A smoked eel dish created for the Taste of Waikato. Photo / The Red Barn
The Taste of Waikato, an annual foodie event, highlights food producers from around the region with a menu entirely made from local ingredients. On October 11, the event goes into its fifth round.
The Taste of Waikato, first held in 2018, is the brainchild of Red Barn founder Bridgette O’Sullivan.
It started as a fun, one-off challenge to see if it’s possible to create an entire menu with local produce, but has quickly become an annual staple on the local event calendar.
“I felt like we used a lot of local produce [for our other events] and I thought that we should look if we can create an entire menu from local produce. I mean we have a lot of pasture, ocean, lakes, river, we got a big area to select from,” O’Sullivan said.
“Even wine, with Takapoto Estate and Vilagrad Winery. Once we looked into it, we found so many more great local producers.”
The person creating the magic in the kitchen is The Red Barn’s head chef Harry Williams.
Williams, originally from Taupō, started his culinary career with an apprenticeship as a butcher before he realised it wasn’t for him. The move into cooking wasn’t too far-fetched.
“I come from a family that loved cooking and dad was a good cook,” Williams said.
“I’ve been cooking since I was 19 years old. I started off at a Mexican place on [Hamilton’s] Alma Street and then moved to Tables on the River.
“That’s where my cooking career took off, [because] there were just a good bunch of chefs there.
“The head chef was Australian and his food always looked great – people eat with their eyes first.”
Williams then moved to Alpha Street Kitchen in Cambridge before coming to The Red Barn where he cooks for events, functions and weddings.
“Taste of Waikato is my game time, I get to play around a bit, use my creative skills.”
O’Sullivan said: “It’s a way for him to keep things interesting, explore new ideas. It’s a highlight for the whole team – they get really excited about what he comes up with.”
Every year, The Taste of Waikato menu is different, but the dishes are always inspired by the ingredients.
Broadly speaking, Williams said he would go for at least one seafood, one vegetarian, and one protein dish within the menu.
“We are trying to find suppliers and work from there,” he said.
When the Waikato Herald spoke to Williams and O’Sullivan, this year’s menu had not yet been finalised. However, Williams said mushrooms from Huntly and seafood from Raglan would feature prominently.
O’Sullivan attended previous Taste of Waikato events and distinctly remembers a few other highlights.
“Scallop ravioli – I still daydream about those and there was a smoked eel with pickled seaweed that was served with dried ice. The table looked like the Waikato River on a foggy morning. It was divine, the flavours went really well together.”
Overall, O’Sullivan described the five-course degustation event as “silver service dining with a bit more fun”.
“We always try to include interactive elements,” Williams said.
“For example, we had a plate with different herbs and spices that are used in the menu and the table had to guess what it was.”
So, with the event being called The Taste of Waikato, what does the Waikato taste like?
“What comes to mind is dairy and protein,” Williams said.
“Fresh, green and made with love,” O’Sullivan said.
The next Taste of Waikato takes place at The Rec Barn on October 11. Tickets for the event are available online. There is a lunch and dinner option – the menu for both times will be the same.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
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