New Zealand is moving towards its own style of festive feast - and seafood's at the fore.
It's week one of our Christmas countdown and this week it's all about seafood.
Between now and Christmas, I will guide you to the best places to scout for ingredients, recipe ideas and handling tips to preserve the longevity of produce over the festive break.
Although Christmas in New Zealand
has traditionally been swayed by our English heritage, with roast turkey and the like, it's not a bad idea to embrace the fact we celebrate it in summer. It's the perfect time to make the most of the warmer temperatures and alfresco eating - not to mention fantastic local, seasonal produce.
And in New Zealand that means seafood.
The purchase of fresh seafood is ultimately governed by the weather. If it has been rough offshore, the selection will be restricted.
Fresh seafood must be kept well-chilled during transportation and storage. This is best achieved by mixing ice cubes and salt in snap-lock bags, placing it over the product and wrapping it airtight. The addition of salt slows the melting process.
Layering fish fillets and shucked shellfish between Chux cloth will absorb leakage and keep the surface area firm and dry.
If you need to freeze the weekend's catch ahead of Christmas Day, layer the fish between an opened garbage liner in shatter-proof layers. Just make sure it is well-wrapped to avoid freezer burn.
Packing frozen items in with the fresh seafood you're transporting in a chilly bin will help keep that temperature down.
It's also not a bad idea to buy seafood online from the vast range of products at City Seafood in Christchurch; Nelson's Solander; Wellington's Yellow Brick Road; Hawke's Bay Seafoods or Auckland Fish Markets, all of which offer consistency and good price points.
If you want to wow your guests, celebrate end-of-season oysters by serving them piled into an ice platter made by Ice Creations (icecreations.co.nz). Stack the oysters on gathered black seaweed (flushing both them and it out in tubs of water first to get rid of any sand). Then anoint the tasty seafood jewels with a seeded mustard and citrus dressing.
For ease of clean-up, you can't go past the good old barbecue. Opt for hapuka or kingfish steaks, or thick fish fillets robust enough to stand up to the direct heat. If you're in the kitchen rather than on the barbie, I'd turn to grilled salmon or a seared tuna.
For nibbles, make up sharing platters of whitebait fritters with red onion, watercress and chilli; a cherry tomato salad with lime aioli; crab cakes with fresh lemon and sea-salt flakes; garlic prawns with a roasted red capsicum salsa; incredibly smooth smoked-eel pate from Apatu Aqua in Doubtless Bay; and half-shell mussels with the tongue removed, stuffed with semi-dried tomato, Parmesan and sourdough (just flash the mussels through a hot oven).
Alternatively, try whole Californian squid tentacles and tubes cut into strips, then tossed in a plastic bag with lime-chilli seasoning and cornflour and sauteed until crisp.
Seafood adds a healthy, summery note to your Christmas fare - just right for New Zealand.
Steamed prawns, roasted pears and grape juice
Baby fish fillets and gazpacho salsa
