Feast or famine

Whole roasted snapper with tuatua and masala butter or marbled eye fillet with smoked truffle. Those are the gourmet meals - with prices to match - diners usually find on Ross Birch's menu at Snapdragon restaurant in the Viaduct.

But a dare for charity will see him concoct a new menu for 150 people on a budget of just $2.25 a head. That's the amount 1.4 billion people around the world survive on each day.

Ross' dinner is an appetiser to the "Live Below the Line" challenge, where individuals try to live on $2.25 worth of food a day for five days.

The challenge began in Melbourne in 2010 and has since spread to the UK, US and New Zealand. It's based on the World Bank's 2005 definition of the Extreme Poverty Line as US$1.25 a day - that is, someone would be considered to live in extreme poverty if they lived on an amount equivalent to somebody living in the United States and buying goods in US stores. The figure is determined by translating the 2005 figure into local currency and accounting for inflation.

Ross took up the challenge because he wants to broaden Aucklanders' awareness. "When people start thinking about what's going on around the world, it opens their eyes to different things."

He's been researching the cuisine of Third World countries.

"Things like bulghur wheat, pulses, rices, things from the land. I want to make something similar to what they can do but with our own twist on it.

"I've thought about cuts of meat I can use that are cheap, something people can still recognise but is not used in everyday cooking. I can do a bit of foraging around the local area, basically the other chefs' gardens."

Guests invited to the Live Below the Line campaign dinner at Snapdragon on July 10 can look forward to a goat tajine with fruit and a slow-braised beef and rice dish. "It'll be like a one-pot sort of wonder," says Ross of his brisket and tongue creation.

"We've come in bang on the money with the beef. The goat is a little bit more challenging. We've got to get in half an animal, break it down, take the flavouring from the bones to make the sauce, shred the meat, render it all down."

Live Below the Line creative director Will Watterson says the idea of the challenge is to fundraise as well as give people experience of how difficult it is to survive on such a small amount.

"It brings the issue into living rooms, into classrooms, into offices.

"When you do that you can't help but feel empathy. It's empathy that motivates people to act."

Last year's campaign helped raised $140,000 for charities dedicated to famine efforts, and goes beyond creating an awareness of global issues.

"In the long term it helps people look at their own lives and how they use resources," Will says.

CHALLENGE

The Live Below the Line challenge begins in September. Register your interest at www.livebelowtheline.com/nz

Could you feed yourself for just $2.25 a day? Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page.