Eating in... Auckland

For so long, Wellington has been known as the foodie capital of New Zealand. With great cafes, quality dining options and apparently the most eateries per capita in the world, the claim was not far fetched.  However, recently, Auckland has been stepping their game up.

In the last year, it seems as if a new cafe or restaurant has been opening there every other week. They're all designed with their own strong sense of character and are equally as enticing as the next. Lately, I've managed to try a few different spots: The Food Truck, Federal Delicatessen (next to Al Brown's other Federal Street joint, the repeatedly tried-and-true Depot), Orleans and Fukuko.
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The Food Truck Garage, City Works Depot, 90 Wellesley Street
Luckily for me, I arrived at chef Michael van de Elzen's cafe, derived from his successful television series The Food Truck, at 2.50pm - 10 minutes before the kitchen closed for lunch.  I promptly ordered the Paua Dog (paua and pickled free range pork with horseradish, avocado salsa and lentils in a spelt flour roll) and Baked Chips (skin-on Agria potato, swede and beets with lime emulsion), while I was served complimentary sparkling water with a slice of lemon.  Lovely.

I have been a Food Truck fan since the start, enjoying van de Elzen's healthy and refreshing take on takeaway comfort classics. His variation on the hot dog, incorporating the often under-appreciated 'steak of the sea', excited me as soon as I read it off the menu. I'm a big advocate for paua so I was happy to see it being employed in this unexpected manner.

Food Truck Garage

It did not disappoint. The paua and pork sausage was plump and juicy, and you could taste hints of the sea whilst not being overwhelmed. Perfect for those who might be skeptical of the concept, but I would have loved an even stronger paua flavour. The avocado salsa worked brilliantly to counter and lighten the meatiness of the sausage, while the micro greens brought a delicate crunch to the mix. The roll also was a standout in itself. Fresh, soft, textural, with the addition of seeds to provide bite - it was a star component.  More than I expected, it was the most pleasant of surprises.

The Baked Chips and Paua Dog

The Baked Chips were, comparably, okay. Being the last run of lunch service was no excuse for dried out potatoes and this was disappointing. The swede and beets were better and with the lime emulsion, it provided a fair accompaniment to my 'dog.
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Federal Delicatessen, 86 Federal Street

Complimentary crisps with a smoked salmon dip helped me to make a more rational - less hunger-driven - decision

The array of salads: (l-r) Grilled Eggplant, Spiced Roast Pumpkin and Roast Cauliflower

 A fine selection of lox, including spiced, dill and citrus, with a slice of lemon meringue pie with freeze-dried raspberries being prepared in the background

Searching for Dumplings

I call a lot of things my 'favourite food' but there is something so perfect about a neatly formed parcel of meat (with sometimes a little vege) embedded with flavour, wrapped in dough and able to be captured in one concise mouthful.  Unlike the Italian ravioli, the Chinese dumpling is versatile in the different ways it can be cooked.  Boiled, steamed or pan-fried, it gives a myriad of sensual possibilities: from the flavour combinations, different seal-and-crimping methods (creating thinner and thicker parts within the join) to the texture which comes from the cooking technique.  (The Japanese gyoza is based on the pan-fried dumpling which, also known as 'pot-stickers', gain a chewy crust at their base while their tops are steamed - soft, with bite).

Google image search for "jiao zi"

Making and/or eating dumplings (or jiao zi, 餃子) is a long-loved tradition of mine for celebrating Chinese New Year.  Especially after moving out of home, I feel like I have to make a batch to share with friends every year, as if it was out of superstition.  Usually I stick to traditional Chinese flavours like minced pork with mushroom, garlic, chives, spring onion, soy sauce, sesame oil and some oyster sauce; or sometimes I'll add coriander, chilli, finely grated carrot and/or change the meat to minced lamb for a more Nepalese/Western Chinese flavour profile.  On the odd occasion, I've experimented with outright Western flavours like chicken, cranberry and brie (not bad), with the thought that you can pretty much package any great combination of flavours into a dumpling skin.