Walk on the wild side

Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. Wild Peter Rabbit. Two tales from the Sea. Not Beatrix Potter classics, but just three of the weird and wonderful wild food dishes from the nine Bay of Plenty restaurants competing in the 14th annual Monteith's Wild Food Challenge, finds Annemarie Quill.

Rabbit, venison, boar or quail might get your goat, but wild food is the flavour of the month in the world's top restaurants. Auckland chefs can't get enough of it. Eateries in the Bay of Plenty are following suit, feeding punters' demand to eat natural ingredients and extend their palates.
The game is on to see whether local chefs can keep the Wild Food title here in the Bay. Last year, The Porch in Waihi Beach took the national title, and three other Bay restaurants made it to the semis: CSB Gastro, Number 8 and Mount Bistro.
Stephen Barry's Mount Bistro is a veteran in the game. It took out the national title in 2007 and has been a finalist in four of the last five years.
Tauranga hunter Adam Finlayson says while Aucklanders are following fashion and food shows, Bay restaurant-goers are following a different type of pack, having experienced stalking the game as well as eating it. "In the Bay we know where our food comes from," Finlayson says. "We are lucky to be surrounded by bush. There is a huge hunting fraternity."
Mount Bistro's Stephen Barry - who is not averse to a bit of bow-and-arrow action himself - agrees that game is increasingly popular in the Bay. "Wild food is always on my menu. Sales are increasing year on year. Customers want to try complex flavours. Bay locals are used to sourcing food from the wild - hunting, fishing and even digging for pipis."
Part of the thrill of wild food is sourcing ingredients locally. Says Barry: "I purchase quail and venison through Bidvest, who have just opened a new distribution depot in Tauriko. Most of my seafood comes from Sanford Seafoods."
Carla Botha, owner of The Porch, says wild food is popular not just for fashion reasons, but economic ones. "With the nation suffering recent huge increases in beef and lamb prices, wild food is a more affordable option."
Our very own Tauranga deer-hunter, Adam Finlayson, is putting wild food on the international culinary map with his company Raukumara Red, which supplies wild venison that Finlayson hunts by helicopter from the Raukumara Ranges, a hunters' paradise between Bay of Plenty and the East Cape.
"Most of us have eaten a tough old gamey stag from the roar season and it has put chefs off, so many use farmed venison," Finlayson says.
"But real wild venison tastes superb. I never shoot in the roar. I worked on getting the perfect taste
from harvesting at the right time, and hanging the meat well."
Wanting to attract the attention of top restaurants, Finlayson last month boldly invited four rock-star Auckland chefs for a wild venison cook-off in Waioeka Gorge, Opotiki.
The ballsy move paid off. One of the chefs was Ben Bayly from top Auckland restaurant The Grove. Bayly is showcasing Kiwi food in the Taste New Zealand event for the Rugby World Cup. Bayly has ordered around 4000 plates of Raukumara venison.
Says Bayly, "The venison Adam supplies is phenomenal. These boys show the length Kiwis go to bring real food to our plates. Adam shoots an M16 out of the door of a moving helicopter. He has the daring of Harrison Ford and the precision of Schumacher." Despite courting food royalty in Auckland, Adam is a local boy at heart. He has teamed up with Denny Barry, owner of The Quarry Tavern in Te Puna, which is the first restaurant in the Bay of Plenty to serve wild venison.
Denny, who is a keen hunter of deer, pigs and birds, as well as a trout and game fisherman, says customers can't get enough of it.
"The patrons love wild game being permanently part of our menu. They are excited to be trying something different, and for many, for the first time."
indulge sent a couple of "wild food virgins" - Te Puna locals Jill and Bryan Grafas - to test The Quarry's wild venison dish.
Says Jill: "Usually I am put off by game, thinking it would be strong, but I was impressed. The meat was moist, fell off the bone, and was marinated well in spiced wine."
Although many diners eat seafood or have tried venison, fewer people tend to go for lesser-known game dishes featuring rabbit or even goat. Greer's in Greerton is daring its customers with a goat dish - one of the few restaurants using this meat in the Monteith's challenge.
indulge sent brave locals Sally and Mike Price to sample it. Sally was pleasantly surprised. "I would not consider it to be too far out of the general public palate," she says. "It gave the feel of gourmet homely comfort food without an intense game flavour. It was the perfect dish for a rainy evening. I feel more confident trying alternative meats."
Bravo chef Jono Smith is keen to tickle his customers' humour as well as their tastebuds with his Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail dish.
"It makes the patrons more relaxed to connect with a dish like rabbit," Smith says. "I decided that if I was going to be harassed about cooking cute fluffy bunnies, I may as well go head-on and knock it out of the park."
Carla Botha at the Porch is looking to pull another rabbit out of the hat this year and defend the eatery's title with a wild rabbit dish.
Says Carla: "We choose to use wild rabbit because it is often considered a pest rather than a food source, but with the right techniques the final result can be great."
Martine Rolls and Lawrence Charlton, were keen to try the rabbit.
"We have rabbit for Christmas back home in Holland, but this was a meal with a difference," Rolls says.
"There was a 'wow' from both of us when they brought it to the table. And as we discovered when we tucked in, the flavour was amazing."
In typical Bay style, trying the food in the restaurant has inspired the couple to cook rabbit at home. If they can catch one.
"Lawrence is planning to go up the Coroglen Rd in the Coromandel soon to shoot some rabbits," Rolls says. "I doubt we'll be able to cook it like this, especially the prune-stuffed loin, but we'll give it a go."
Giving it a go is deer-hunter Adam Finlayson's motto. Not content with making the Bay famous for its venison, he is turning his focus on the Bay of Plenty as "Hunt Central".
Adam has been key in organising the inaugural Polaris Big Four competition that kicks off this week in Te Puna. The competition sees teams of four compete over four days to bag the heaviest stag, boar, trout and pheasant.
The organisers have been blown away by entries from more than 50 teams, with some participants coming from as far afield as Australia. Prizes will be presented on Sunday, June 26 at the Quarry Tavern by celebrity hunter Geoff Thomas, who is filming the weigh-in for his TV show.
Pacific Toyota has even thrown in a Toyota Hilux for any team that gets a clean sweep of all four sections. Can that be done? Adam thinks so - "We can smell that Hilux!"
After the weigh-in, there is bound to be plenty of volunteers to sample the meat. Whether it's cooked in top restaurants or on a barbie in the bush, it seems we like the taste of the wild here in the Bay.