One of chef Al Brown's mouth-watering mantras "season, taste, season again" because, as he constantly reminds the punters, you "can always add more."
Brown, who grew up on a farm at Bideford, cooked for an attentive crowd under a pristine spring sun at Masterton's UCOL campus on Saturday - in part to promote his new book Go Fish - but also to back a cause; getting UCOLs' floundering cookery course out of the freezer and back in the frying pan.
In his typically laidback style - and with the aid of a crack team of UCOL staff - the Rathkeale old boy walked the gathered foodies through his recipe for savoury groper pikelets.
Known as Sundowners - because that's when you normally eat them - Brown picked up the fritters after a fishing trip to Great Barrier Reef with a mate.
The pikelets are made with filleting leftovers and on Saturday Brown used groper belly, emphasising his philosophy of using "all the fish," or the parts "normally you'd give to the cat."
Brown - whose Wellington eatery Logan Brown was voted the country's best in the 2009 NZ Cuisne Restaurant of the Year Awards - describes himself as a "Wairarapa boy done good" and reckons the region is going through a culinary renaissance in step with the rest of New Zealand.
"Every region has its own feel and within this region we're starting to see the emergence of products people are starting to hang their hats on like Martinborough pinot noirs and olive oils.
"New Zealand's gone from zero to hero - in 30 years we've gone from meat and three veg based on a pretty bland British template to a vibrant, distinctive blend of national cuisines."
Brown attributes the change to that eye-opening, taste-broadening Kiwi rite of passage - the Big O.E, "New Zealanders have gone out and travelled the world - eaten, drunk and tasted it - and come back home and the light's gone on."
If the Hunger for the Wild presenter was to make a Wairarapa-themed menu, included on his shopping list would be "iconic, world class" local produce like Parkvale mushrooms, local olive oils, Kingsmeade cheeses, wild hill venison, Wairarapa lamb and of course "kai moana from the rugged Wairarapa coast like paua, blue cod and crayfish, which is as good as you'll get anywhere in the world."
As to his reasons for endorsing UCOL's cookery school, which has been out of action for the past year, Brown said one of the reasons he wanted to help relaunch the beleaguered catering division was because of his Wairarapa roots.
"As a born and bred Wairarapa boy it's important to me - and it's an honour - to come back and talk about my career and how exciting it is to be a chef and the opportunities that come out of it.
"UCOL has a first class facility with great equipment and the opportunity to be taught by experienced chefs covering all sorts of cooking styles and cuisines."
Revival of UCOL cooking course on chef’s menu
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