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FRESH

Market news from the farm gate and beyond...
May 2008

Autumn is here with its welcome rain, school holidays, flame coloured leaves and crisp cool days. A change in season, the cooler weather means time to casserole, stew, bake and roast - time to warm your home with the smells of good food cooking slowly in a warm oven.

IN SEASON
This month at the market, you’ll find mandarins, tamarillos, persimmons, feijoas, rhubarb, apples, pears, custard apples, potatoes, salad greens, spinach, carrots, capsicums, avocados, kumara, leeks, pumpkin, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, brocolini, parsnips, baby beets and baby turnips - plus a huge range of non-seasonal edibles. For a full list of stallholders and their produce click here.

NEW STALLHOLDERS
We’d like to extend a warm market welcome to four new stallholders:
Truly Tasty – delicious gluten-free baking
Lime Kitchen – hand crafted gourmet sauces, tarts, terrines and baking
I Love Pies – hand made pies with a New Zealand flavour
Holmbrook Produce – preserves, jams and chutneys
Tamworth pigs at Soggy Bottom

THIS LITTLE PIGGY...
The humble pig, an intelligent and gregarious creature is perhaps one of the most abused in this country. Love of charcuterie has led to the highly industrialised production of pork. Antibiotics, growth hormones and restricted movement can produce pigs that reach a hook weight of 60-70kg in five months.

Denied exercise and the ability to forage, intensively farmed pigs yield a bland and tasteless meat. In the butchery the texture and taste is enhanced using flavour enhancers, colouring, preservatives and fillers.

In Fresh this month we feature the wonderfully tasty Soggy Bottom pork in our recipe that is free range, additive and preservative free. Whatever your stance is on pig farming in NZ, it is nice to know that at our Farmers Market you can buy pork that is free range and preservative free. Sarah and Jono of Soggy Bottom would like to hear from you if you are interested in rare breeds. You could help to keep pork tasting really good by raising rare-breed pigs on your farm or block.

DO YOU HAVE A SPARE…?
Washing machine, Dryer etc… If you have any unwanted but serviceable white ware can you please contact the Clevedon Historic Places Trust - phone Warren on 292 8069. They are looking for a few basics to make McNicol homestead more comfortable for their writer in residence.

MARKET PROFILE
Terry McColl
Wild Bee Honey

Terry from Wild Bee Honey

Market honey man Terry McColl collects honey from his hives which are settled in the local area. Being sieved, not heated, the honey is brimming with goodness and flavour.

Wild Bee honey reflects our diverse local environment with varieties of coastal, pasture and bush honey. Terry’s Manuka honey is a real treat with much of the nectar being collected from the Clevedon Scenic Reserve.

MARKET BITES

Honey Hints
Natural Honey is the best thing to treat children’s coughs this winter. New medical research in the USA has shown that natural Honey is far more effective than over the counter cough medicines for kids. For a family cough remedy mix honey with lemon, ginger or brandy.

To make half a kilo of honey, bees have to visit two million flowers and fly the equivalent of twice around the world.

“‘Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.”
- Shakespeare
Pick a cold wet day and surrender to the taste and textural pleasure of this decadent dish. Pork braised in this way becomes deliciously soft and the combination of Asian and European flavours gives it a delightful aromatic taste.
We accompanied our pork with rice and bok choy; it would also match with broccolini or spinach and egg noodles.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Belly Pork Banquet

Ingredients

  • 2.3 litres of water
  • 1.1 – 1.8 kg pork belly
  • 175ml medium to dry sherry or sake
  • 3 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 15 thin slices of fresh ginger
  • 1/4 tsp chopped dry chilli
  • 350ml good quality soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp plum jam
  • 75ml balsamic vinegar
  • 30 garlic cloves
  • 3 spring onions
  • Coriander sprigs

Method
Bring the water to the boil in a pan that the pork fits into with a little bit of room to spare.
Put in the pork and when the water comes back to the boil lift off any foam with a slotted spoon.

Add the sherry or sake and simmer for 30 minutes.Add the spices, ginger, chilli, soy, jam and balsamic. Bring back to the boil and simmer covered for 2 – 3 hours, turning the meat occasionally. You can do this on the stove top or in a low oven. Add the garlic after 1 hour of cooking.

The meat is cooked when it offers no resistance to an inserted skewer. Gently remove the meat and keep warm. Remove the ginger, garlic, cinnamon and star anise. Gently reduce the sauce until thickened but taste regularly as the soy can cause the sauce to become too salty. Spoon the sauce over the meat and scatter with coriander and shreds of spring onion.

CLEVEDON VILLAGE FARMERS' MARKET VENDORS & PRODUCE

  • Market regular taking some time out
    Truly Tasty - delicious gluten-free baking
  • Dullumbunda Farm - fruit; vegetables and herbs
  • Sunset Coast Organics - organic fruit, vegetables and herbs
  • Fancy Lettuce - lettuce; spinach; living herbs
  • Pacific Skye - seasonal fruit; fruit juice
  • Cuconics - telegraph cucumbers
  • Holmbrook Produce – preserves; jams and chutneys
  • Wild Bee - fresh local bush and field honey
  • Hamlin Nursery - garden plants
  • Dig This - Eion & Ann Scarrow’s garden plants
  • Zorba’s Greek Food - Greek food
  • Waiuku River Wines - red & white wines, verjuice
  • Roses Galore - fresh cut roses
  • Clevedon Valley Cheese - handmade cheese
  • Heart of the Globe - Highland beef; artichokes; and provisions
  • Blackwood’s Gourmet Breads - freshly-made bagels and flatbreads
  • Bentru - smoked specialty meats and sausages; traditional proscuitto
  • Hungarian Twisters - ‘Kurtos Kalacs’ traditional Hungarian pastries
  • I Love Pies – handmade pies with a New Zealand flavour
  • Piako Pete - wet fish; smoked fish and eel
  • Salmonman - hot smoked salmon cured in a variety of ways
  • Zakar - BioGro beef cuts; premium beef mince and sausages
  • Running Brook Seeds - quality heritage flower and vegetable seeds
  • Lime Kitchen – gourmet sauces, tarts, terrines and baking
  • Wild Wheat - artisan bakers of traditional and sourdough breads
  • Market Espresso - great coffee and refreshments
  • River Estate - premium olive oils and table olives
  • Pilgrim’s - organic lamb
  • Broccolini - broccolini
  • Alvita - fresh nuts
  • Avoculture - avocados
  • Tipaka Moana - subtropical fruit; seedlings
  • Gelato Cart - gelato
  • Mandeville Gardens - native plants
  • Sweet Art - cakes and chocolates
  • Nature’s Corner - free-range eggs
  • Blueberry Deli - blueberries
  • Paella Pan - traditional paella cooked on-site; fresh crepes
  • Farmhouse Treats & Produce - fruit; vegetables and provisions
  • Soggy Bottom Holdings - purveyors of rare breed free-range meats
  • Hungarian Deli - traditional air-dried meats and gluten-free sausages
  • Limes on the Firth - fresh limes; cooking demonstrations 10-11am
  • Clevedon Animal Farm - pony rides for the kids
  • Alison’s Pony & Trap Rides - pony & trap rides for kids and adults
  • Willow Brook - lavender products; Iris plants and lavender

Clevedon Village Farmers Market
Every Sunday 8:30am-12 noon, Clevedon Showgrounds, Monument Rd, Clevedon.

Visit our website at www.clevedonfarmersmarket.co.nz
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