Recipes for Disaster ( to the waistline ) and Learning to live when the co-chef is permanently out to lunch

Mac would have loved the food here
- or rather the shopping for it, and the cooking of it.
Bugger the landscape in all its spectacular, rugged,
raw, awesome, spiritual beauty - breathtaking though that is.
He would have loved more the immediacy, the freshness,
the variety, the quality and, above all, the cheapness
of the produce. he would have thrown himself unflinchingly
into the chatty cross-cultural camaraderie of the market place.
He would have been intrigued enough by the weird
and wonderful array of foodstuffs to have been induced
to purchase and create idiosyncratic culinary treats.
So fresh, so flavoursome are the ingredients,
they require little adulteration to induce a taste -burst sensation

He could seduce even the blandest of palates.
On the journey back to the kitchen his guest list would be drawn up
and a menu concocted. - a simple fusion for oral orgasmic thunder !

Mis en place......... he would insist - And who could resist ?

Lamb marinaded in Fresh Pomegranate and Orange Juice
in a slow-cooked Tagine with dates, apricots and walnuts.
served with Kumera wedges and Steamed Basmati Rice

Queen Scallops and Smoked Bacon in a fresh ginger, corriander and turmeric creme fraiche sauce.

Kedgeree of Smoked Hoki, fragrant rice with Dawn-fresh boiled eggs and New Zealand "Parmesan" Garnish.

Bourride of Salmon, Monk fish, Terakihi and Smoked Green-lipped mussels with fresh fennel and Jersey Bennes (wee tatties).



. . . . . . . . not to mention - the olive, spinach and feta muffins, the French toasted fruit bread with dry cured smoked bacon and banana drizzled with Manuka honey and served with a dollop of whipped cream, then there's the rainbow olives, the fejoa juice, the soya mochachinos, the carrot and fennel bread, tear-and-share loafs with a multitude of fillings, the sumptuous home-made cakes, the wraps, the pannini, a night out at Zibbibo's in downtown Wellinton with prawn stuffed sqid with a fennel and lime dressing, etc, etc. etc, and then, -well, then there's the wines, the Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, the Viogniers,
the Reislinnnnnnnnngssssshhhhhhss . . . . . . . . . . . . .

All served up with a drizzle of tears. How I miss my companion at the cooker.

Cheers !