Discovering lamb chops and other New Zealand dishes

JAKARTA (JP): People say the fastest way to get to know a country and its inhabitants is to know what their food is like.

In New Zealand, where sheep outnumber the population (18 million to 4 million) it is not surprising that cooks have developed masterly skill in preparing all sorts of lamb dishes - as demonstrated by chefs at the New Zealand tourism fair at the Sahid Jaya hotel held until Friday.

Ian Riley and the others who prepared the food festival are definitely among those chefs who like to experiment with exotic herbs from every corner of the globe.

At a recent press lunch there was a blackened fish salad for starters which was made with local Red Snapper. It was certainly not an appetizer one is served every day.

A new twist on nouvelle cuisine, the salad rested on what experts said was Japanese spinach, which had an aromatic taste falling short of being pungent.

The blackened snapper sat daintily on a small bed of vegetables in mayonnaise, with a Mexican flair.

It went surprisingly well with the blackened fish, named after its streak of color caused by the heat from grilling.

The appetizer came with Maori bread in the form of a cup cake.

The bread was damp, unlike normal bread, and Chef Riley said its sweetness comes from potatoes.

"New Zealand potatoes are naturally sweet," he said.

Another type of bread was served with lamb, the main dish. It appeared and tasted much like the Indian bread nan.

The lamb chops were savory, succulent and juicy, served also with baby carrots and a little spinach.

"The lamb chops were first marinated in garlic, rosemary leaves and salt," said Chef Riley, adding there "was not a drop of wine" in the meat, despite the distinctive flavor of the sauce.

The chops also lacked the "lammy taste" which can be overpowering sometimes, thanks either to the meat's quality or Chef Riley's skill.

Dessert, which I passed on, looked like a fancy version of vanilla ice cream, and Caramel Pie - quite sweet.

But apart from the Maori bread, there was no other indigenous food from the "Land Of The White Cloud," as the Maoris call their homeland.

Small wonder - cooking it in the hotel's kitchen may not have led to satisfactory results, as most Maori cooking is done in outdoor pits.

Members of the Maori dance troupe participating in the fair also pointed out that traditional cooking among the total of only 400,000 indigenous inhabitants is now mainly left for rituals.

Visitors must be content with only descriptions from the troupe leader, George McGarvy, who said the true flavor of Maori food is plain and simple.

Pacific way

"We don't use herbs or spices," said George, "Salt is the main flavor enhancer in our food."

He cited Pork and Puha (a kind of vegetable), a boiled dish.

"We cook the meat until it falls off the bone," he added.

The method of cooking in earth-dug ovens, he noted, widespread throughout the Pacific.

After digging the oven, it is warmed with manuka wood.

"We do this by stacking wood pieces over the hole of the oven. ..manuka wood ...burns without leaving any ashes as other wood types do."

When the oven is warm enough it is filled with anything from meats, chicken, fish, and vegetables, which are then mixed with salt.

All the ingredients are then covered with heated volcanic rocks, followed with other coverings including a layer of dirt (soil).

"When the food is ready after some three hours, all the meat has become so tender that it melts on the tongue. Chicken especially tastes great when baked in an earth oven."

In daily life though, most Maori families often dine on a great variety of fresh water fish like trout, carp, crayfish and eels. Claudine Frederick