday market season draws to a close this weekend, but a new season of Thursday afternoon twilight markets will begin next week.

Held at the Forum in Blenheim, the markets will be held from 3.30pm to 6pm.

Marlborough FM food producers Awards

Press Release
End-of Season Gathering
Raupo Riverside Cafe, Monday, 25th May 2009


The Marlborough Farmers’ Market management team would like to acknowledge the consumers of Marlborough who all play an integral role in promoting local food and produce– by recommending the farmers’ market as the ‘community social hub’ on a Sunday morning and a great source of produce for the weekly shop, to both locals and visitors to the Marlborough region.
Special thanks go to all of our permanent and seasonal stallholders, the businesses and individuals for their ongoing support and the Marlborough Farmers’ Market volunteer committee.
Also, Councillor Francis Maher and his wife Annette, The Marlborough District Council, , Nige & Josh of radio fame - More FM & Breeze, Mike & Leanne of A1 Drycleaning & Laundrette, NZ Home Loans , A&P Marlborough Association committee ,
Alice Boyce of Marlborough District Council , Roz Davenport of Marlborough Express, volunteer Sandra Morritt and
The farmers’ market team of Katrina, Naomi, Jules, Ali and the boys and girls of the very busy breakfast kitchens.


STALLHOLDER AWARDS FOR 2009

BEST CHEF: Margaret McHugh, Gourmet Deli - recognising innovative use of local produce to create delicious baked items

MOST IMPROVED FIRST SEASON STALLHOLDER: John’s Quality Greens, John Soper & Matt Thomas - Recognizing development from the Community Stall to an individual stall site, increased product range and presentation

STEADFAST STALLHOLDER: Out-There-Café, Ben & Heather McAlpine - Recognising true loyalty to customers and the Marlborough Farmers’ Market by attending every Sunday from the first day the market opened in Blenheim

COMMITMENT: Lisa Harper, Sherrington Grange - Recognising commitment to product quality and consistency. Attaining national recognition through prestigious awards and most favoured by magazine photographers.

UNIQUE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Heaven Scent - Neville & Sharon White - Recognizing development of a unique Heritage product range whie remaining honest to their gardening philosophy


STAFF AWARD FOR 2009

Jordan Shallcrass recognising reliability, punctuality, initiative and the ability to work with a team of teenage ‘boys’ and still smile!


STALLHOLDER of the SEASON 2008-2009
As voted by the customer

A 3-way tie ensued until one vote on the last Sunday decided the leader. Those stallholders were Margaret McHugh of Gourmet Deli, Richard Grylls & Dai of Hewton Plants, and Jono Lovatt of Manuka Hill Free Range Eggs

The voters common comments for these 3 stallholders were; Friendly, Cheerful, Great product, Reliable and Consistent

The overall winner was:
Jono Lovatt of Manuka Hill Free Range Eggs


Tina Fortune, Market Manager
Manager Marlborough Farmers Market
021 024 23496 fax (03) 579 3598
manager@mfm.co.nz
www.marlboroughlocalvore.blogspot.com
www.mfm.co.nz
www.farmersmarkets.org.nz
www.marlboroughcommunitygarden.blogspot.com/

The Hungry Localvore

I am a bit of a Hunter and Gather, not in the sense that I go pig or deer hunting (yes Alan from Premium game I am going to join you soon), its not that I spend the weekends in the sounds gathering (I did have a great time with Cloudy Bay collecting wild Pico Pico and mussels), or that I gather from the Urban Gardens of Marlborough ( yes I did borrow some quinces from a abounded tree on the side of the road and am involved in the Marlborough community gardens project). Even though I don’t really fish (although I did catch a Regal Salmon on one of there farm visits this year), or forage for wild herbs on the wither hills walkways (ummm I did jump the fence and gather wild fennel for the mussel festival) I still consider myself resourceful and useful as the male provider to my 2 little ones and wifey
While the need to hunt and gather by the human race now manly exists between the fridge and dinning table, the supermarket and the car, there is one common things that human kind does every day and that is to refuel our bodies. We will consume over 51,000 meals in our lifetime (and that only based on lunch and dinner) so the desire to refuel our bodies over the desire to have a varied healthy diet is dictated by marketing and time rather than our physical Hunting and Gathering abilities. If we had to could we fend for ourselves?, could we be sustainable and do without our Vertes de Puy (they are a very good fine lentil from France, please don’t take them away from me!) and our Parmigiano-Reggiano (yes we do need it !). the Question (or answer) is what we don’t need – the cheap and nasty garlic bulbs from China, the imported strawberries in winter and the imported pork that we know has been raised in a unhuman farming method yet we as consumers are more interested in the price of it rather than where it has come from.
Now when somebody rings me up and tells me I may be interested in a ……………………………….. you have my full attention. Please help, while I am a Marlborough Localvore I don’t know everything, your comments and recipes for this ………..………………….. would be appreciated

……………….………….. recipe

1 kg of ………………………………….
1 Hungry Localvore
30,000 Marlborough Locals
1 Marlborough express newspaper
1 Email Adress
1 pen
1 PaperMethod.

Step 1: Take a Photo of the ………………………….
Step 2: Put it into the Marlborough express and let the 30,000 local people read it. Get the Local people t to use the email address or substitute it for 1 pen and paper if email is not in your kitchen.
Step 3: Give the information to the Hungry Localvore and educate him on how to use the ……………………….
Step 4: Take the ………………………………… and prepare it the best way that the 30,000 local people recommend
Step 5: Publish the results so that the other 29,999 local people know what to do with the …………………….

Twilight Farmers Market - What will they think of next?