Marlborough on the Menu – Jan Bilton and Belinda Jackson
Eat, drink and visit Marlborough, New Zealand
Robyn Lewis
Marlborough on the Menu - Jan Bilton and Belinda Jackson
It’s not hard to see why Marlborough on the Menu received a ‘Gold Ladle’ award – as the top prize is named – in this year’s Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards announced in Adelaide in May.
Competitors came from as far afield as USA, New Zealand, France, Australia, Spain, Cambodia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. More than 700 entries were received, which was judged by an international panel of 60 jurors. A total of 24 ‘Gold Ladles’ were awarded for books, magazines, websites, photographers, writers, stylists, TV and radio shows, some with very big production budgets.
Ian Parmenter, Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards Jury Chairman and Tasting Australia Festival Director, said ‘the standard of entries in this year’s competition was extraordinarily high and the international judges were faced with an enormous task.’
Amongst the books, the Cordon Bleu categories include Best Food Book, Best Recipe Books Under and Over Euro 35, Best Soft Cover Recipe Book, Best Drink Book (awarded to the UK’s Andrew Jefford’s Wine Course) and Best Food/Drink Guide Book, won by Jan Bilton and Belinda Jackson for Marlborough on the Menu.
What made this New Zealand duo stand out? Bilton is a passionate food writer and former restaurateur, an author of 26 cookbooks who syndicates a weekly food column to 11 newspapers, and edited a food magazine for 16 years. A perfect complement is Jackson, a talented wine marketing, education and sourcing consultant.
It doesn’t hurt that their subject – the fabulous produce of this naturally-blessed region – must be amongst the best in the world, certainly concentrated into a relatively small area.
From game to seafood, wine to fruit, Marlborough seems to have it all – throw in jaw-dropping scenery of the fjordic kind and the minute you open Marlborough on the Menu I defy any food or wine lover not to want to visit.
Bilton and Jackson have teamed well to select not only some great examples of the region’s food and wines, but to produce a diverse range of 70 contemporary yet do-able recipes that showcase the best of both.
The Marlborough region lies at the northern and hence warmer end of New Zealand’s mountainous South Island, and is perhaps best known internationally for its now ubiquitous sauvignon blanc. Minus one point for lack of a map – you shouldn’t have to resort to Google or an atlas to discover that it lies to the north-east, just across Cook Strait from Wellington, windy by reputation and the capital of New Zealand.
Marlborough and its regional towns of Blenheim and Picton are more sheltered from the prevailing westerlies; it is around Blenheim just inland from the famous Cloudy Bay that most the vineyards and wineries are located. This is the epicentre of the Marlborough Wine Trail where you can taste your way along a few kilometers of New Renwick Road taking in big names like Villa Maria, Wither Hills, Lawson’s Dry Hills and Matua Marlborough, before branching off to discover Cloudy Bay, Nautilus, Seresin Estates and plenty of hidden gems like Huia and Mahi.
Marlborough, at 41.5°S (almost the same latitude as Hobart, Tasmania) is blessed with a year-round sunny climate and regularly records the highest sunshine hours in New Zealand. With no excessive heat, long summer evenings and mild autumns, it’s little surprise that as well as ripening other cool-climate grape varieties like Riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir (also resulting in fabulous sparkling wines) it produces beautifully slow-ripened, flavoursome fruits and nuts: cherries, berries, plums, peaches, nectarines, hazel- and walnuts just to name a few.
They even make their own flaky salt. Add spices like saffron, herbs, garlic, shallots, honey, olive oil and you have all the extra ingredients you need to make the most of the other Marlborough bounties – seafood in many varieties, and wild game. With these, Bilton cooks up a storm. Keeping the food miles low seems easy.
It’s perhaps less well-known (but hardly surprising given Kiwi ingenuity in just about everything) that a Marlborough company, New Zealand King Salmon, produces 80% of New Zealand’s and accounts for 40% of the world’s farmed Pacific King (Chinook) salmon. What once used to be mainly found in tins is now filleted, kebabed, smoked and airfreighted around the world.
Bilton’s salmon recipes are simple yet innovative and sophisticated, factors which no doubt impressed the Cordon Bleu judges. I’ll be trying the Maple-Glazed, Pinot Noir-Poached, and Salmon with Cherry Sauce with Thyme creations very soon.
The wild game section is a delight for game-lovers and should be for conservationists, too. Unlike parts of Australia where introduced species like rabbit, wild boar and deer are rarely marketed well and/or available in premium portions (if at all), the ‘meat police’ of Marlborough must excel in common sense and allow market forces to prevail. Oh how I wish I would stroll into my local butcher or farmers’ market and buy some of these cuts of meats. Even feral goats are on the Marlborough menu with Bilton’s simple curry recipe.
The leading supplier of local Marlborough wild game is Premium Game, located at Riverlands Estate just south of Blenheim. The game animals in the hills can be hunted – therefore allowing recreational shooters to have their fun – but in a win for all sides, the results can be sold, processed and marketed to increasingly interested consumers looking for something deliciously different. Other edible species include tahr, an Asian relative of the wild goat, and wallabies. Possum is now appearing on the NZ (and Asian) eat list, but as with wallaby there are no recipes in the book. Perhaps the authors thought Australians might be offended.
The venison recipes are Asian-inspired: Thai-style Venison Salad, Venison and Udon Noodle Stir-fry and Venison with Star Anise. Venison is also farmed by Silver Fern Venison®, a consortium of farmers and suppliers who export their products worldwide.
As if these delights weren’t enough, Bilton then tempts us with the array of fresh seafood from the Marlborough Sounds – world famous for their recreational sailing – and tells us that most Marlborough residents do swaps: crayfish for venison, mussels for boar, scallops for wine, and so on. Chardonnay-dressed Crayfish or Cloudy Bay oysters, anyone? If only we all could be so lucky. Try the Scallops with Saffron – made with locally grown saffron, of course.
Naturally there are also cheeses, but with a difference – marinated in fruit brandies, and handmade and wrapped in sweet chestnut leaves by Havelock. All recipes in the book include a wine match selected by Belinda Jackson, and considerable thought has obviously gone into her recommendations.
So when she suggests that Te Whare Ra’s pinot noir will match Bicton’s creamy cherry pie, I’ll be trying that more unusual combination out, too. Of course, there are plenty of recipes to go with the region’s renowned sauvignon blanc, especially with salad and seafood season coming on, plus an unusual pairing with rabbit.
Other food-wine combos include Forrest’s Wairau Valley Dry Riesling with Mussels in Hoisin and Honey Sauce, No 1 Family Estate’s Reserve Cuvée 10 with Smoked Salmon Tartlets and Wasabi Mayo, Allan Scott Gewürztraminer with Mini Feijoa Pavlovas and Grove Mill Pinot Gris with Butterscotch Tiramisu. They even make a late-harvest Riesling, appropriately teamed with a delicious sounding Harvest Grape Cake which I’ll be trying next vintage.
Marlborough on the Menu is a ‘best of’ the region, beautifully put together and with enough photos of the local producers (mainly winemakers) to bring it to life without becoming an egofest. It strikes the right balance between showcasing and promotion, tempting rather than overwhelming.
The food, the wines, and the stunning scenery are allowed to speak for themselves, and what they say is: ‘eat, drink and visit Marlborough’.
Marlborough on the Menu by Jan Bilton and Belinda Jackson is published by Irvine Holt (Blenheim, NZ; 1st ed 2008, reprinted 2009; sc 144 pp) and retails in Australia for RRP A$23. It is also available direct from the publisher for NZ$20 (postage extra) at www.janbilton.co.nz
Regions
- Marlborough (NZ)
- NZ South Island (NZ)
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