Magical mussels

Photos: Ted BaghurstThe inherent colour and energy of Point Chev's Fiesta Coffee Lounge dosen't end there; it also carries the theme through to its fabulous food.

Food: Fiesta Coffee Lounge owners Marty Wise and Niki Price have been long-time proponents of locally sourced food, hence this beautiful NZ mussel dish. Farmed mussels also recently got the green tick from Forest and Bird as the most sustainable source of seafood.

FRANCO'S MUSSELS

Serves 4, takes 20 minutes

Ingredients:
24 fresh green-lipped mussels
1 medium onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 - 3 dried or 1 fresh red chilli, diced
½ cup white wine (optional) or water
1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
1 x 400g tin tomato puree
12 Kalamata olives, de-stoned
½ cup cream
Coarse ground black pepper

Method:
Clean mussels and pull the beards off.
Add a splash of olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot and gently fry onion and garlic.
Turn up the heat and add mussels, tins of tomatoes, wine, rosemary and chili.
Cook on high with the lid on until mussels have opened and give the pot a shake.
Add the cream and swirl, so that the cream doesn't curdle.
Add olives and pepper.
Serve in a large deep bowl, with some warm crusty bread and a fresh green salad of rocket, baby spinach and parmesan shavings, topped with your favourite dressing.

Note: the chillies don't make this dish hot, they just bring out the flavour. If you like it hot, you know what to do.

Fairtrade coffee

Fairtrade coffee is also important to Wise. "We are proud of our coffee, it's certified organic, Fairtrade and contains 100% Arabica beans and is supplied by ICOCO. To me Fairtrade is a no-brainer, a good business deal where both parties end up happy with negotiations and feel that their business and lives are moving forward, that's fair trade."

The Fairtrade mark is the world's most recognised ethical label. When you buy a Fairtrade Certified product you choose to give farmers and their communities, in developing countries, a fair go. In 2012 New Zealanders drank over 24 million cups of Fairtrade Certified coffee in cafes, and farmers were paid a fair price for every single one of those. Also when you buy Fairtrade-certified products, you're voting for children to be in school, for women to receive equal pay, and for community projects like healthcare.

ICOCO coffee includes beans from Central de Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras (COCLA) a group of 22 cooperatives with 8000 small-scale farmers. COCLA has used the Fairtrade Premium towards women's educational and training programs which have flow-on benefits for their communities.

COCLA's Eulalia Palomino (left) says: "When you change a woman's life, you change a family's life."

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