Prickly Palusami @ Pasifika 2011

I have had very little to do with Polynesian cuisine so far, so I was excited to discover a couple of weeks ago that the Pasifika Festival was on.  With lots of stalls and performance areas clumped in "villages" around the beautiful Western Springs park, there was plenty of opportunity to try new foods and generally have a great day.

One of the "villages" by the lakeside

For me, practically everything was a novelty—from the 'ota 'ika (raw fish salad in coconut cream), pork buns and pani popo (buns in coconut milk sauce) which my friends went for—to the curry on cassava, pisua (a tapioca dessert which tasted of butterscotch) and pani keke ("banana pancake", more like deep-fried spherical donuts to me) which I tried—to the curiously-named items that we giggled at but did not manage to sample, like poke (Hawaiian raw fish salad) and 'otai (fruit drink with coconut milk).  Sapasui (chop suey mainly made with Chinese vermicelli, a.k.a. bean thread or glass noodles) and watermelon icecream also seemed to be very popular.

Watermelon icecream

What was for me the most memorable dish though, was the palusami (coconut cream and onions wrapped in taro leaves).  I was particularly curious about this as I had just read Jeffrey Steingarten's terrible reaction to eating food served on a raw taro leaf garnish in his book It Must Have Been Something I Ate.  I had also tried patra or alu vadi (taro leaf rolls) at one of my favourite Indian restaurants, Ras Vatika, which I enjoyed.  I simply needed to try taro leaves in another delicacy.

My first reaction was that it was delicious.  With coconut cream and savoury onions, the spinach-like packet was very tasty indeed.  As I ate though, I began to feel a prickling sensation in my mouth.  By the time I got to halfway through the palusami, it was actually painful.  Fortunately, unlike Steingarten, my breathing was not affected; but suffice it to say, I had difficulty convincing anyone else to try palusami from another stall.

Half-eaten palusami

Is this feeling normal from a prepared dish?  Is it bad for you?  Everything I have read suggested it was perfectly safe to eat cooked taro leaves, and my palusami certainly looked thoroughly cooked.  The acridity in raw taro is caused by raphides, or needle-like crystals, of calcium oxalate, which are located near stores of protein-eating enzymes, creating what Harold McGee calls "poison-tipped darts" in his book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.  According to him, cooking breaks down the plant's defence system by "denaturing the enzymes and dissolving the crystals."  Could it be that my palusami simply wasn't cooked enough, even though it looked limp?

I haven't completely worked it out yet, but from what I gather from the Taro Wikispaces page, it's not so much the insoluble oxalates such as calcium oxalate which you should be worried about.  These pass through your system, while the soluble oxalates (which also exist in taro leaves) are easily absorbed and can lead to kidney stones.  You want to boil your leaves (or apply some other moist heat treatment) and throw away the water to reduce the soluble oxalate levels.  You can also eat your taro leaves with a calcium-rich food like milk so that insoluble calcium oxalate salts get formed, thus reducing oxalate absorption.

After reading the sections on Elephant Ear (a close relative of taro, with large leaves) and Taro in the book Poisonous Plants of Paradise: First Aid and Medical Treatment of Injuries from Hawaii's Plants by Susan Scott and Craig Thomas, it occurs to me that I may have eaten a specimen of the plant that simply cannot be made edible by any amount of cooking.  Perhaps cooks would do well to heed the advice shared on Elaichi et Cetera: "A tip from Vee of Past, Present and Me: break the stem of an arbi [a.k.a. taro] leaf you intend to use, rub the juice on your inner wrist and count to ten; if it stings, the oxylate concentration is too high. Don’t use them."

Serendipity

Every time you go out to eat, you are in search of a wonderful meal.  But sometimes, just sometimes, you come across something that you have not seen anywhere else before, something different and exciting.  Below are some foods that I have been surprised by, mainly pleasantly.

Polenta Chips

I love eating hot potato chips, so when I saw polenta chips on the menu at Coco's Cantina, I had to order some for comparison, even if it meant downgrading to an entrée for dinner.  I was not disappointed.  The long chunky chips were fragranced with rosemary, and stayed crisp and hot for much longer than you would expect.  They were absolutely delicious with or without the accompanying aioli. Just be careful you don't burn your tongue!

Polenta chips with aioli

Available for $8.50 at
Coco's Cantina
376 Karangahape Road, Newton, Auckland
(09) 300 7582
Turesdays to Saturdays 5pm - late

Feijoa Cider

Just up the road at the Wine Cellar, a basement bar in St. Kevins Arcade on K'Rd, I tasted feijoa cider for the first time when a friend played a gig there nearly a year ago.  Not only was it a proper cider rather than feijoa mixed with wine, it also came on tap.  It was fruity and intoxicating, and absolutely the best cider I have ever had.  Made from organic feijoas from Purangi, it tasted different every time I returned.  It was not always available, and it was never as good as I remembered again (sometimes it had a bitter aftertaste, more like beer) but I still go back once in a while to see if I can taste the most fantastic cider again.

Available (call first to make sure) for $7 a glass or $9 a pint at
Wine Cellar
St. Kevins Arcade, 183 Karangahape Road, Newton, Auckland
(09) 377 8293

Chirimoya Juice

I had never even heard of chirimoya before seeing its juice offered at Mexican Specialties.  This South American fruit (I bought a whole one to admire, and the chef picked out a ripe one for me that was ready to be eaten that very day) is related to the custard-apple, and looked green and scaly.  The juice was sweet, with a tropical flavour.  It wasn't available last time I visited the restaurant, so I am guessing it is out of season (I had it a couple of years ago, around October), but with other items on the drink menu such as cold chocolate, tamarind juice, pineapple and coconut, and lemon and lime, I wasn't about to complain.

Mexican Specialties
92 Marua Road, Ellerslie, Auckland
(09) 580 2497
Thursdays and Fridays 11am - 3pm
Saturdays 10am - 4pm

Sweet Masala Pan

Having studied Latin throughout high school, I could only associate the word pan with bread.  In India, this word means nothing of the sort.  Pan, or paan, refers to the betel leaf, which is commonly used to wrap a an assortment of fillings.  The sweet variety does not contain tobacco, and the lady at Ras Vatika assured me that this would be refreshing and good for the digestion.  As I was feeling full from dinner and wanted to find out more about this novelty (I hesistate to call it a dessert, even though it is sweet and eaten after dinner), I took one of these little green packets home.

As I was completely clueless about sweet masala pan, I decided to do some web research.  Were you supposed to eat the packet whole, leaf and all?  Were you supposed to chew and spit, or actually swallow the thing?  What is this betel business anyway?  What I discovered put me off altogether.  Apparently, the areca nut, commonly known as betel nut, which was listed as one of the fillings of my pan, can cause oral cancer.  Now, I know that there are a gazillion things in the world which can give you cancer, including burnt toast, but that doesn't mean I want to take my chances.

By the time I plucked up the courage to try some meetha pan, I had left the thing in the fridge so long that the leaf was shrivelled up and more unappetising than ever.  Cautiously, I opened up the leaf wrapper, to investigate the contents.  It smelt of mint and rose, and I saw dessicated coconut, fennel seeds, unidentified coloured candies, a reddish brownish sauce and some bark-like sheets that I assumed was the areca nut.  I admit that I only had the tiniest ever little pinch of the filling, but it tasted as it smelt, of menthol and flowers.  I may give it a proper go some day, but I suspect this is one of those things that may be an acquired taste.

Sweet masala pan, with the betel leaf opened up

Ras Vatika
596 Dominion Road, Balmoral, Auckland
(09) 623 2145
Mondays closed.
Tuesdays to Sundays 11:30am - 10pm

Review: O'Sarracino *CLOSED*

[Added 28 January 2015: O'Sarracino has announced that it is turning into IKA Seafood Bar and Grill.]

My favourite Italian restaurant in Auckland doesn't serve pizza. And although I consider it fine dining, it doesn't have the restrained formal atmosphere you associate with many restaurants; it is a place for loud and raucous eating, to share with friends.  Even before it was named the winner of Cuisine magazine's Best Specialist Restaurant award in 2010, we knew it was special.

The first few times we ate at O'Sarracino, we were given samples at the slightest suggestion of interest: two types of cheeses one time, and a digestif similar to limoncello another time.  The restaurant was beautiful, with polished wooden floors and stained glass windows left over from the days when the building was, ahem, a funeral parlour.  The reason we kept coming back, though, was for the food, which was unlike anything we had eaten before in other Italian restaurants.

You simply cannot go to O'Sarracino without trying the antipasti platters.  We have never ordered dishes one by one, instead asking the waiter to bring out a selection of the specialties, which are always just right in terms of size and taste.  Where else would you go for something like casatiello, hand made bread with salami, pancetta and cheese rolled inside?

Antipasti: cured meats and bread, casatiello with crumbed eggplant, insalata caprese, vegetables Naples style, bruschetta, and insalata di mare

The pasta dishes are fantastic as well, fresh and tasty, and probably the best you can get in Auckland, with the pasta made daily by an Argentinian man who ran the Pasta La Vista shop that used to be next door (unfortunately the store closed in August 2009, but I was told that manufacturing would continue in the outskirts of Auckland).

A selection of pasta, meat and seafood mains selected by our waiter

If you still have room, you will want to try the desserts as well, which is a changing menu.  One friend was very disappointed when tiramisu was not available when we went, but when I last dined at O'Sarracino, I managed to try it, a big blob of creamy goodness on a plate.  On that occasion though, my favourite was the panettone, a dryish fruit loaf with a delicate citrus flavour that went perfectly with icecream.

Desserts of the day: chocolate pot, tiramisu, panettone with icecream, and panna cotta

It won't be a cheap dinner, but all in all, O'Sarracino is a great choice for a special birthday (let the waiter know so they can dim the lights and sing you a birthday song), or for catching up with friends.  Buon appetito!

Panda Recommends

Antipasti platters, pastas, basically anything the waiters recommend!  Allow at least $60 per person.

Vegie Pandas
Ask and you shall receive.

Food menu

Note

Bookings required.  Going with a larger group will let you try more dishes.

Restaurant Details

O'Sarracino
3-5 Mount Eden Road, Eden Terrace, Auckland
(09) 309 3740

Opening hours:
Tuesdays to Saturdays 6:30pm till late.

O'Sarracino is on Mount Eden Road, close to the intersection with Symonds Street

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Feeling Foreign

Auckland is a fantastic place for eating authentic Asian food.  It's hard to get the authentic experience though, if you are with people that don't look like the right ethnicity, or if you don't speak or read the language.  I am thinking in particular about a number of Chinese restaurants that I have been to recently.  It's a rude shock to the system when, instead of being asked which kind of tea you would like, you are offered soft drinks and beer.  At a Malaysian restaurant, we even had to ask for chopsticks, which had been given to other tables by default.  Then there are the specials which appear on untranslated signs, which no doubt contain items of exceptional interest, perhaps because they are things you can't normally get, or perhaps because a discount is in effect.  Long story short, although I love eating out at the various ethnic restaurants, I almost always feel like I am somehow missing out.

Sometimes it's not even enough to look right and to speak and read the language.  Some things you just have to know.  The other night, at a large family dinner, I was offered a 15% discount at a Chinese restaurant, which as far I know, was not advertised anywhere.  Against my mother's advice, I asked if I could pay by credit card, fully expecting a negative answer.  Instead, the lady paused, nodded, and proceeded to swipe my card through.  It was not until I checked the receipt afterwards that I realised this meant I did not receive the discount, which came to nearly $20.  Not the end of the world, but it's embarrassing when you pass it over in favour of what comes out to be $1.33 in reward points.

So, what's one to do?  If you don't have a "local" in your group, is it still possible to order special items, receive those free soups and desserts?

Nutty About Nuts

I love nuts.  Whole walnuts, freshly removed from their shells; boiled peanuts in Chinese soup; roasted chestnuts, hot from a street seller; the delicate fragrance of cashew butter—you name them, I love them.  Recently, a workmate introduced me to a new way of eating nuts, more specifically, eating raw almonds that have been soaked in water overnight.  Their texture becomes different, kind of springy rather than crunchy, and the skins just peel away effortlessly.  They taste sweeter too, without the mildly bitter brown skin.  I bet my parents would be able to make a really nice almond milk using these soaked and peeled almonds, creating a smooth and silky drink like their cashew milk, rather than their usual gritty almond milk.  The only thing I wonder about is whether I am missing out on valuable nutrients by not eating the skins, and not drinking the slightly cloudy water that I pour away.  For the refreshing flavour and texture combination though, I can definitely recommend trying this sometimes.

Natural almonds (left) and soaked and peeled almonds (right)

On the subject of nuts, and since it is getting close to Christmas time, I was wondering why those bags of unshelled nuts contain the nuts that they do, usually walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts and hazelnuts.  (As an aside, isn't English curious, since shelled nuts are the ones with the shells removed and unshelled nuts are the ones with the shells.  Also, apparently almonds, cashews, macadamias, peanuts, pistachios and some others are not true nuts in a botanical sense—in fact, only hazelnuts in my previous list would be classified as a nut.)  You can remove the shells of roasted peanuts and pistachios fairly easily, without special implements, while macadamias are probably not included in those bags of nuts because they would break your nutcracker rather than the other way round.  But why have I never seen a cashew nut in its shell?

It turns out that cashew nuts have a toxic shell.  And though I had never heard of it before, the fruit of a cashew tree, called the cashew apple, is actually edible, with a strong smell and sweet taste.  Some people even make alcohol from it!  Whatever next?

[Added 26 January 2011:

Tried to make my own almond milk the other day, after first blanching raw almonds in just-boiled water for one minute to remove the skins.  No matter how little water I added before blending the nuts, I couldn't seem to get a strong almond flavour, even after straining out the distracting gritty pulp.  Internet researched solved the mystery for me: the intense flavour from almond essence is actually produced from the oil of bitter almonds, not the sweet almonds you normally eat.  Eating bitter almonds could kill you though, as they contain amygdalin and the enzyme emulsin, which together in the presence of water produces cyanide.  I guess that's why I've never seen bitter almonds for sale in the supermarket!
]

Moore Wilson's Fresh, Wellington

If you drool (as this panda does) over the variety and quality of the goods available in Auckland in stores such as Nosh, Sabato and Farro Fresh, wait till you see the Fresh department of Moore Wilson's in Wellington. This food warehouse is the Disney World of food supplies, with a vast array of imported and local products, fresh orange juice squeezed in-store, live crayfish and unusual upmarket ingredients such broad bean flowers.  It also sells food-related items such as cookbooks and chopping boards.  The selection of sweet treats from Floriditas was more impressive than within the restaurant itself!

Some items will be available from your local supermarket also, while others may be too expensive to try (a packet of kumara chips for just under $8, anyone?), but there is certainly enough there that you will want to take home with you.  Happy shopping!

A wide selection of fresh produce, baked goods and deli items are for sale at Moore Wilson's Fresh department

Enough cheese to kill someone, or at least dent their wallet

Live crayfish

Station for freshly squeezed orange juice

Note

Caters for both trade and personal customers.  Credit cards are not accepted.

Store Details

Moore Wilson's Fresh
93 Tory Street, Te Aro, Wellington
(04) 384 9906
www.moorewilson.co.nz

Opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays 7:30am - 7pm
Saturdays 7:30am - 6pm
Sundays 9am - 5pm

Moore Wilson's is situated on the corner of Tory St and College St

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Review: Ras Vatika

We first discovered Ras Vatika several years ago, after passing by the brightly lit window and having a spontaneous curiosity about Indian vegetarian food. Fortunately there were not many other customers, as we were faced with a vast array of options from the wall menu and needed the hostess to explain nearly everything.  After asking vague questions about what to eat, we chose the Special Thali (selection of different dishes served in small bowls on a round tray) which she suggested we order, as we could then have a little bit of everything.  The Faluda (a delicious drink with icecream and vermicelli available in three different flavours back then: rose, pistachio and saffron), which we also sampled, was a visual feast as well as a great taste sensation, and made sure we returned with friends in tow, even the self-professed carnivores.

Wall menu that had us at a loss as to what to order

Special Thali - 5 roti, 3 curries, rice, dhal (lentil soup; could also have chosen khadi, or yoghurt soup), salad, poppadom, pickle, gulab jamun (milky balls in syrup) - too much food even for two people

Rose Flavoured Faluda

While the curries have great flavour without the heavy creaminess offered by many other restaurants (though sometimes a little too salty), we have decided that this little restaurant particularly excels at dishes made to order, settling on the dosa (fermented rice and lentil crepe), uttapam (Indian pizza) and a couple of other dishes as firm favourites.

Dosa served with coconut chutney and sambhar

Chole Bhature - bread puffs served with chickpea curry, yoghurt, onion salad, poppadom and pickle

Pullav and side salad.  The slab of butter and fresh coriander made it even more delicious.

A couple of months ago, the restaurant introduced printed menus, which came with descriptions of each dish, helping with the decision making process without making the items any less exotic.  Perhaps we will choose new favourites as we try more dishes, or perhaps not.  Service can be slow in this homely eatery, but in any case, we will be coming back for more.

Panda Recommends

Mains: Chole Bhature ($10.00); any of the Dosa and Uttapam variations ($7.00 - $13.50), especially Mysore Masala Dosa ($12.00) and Tomato and Onion Uttapam ($10.50)
Sides: Dhai Poori ($7.50), Chili Pakoda ($1.50)
Drink: Rose Faluda ($7.00), if you are very hungry
Avoid the thalis - they aren't bad, but the curries from the warming drawers are definitely not as good as the freshly made dishes!

[Added 26 July 2015: I am still recommending this restaurant after all these years!]

Vegie Pandas
You are in vegie heaven!  Everything in the store is vegetarian, and there is just so much to choose from!

Menu Flyer - Page 1

Menu Flyer - Page 2

Restaurant Details

Ras Vatika
596 Dominion Road, Balmoral, Auckland
(09) 623 2145

Opening hours:
Mondays closed.
Tuesdays to Sundays 11:30am - 10pm

Ras Vatika: cheap and cheerful, and absolutely delicious

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