Taste of Auckland

               On Sunday, Sam and I went to a food festival called “Taste of Auckland” in Victoria Park. The festival showcased some of the best food and wine Auckland has to offer, so in other words, I was in heaven. The weather was really nice and you could hear the live music even from the outside. Once we walked in, it was a bit overwhelming because there were tents all over the place and we weren’t sure where to start. At first we just walked around sampling mostly cheese, and bread with olive oil. For some reason, I was in such a cheese mood and can honestly say I had every type of cheese from every stand there (and even ending up buying 8 dollars worth of the best cheddar cheese I have ever had!). I have a skillful gift of being able to get the biggest cheese cube on the chopping block, usually stuck to some smaller ones as well so I end up getting about 4 free samples of cheese in one shot. It’s an acquired skill that took years of practice so don’t be jealous if you haven’t gotten it down yet. 

                Finally, we moved on to some wine and I went for Sauvignon Blanc, which was my first time having white wine since the first day we arrived here. It was very good though so I think I am no longer scarred for life, but I didn’t get the name of it unfortunately. Besides the little tents that featured local brands, there were also main tents which had the restaurants in it. Each restaurant selected three of their best dishes and served sample sizes of it for a lower price. When I arrived, I got a pamphlet describing all the dishes and I stood at a long table circling the ones I wanted and crossing out all the ones I didn’t want, trying to narrow it down to three dishes. I pretty much ended up circling the entire pamphlet and had to go back and cross out a lot – this took me quite a while and I was very wrapped up in the process so much so that the man next to me asked if I was a food critic. Sadly, no I am just obsessed with food. But here is what I finally ended up going with:

                The third runner up was: dine by Peter Gordon where I got pan-seared sea scallops with pickled leeks, Clevedon buffalo mozzarella, chorizo caramel and Heilala vanilla dressing. It was very good, but I must say Daddy’s scallops are better. 

                Second runner up: Soto where Sam and I split some Prawn Filo Tempura with Japanese style Worcestershire sauce, tartar sauce, and wasabi caviar. It was delicious and very uniquely done. The shrimp was on a giant stick similar to a corn dog and very fun/messy to eat. 

                

             First runner up: Euro where I had Simon Gault Alaskan King crab and prawn in jalapeno crème fraiche sauce topped with tuna wafer. This was probably the heaviest dish I had all day because the sauce was very thick, but it was delicious! I didn’t even know what tuna wafer was when I ordered it, but it looked like it was still alive because it was moving (I’m assuming it was because of the wind, but either way I still ate it.)  And there's no picture for this one because I inhaled it before I remembered to take one.

                And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the winner: Clooney where I had King Cole Duck Breast, pickled apple, maple & mustard. Yes, that’s right. I’ve finally completed a life-long dream of mine and had duck, and it was amazing! Tastes a bit like chicken. 

                While walking around, we saw this giant painting and a girl was working on the clouds in it. When we got closer, a guy came up and informed us that it was a paint by number version of the Goethe in der romischen Campagna by Johann H W Tischbein. They were promoting the exhibition of European Masters from the Stadel Museum which is now currently being shown in a New Zealand Museum for the next few months. The painting was basically completely finished, but I think he felt bad for us and asked us if we wanted to add to it. So Sam and I got to add a “second coat” to two small areas on the bottom of the painting. It was actually really cool just to add to it a little, knowing we painted that part. 

                Shockingly, I didn’t really have any desserts there, though Sam went back to the same cupcake stand three different times. I think they started to hide the free samples every time she starting coming near. After about four hours and 50 dollars later (eek), the festival was coming to an end. It was nice to be out for the day and somewhere new. I hadn’t even been to Victoria Park last time (that I know of…).