2008
Ray McVinnie Spreads the word on Kumara
The humble kumara has made its way to Oxford University thanks to Cuisine food editor Ray McVinnie, who presented the Kiwi staple to the revered 2008 Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery at St Catherine's College, Oxford, in England in September.
Ray was selected to present a paper on kumara at the symposium, which brings together writers, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, scientists, chefs and others who specialise in the study of food in history, its place in contemporary societies, and related scientific developments.
His topic, to meet this year's theme of vegetables, was infused with a Kiwi flavour - titled Sweet As: Notes on the Kumara or New Zealand Sweet Potato as a Taonga or Treasure. The paper explored the history of the kumara or native sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, considered a unique New Zealand ingredient and a taonga (treasure).
"If a national cuisine is one with an instantly recognisable set of dishes, then New Zealand's is still emerging," said Ray in the 5000-word research paper. "With so much recent change in our diet, kumara is a true and enduring product of the terroir and can surely be classed as a national treasure with something like the regard porcini have in Italy.
"I was brought up on purple-skinned kumara and love their earthy, robust flavours. Staples in our household, they continue to be inexpensive and taste just as good as ever," he said.
Casting an eye back over history books, Ray examined the status of the kumara as a food source from its arrival with Maori in pre-European times to sub-tropical growing requirements, cultural importance and whakapapa. He then explored the culinary features of the vegetable's natural sweetness and its application in cooking history - from Maori cuisine, to the diets of early European settlers, to how it is used today as a key ingredient in New Zealand's emerging national cuisine.
He finished his paper with a recipe for kumara at its best - slow roasted kumara salad. "Dry roasting the kumara is the absolute best way to get them as sweet as possible and this dish combines a collection of international influences that are the hallmark of modern Kiwi cuisine," he said.
Slow Roasted Kumara Salad
One of Ray's favourite ways of eating kumara, this can be a first course but is also good with barbecued or grilled chicken, lamb racks or steak.
1.2kg purple-skinned kumara, well scrubbed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
200g rindless bacon, diced
50ml cider vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup coriander leaves
Preheat an oven to 200°C. Place the kumara in a large, dry roasting dish and roast for 1 hour until the kumara is completely soft inside. Remove from the oven and slice each kumara into quarters. Place in a large salad bowl.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the bacon until crisp. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon and pour the liquid over the kumara.
Season the kumara and bacon with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Sprinkle the spring onions, peanuts and coriander over the top and serve. Serves 4-6.
©Ray McVinnie
The Food Show, Auckland 31 July - 3 August
Through the eyes of NZGFW President, Sue Story
This year, for the first time, I was not working at the show and was able to spend some quality time looking around and must say I thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely pace. The Electrolux Theatre sessions alone could have taken up the whole day but I did spend at least half the day exploring and making new discoveries.
My biggest epiphany was finding the Kohu Rd Espresso ice-cream. Having searched for years for a more intense coffee ice-cream I was thrilled with this one. How it only managed a silver medal and not gold at recent awards I don’t know. I loved it!
Many of the old familiar faces were there, some with new products but lots of first-time exhibitors were trying their luck at finding a market. I tried the new bread from Yarrows and while I commend the healthy properties contained within the grain Sabla, I found it still tasted like “supermarket bread”. They did say it had been packed warm and rushed to Auckland for the show so that may have explained its doughy texture.
The Edamame (frozen soy bean) was another product that caught the eye. It has been around a while but this was the first tasting I had done and it was much better than I expected. The Japanese eat them as snacks with beer, which would be much healthier than crisps.
In the ready-made market the Imperial Dumplings tasted pretty good and have the bonus of being made here by a Chinese chef so we don’t need a translator to read the lab els.
Gabriel Gaté had us drooling over his gorgeous Gallic charm and his food looked delicate and healthy too! Peter Gordon was entertaining as ever but I don’t imagine too many people would be rushing home to try the recipes as they were rather complex. Still the website gives you all the chef’s recipes so if you couldn’t be there you could try them out.
Pictured at right: Gabriel Gate working in the Electrolux cooking theatre at 'The Food Show'
International Year of the Potato
In declaring 2008 the International Year of the Potato, the United Nations General Assembly seeks to focus world attention on the role the potato can play in defeating hunger and poverty.
Potatoes are crucial to the food security of hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. While potato output has declined in Europe, growth is strong in developing countries - notably China and India.
www.fao.org/ag/
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