Hard luck and hard boiled – Ostrich Eggs in Northland

I knew the far North has Kauri trees and beautiful beaches, but organic ostriches? I’d read about a couple of suppliers in an organics magazine and it all sounded very promising.

After numerous phone calls to disconnected phone numbers my sister-in-law (who appears to know everyone in Northland), tracked down the remains of the once aspiring ostrich industry – one bird. In a blip of a place named Kareponia, I met Kerry Hay who with his wife Lilac once owned a thriving ostrich egg hatchery.

Kerry’s story unravelled the classic boom and bust cycle that accompanied the establishment of Ostrich farming in Northland. After exiting the hatchery business in 2005 he sent 29 of his 30 breeding hens off to Taranaki.  As we sat and chatted the only bird that didn’t make the trip – B2 - began aggressively checking out my camera.

B2 escaped the final journey because she had a damaged wing. Stomping around the paddock she didn’t look too happy with my presence but settled down once she saw the camera was giving her no harm.

Kerry and Lilac now fatten up cattle on their land, a far less risky enterprise.

On departing the farm I was very generously presented with a freshly laid egg.

We carefully drove the egg home to Wellington and after some research boiled it for 90mins.  I was hoping for a slightly soft boiled finish. Once the egg was out of the pot I tried using a small knife to pry the top off gently, not wanting yellow yolk pouring out.

But on reaching the yolk it was hard boiled.  So I attacked it with more force. Out came a larger knife, hand saw, screwdriver and a hammer but it was the hacksaw that was most effective.

Ostrich B2

Ostrich B2

Ostrich egg in a pot

Tools for the job

Hard boiled ostrich egg

Oscar with ostrich egg

GoodBuzz in Wainuiomata

Kombucha, booch and SCOBY are new words in my vocab after a visit to photograph the GoodBuzz soft drink factory in Wainuiomata. The GoodBuzz process combines sugar, tea and water (from the Te Puna Wai Ora artesian aquifer in Petone) with the SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and turns into an effervescent, healthy, non-alcoholic  drink.

In the short time GoodBuzz has been operating they already have  five kombucha brews in more than 60 cafes in Wellington, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay, New Plymouth and Nelson, and recently have been included in Auckland’s Nosh outlets.

The drinks come in five flavours - Origins, Green Jasmin, Lemon and Ginger, Jade Dew and Feijoia. A new brew made with coffee cherry (the outer red skin of  discarded coffee beans from  Go Bang in Petone)  with an amazing light apple flavour is coming soon.

Each  brew takes 8-10 days to ferment and another 7-10 days of bottle conditioning before heading out the door. The best before date is four months unchilled (a bonus when there is space restrictions in the fridge), and can be extended to nine months if refrigerated.

Another buzz emanating from the factory came from discovering owner Alex Campbell and I grew up in the same small Northland town – Kaikohe. This is where Alex’s first memories of kombucha came from – his grandmother Amy made what she called Manchurian Mushroom tea in the 1970’s. Kaikohe Kombucha - who would have thought?

Italian Flavours in Paraparaumu | Murray Lloyd Photography

Basil grown from seed in full sunshine, Isle of Capri tomatoes freshly plucked from the garden and fresh buffalo mozzarella - Insalata Caprese -  It is quite simply one of the greatest pleasures of summer and is one of my favourite dishes . The flavours and textures work together brilliantly - here's to Italian food.

Going Nutty in the Studio | Murray Lloyd Photography

Walnuts photographed in the studio

Whale meat in New Zealand | Murray Lloyd Photography

The can of whale meat pulled from sale on Trade Me recently (thanks to Project Jonah) reminded me of a can rusting away in our house.  This can arrived in New Zealand in 1989 originating from North Korea . It was brought into the country by a couple of young adventurers returning from a trip sponsored by New Zealand’s communist community. In 1989 the law in New Zealand stated you could not import any raw whale products so I guess the customs officials turned a blind eye to the cooked contents from North Korea. Changed in 1999, the law now prohibits the import of all whale products including the contents of this can.

Whale meat

Whale meat

Whale meat

Seville oranges in New Zealand | Murray Lloyd Photography

The scent of Andalucía, described as bitter and lumpy arrived in my studio recently. Hard to source in New Zealand, it was a surprise to find the Seville oranges had originated from an orchard in Whenuapai.

Jennifer and Roy Taylor, who in the past made jams and chutneys under the Forgotten Fruits label, now deal exclusively with 65 Seville orange trees. Regarded as THE marmalade orange (do not eat!), the Seville oranges are named as such because there are thousands of these trees lining the ‘calles’ of this beautiful Spanish city.

Encouraged to make marmalade (for the first time) I hauled out Jane Grigson’s recipe for whole orange marmalade. It all seemed straight forward until I got to the line “boil vigorously for 10 minutes”. Great I thought - it will be done before dinner. Wrong. It was after 10pm before the jars were being filled.

However the dark, flavoursome brew spread on the next morning’s toast made the effort well worthwhile.

Homemade seville orange marmalade on organic toast with organic coffee

Try your luck on Trademe when the oranges are in season around September each year.