Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to The Boil Up, The Spinoff’s weekly food newsletter produced in partnership with Boring Oat Milk. Written by me, Charlotte Muru-Lanning. It’s lovely to have you here!
I’ve eaten an English muffin for breakfast almost every day for the last two months. Some days are filled with slices of Maasdam and mustard or an over-easy fried egg and aioli. Other mornings I top the the two rounds with kimchi and cream cheese or, simply, an immense hunk of butter. I’ve no idea why they’ve become such an integral part of my routine, nor why they resonate with me so deeply at the moment (I want this t-shirt) – let’s just say I’m in my English muffin era.
Breaking with my own breakfast traditions, on Saturday morning, my boyfriend and I made the journey to one of my favourite places in Auckland (perhaps even the world), the Otāhuhu branch of Māori-owned Toby’s Seafood. By no means was this a spontaneous decision – I’ve been incessantly petitioning to have breakfast at the fresh seafood and fish and chip shop for at least a year. Not just any breakfast either, but Toby’s $18 “special snapper meal”.
As a dining space, Toby’s has a presence that I wish more places in the central suburbs did. It’s a long, open, immense space with plastic chairs and cheery yellow tables. Right down the back, fishmongers clean, gut, scale and fillet fish for customers to the sound of the radio, while staff at the counter take hot food orders and sell fresh fish, bottles of ‘otai, bags of mussels and pottles of oysters and raw fish.
When our food was ready, I picked up our tray of two fish, two eggs, $1 chips and salad, plus the four mussels we added. I parked our kai on the table (at a well ventilated spot by the door) and we tucked in. It’s a perfectly coherent meal that can be weirdly hard to find: simple, affordable and tasty – but one I hope becomes ever-more popular.
Parrotdog Beer and Boring Oat Milk present Soaked Oats.
Gather your friends together to help celebrate the launch of Boring Beer - the brand new collaboration between Boring and Parrotdog.
Free Entry. No ticket required. Doors open at 8pm. First come, first in, so get down early to secure your spot on the dance floor.
Once at capacity, it will be one in, one out on the door.
Throughout the pandemic there’s been a deluge of advertisement and news stories broadcasting the dreamy pay offered to fruit pickers in Aotearoa. Enticed by a Facebook post promising $60 per hour, Spinoff guest writer Andrew Gunn accepted the call earlier this year and set off to an orchard. What he experienced was an entirely different reality to what he’d been sold – and it paints a grim picture of the industry and of the enforcement of our employment laws. Since reading the piece I’ve been left thinking: this was a New Zealander’s experience, how much worse is it for RSE workers who are bound to their employers?
Is the planned tofu monopoly over? In May this year, the Commerce Commision gave clearance for Seventh Day Adventist (a church which has come under fire for its tax-exempt status, along with its stance against gay marriage) owned tofu maker Life Health Foods NZ, to buy the business and assets of competing tofu manufacturer Chalmers Organics, who make Tonzu tofu. Significantly, the decision meant that just one large company would dominate the supermarket tofu sector. It also spurred anger from tofu buyers, annoyed by the prospect of the tax-exempt religious sect having more control over tofu products. However, in a statement emailed to The Spinoff last week, a Chalmers Organics spokesperson said: “Despite a rigorous period of investigation from the Commerce Commission which resulted in approval, the acquisition of Chalmers Organics by Life Health Foods will not be proceeding.” Their statement hinted at customer concern sparking the end of the takeover, but it’s still unclear whether Life Health Foods or Chalmers Organics called off the deal.
The tofu takeover between Tonzu and Bean Supreme looks to be over.
There has been A LOT of hype around the new Whittaker’s oat milk chocolate, is it any good though? Snack connoisseur and The Spinoff editor Mad Chapman delivers her verdict in this week’s snack report.
Another week, another shortage: chickpea growers are warning of a global scarcity of chickpeas. As difficult weather conditions and the war in Ukraine hit production of the legume, the Global Pulse Confederation says chickpea supply could drop as much as 20% this year. Consequently, that puts hummus in a tentative position, but it also could have serious ramifications for countries that rely on the pulses as an essential source of protein – places like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, where households are already struggling to cover rising costs of food imports such as wheat.
Taupō based dairy company Miraka, which is owned by a group of Māori trusts, uses renewable geothermal energy to power its factory at Mokai. Company chief executive Karl Gradon told RNZ that the company sources milk from around 100 farms in the central North Island but because demand for its products is growing, they’re looking for 40 new farmer suppliers – and they’re hoping that their lower carbon footprint and the fact it paid up to 20 cents per kilogram of milk solids more than Fonterra would help attract new farmers.
The way dining has shifted and transformed during the pandemic is fascinating to contemplate. In New Zealand, we spent lockdowns recreating restaurant meals at home, then celebrating takeaways as restrictions eased. For a short (cute) period, some of us were buying restaurant-made picnic-ready meals, and more recently becoming more reliant on delivery apps as we isolate, and searching for eateries with outdoor seating to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 transmission. This essay by ex-food business owner Saba Rahimian in American publication Eater reflects on what that constant transformation was like from the inside, and how it’s likely changed the industry forever.
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Five places
Shamubeel Eaqub: economist and media commentator
You’ve likely read Shamubeel Eaqub quoted in stories on the housing bubble or the shipping crisis, seen him on television commenting on inflation or heard him on the radio chatting about welfare policy – today he shares his five favourite places to grab a bite at.
Sim's Kitchen, Onehunga, Auckland: Authentic and delicious Penang food. Selena and I went to Penang for a part of our honeymoon; the food always brings back wonderful memories. We were sad when the little unassuming shop in Hillsborough closed (a frequent stop on the way back from Waikowhai Park, which incidentally has a super-duper slide and short but lush bushwalks), but now back in business in Onehunga! I love their char kway teow (spicy!) and Selena loves the roti and curry. Kids will wolf down fried rice from there, but have to ask for no chilli.
Ima Cuisine, Downtown Auckland: I have been a regular at Yael's for years. It started at her previous place, Lunch Box on Shortland Street (regular lunches there with Selena when we were dating). The malawach, grilled lamb in pita (all freshly made and loaded with salad), and the chicken schnitzel are on rotation. Delicious hot cross buns in the lead up to Easter and lovely sweet stuff in the cabinet. One of the few places I have a long black – they make it just the way I like it. I have had so many business, friends and family lunches there. I love cooking from Yael's cookbook too.
A snack at Ima: Shamubeel says, “A live view of my morning tea today. Chocolate and hazelnut bubka and long black.” (Image: Supplied)
Gusto, Skycity Auckland: A favourite for family dinners – often for birthdays. The service is warm, generous and personable. My boys love the food there (calamari followed by pasta), and we do too. They also have a nice selection of very good wines by the glass (not so keen on wines by the bottle these days, when kids are up at the crack of dawn even if daddy is a bit dusty).
The Little Oven Foodstore, Hillsborough, Auckland: This is my regular stop after the school drop off – they know just how I like my coffee. Muffins are always fresh and delicious too. They also do lovely catering for bigger groups – the Vietnamese rolls and little white chocolate and berry muffins are so good.
The Homestead, Hillsborough, Auckland: Love the setting in a grand old house with an art gallery, outside seating, grassy area for kids to burn off excess energy and delicious food. Friendly service and we go so often they recognise the whole whānau. A cheeky wine or beer with lunch is a nice option too. I can't often go past the freshly made crumpets. Kids usually devour chips or ice blocks and then run around the sculptures.
The weekly snack
Suntory Gokuri Grapefruit Pink and White, $4.70 from Japan Mart: With my groceries tugging on my shoulders, it was sheer exhaustion and the fact there was only one remaining bottle of this on the shelf that encouraged me to give it a go. It was never going to be bad, but there was no way I expected it to be this good. The bottle is kind of half-can, half-bottle, and is strangely delightful to drink out of – plus it keeps the drink cold as. Most importantly, having a medley of pink and white grapefruit in the mix is such a good call – enough bitterness to feel elegant, enough sweetness to be drinkable for fussier taste buds. 10/10.
