Mayoresses' menus

Nelson

In the second article of our series on Nelson people and their favourite foods and memorable meals, Tracy Neal talks to the region's two mayoresses about salads and fondue.

 

The cultural roots of the region's two mayoresses are reflected strongly in their culinary preferences.

Jane Kempthorne hails from Kent in England and loves a cheddar fondue, while Colleen Marshall was raised on the vegetables grown by her father on their Nile St property, and regards the salad as top of her list of favourite meals.

Mrs Kempthorne, wife of Tasman district mayor Richard Kempthorne, has fond family memories of fondue parties as a child and then as a wife and mother herself. The fondue set she still uses was a wedding gift in 1978.

"I remember my mother making them in the 1960s, where I grew up in Kent. It was a very economical way of eating, and I think it still would be. It was heaps of fun, and very social and the children enjoyed it – they thought vegetables were a lot more interesting eaten this way," Mrs Kempthorne recalls of the days they were orchardists in Appleby and shared meals with friends and neighbours.

She describes a fondue as "food you don't tend to gobble up", but spend time eating, and it's very quick to make.

"I cook regularly, but wouldn't describe myself as a passionate cook. I like things to be reasonably easy, and I'm fairly traditional, but not in the New Zealand sense. A barbecue is not the first thing that comes to mind for gatherings. I tend to prefer casseroles, and recently I've enjoyed making stirfry food," Mrs Kempthorne says.

Examples of the type of foods that can be dipped in a cheese fondue include bread, fruit or vegetables – apples, pears, cauliflower, celery or capsicum.

She prefers to use cheddar cheese as a base, enhanced with beer, whereas her mother's fondue was traditionally made with gruyere or emmental cheese. Some people use wine instead of beer in the cheese mixture.

She also has a penchant for chocolate fondue, made with cream and Grand Marnier or Cointreau, in which fruit can be dipped, or marshmallows or small cream puffs.

The communal method of eating carries a certain etiquette, such as no double-dipping, and if you drop your piece of food in the fondue, tradition has it that you have to kiss the person to your left.

"It meant we had to be very strategic about who we sat next to," Mrs Kempthorne says.

Her secret to making a good cheese fondue can lie in the beer, and it's best to use flat beer if possible. It's also important to mix the flour through the grated cheese before adding it to the melted butter mix.

"It's very easy to make, but the chocolate one is tricky sometimes, getting it to the right temperature. If it's too hot, it goes a bit funny, but as long as it's liquid for long enough, then people can dive in."

Mrs Kempthorne lists her favourite dipping fruits as orange, pineapple and banana. The abundance of berryfruit right now presents a good option for a dessert fondue.

The following are Jane Kempthorne's favourite fondue recipes.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

250ml cream
350g dark chocolate
Pinch of salt
Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Warm the cream until almost boiling. Remove from the heat and add the broken up chocolate and salt. Stir until melted, add 1 to 2 Tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier, and dip your choice of sweet treats (marshmallows, small pieces of fruit, etc).

CHEESE FONDUE

1 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp nutmeg (fresh grated)
1 cup beer (preferably flat)
2 cups grated cheese (cheddar or gruyere)
2 Tbsp flour

Melt the butter, add the garlic and nutmeg and cook gently for two minutes. Add the beer and heat until the mixture boils. In a separate bowl, mix cheese with the flour, then add to the melted butter mixture. Stir until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth. Place in the fondue and serve immediately, or reheat when needed.

Colleen Marshall, the wife of Nelson mayor Kerry Marshall, thrives on summer salad days, particularly the home-grown vegetables she picks from the edible garden behind their Richmond home.

"My favourite food is anything I can get from the garden, or anything that's locally grown and fresh."

During his rare moments off duty, her husband carefully tends peaches, oranges, tangelos, lemons and ugli fruit.

A platter of salad greens, such as cos blended with rocket or watercress, can be dressed up in many different ways using secondary ingredients such as smoked fish, chicken, beef, lamb or pork. Seasonal vegetables, such as asparagus or broad beans, are also added, and sometimes the occasional nasturtium flower is tossed in.

"I also use avocado, because I love it," Mrs Marshall says.

If fish or chicken is used, fruit such as mango and melon should be added to the platter, or if it's lamb, then cucumber, tomato and mint are the perfect accompaniment.

"I tend to open the fridge and see what's in it. I don't like a lot of detail in food. The whole issue of food for me is quite profound, and I think waste is so immoral when half the world is starving," Mrs Marshall says.

An important detail in the success of a salad is the dressing. Mrs Marshall can safely lay claim to being the queen of vinaigrettes, with her philosophy around using only premium olive oil (she prefers a variety produced in Mahana), "lots of lemon juice" fresh from a tree at home, dijon mustard and a little white balsamic or raspberry vinegar.

"A dollop of brown sugar keeps it sweet," Mrs Marshall says.

She likes to serve salad platters with fresh, wholegrain bread, some cheese and sometimes a potato bake dish, or simply just baked jacket potatoes.

"I don't cook much from recipe books. I like making things up, but for a special dinner party, I might go back to a recipe book."

A favourite dessert is "mystery pie". Mrs Marshall explains that it is simply a meringue mix, to which is added the mystery ingredient – crushed Snax biscuits. Chopped walnuts complete the mixture (chocolate bits are optional), which is then baked like a cake, and eaten with whipped cream.

Mrs Marshall says the recipe was given to her by an old friend in Banks Peninsula, who is a wonderful baker.

FAVOURITE VINAIGRETTE

3 parts good-quality olive oil with one part white vinegar or lemon juice (or balsamic vinegar or raspberry vinaigrette, depending on the meat used).
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 good tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste
Chopped parsley, mint, etc, or other herbs to suit the meat

Simply put all the ingredients in a jar, close the lid tightly and shake vigorously to mix. Pour over the salad just before eating. Taste as you go

• Fresh Favourites is a fortnightly series featuring Nelson people talking about the dishes and meals that mean the most to them.