Book review: Jack Feels Big (plus a chance to win)

We in the Cake household feel pretty strongly about people being able to express their emotions in healthy ways - one of the main take-home lessons I got from a great book I reviewed last year was that boys in particular are often discouraged from dealing with their feelings, and are taught from a young age to bottle them up. So when I saw the (now completed) PledgeMe campaign for Jack Feels Big, I thought it was worth getting behind.

Obviously it's good for all children to have tools for managing their feelings, so this book definitely isn't just for boys, but I like that the lead character is male in this case. The author has aspirations to publish another version with a female lead, but unfortunately the initial funding didn't get far enough to achieve that - I daresay if this book does well that might not be too far off, though, so if you're interested keep an eye on the Jack Feels Big Facebook page for updates.

The book is comprised of five stories, each of which deals with an emotion children might struggle with. At the start there are some notes about how the book is intended to be used. The aim is to teach the vocabulary so that your child can express their feelings, and though each story has a resolution, understanding and communication are the main objectives. With that in mind, each feeling is given in Te Reo Maori and New Zealand Sign Language (with illustration) as well as in English.

Each story is simple but relatable - Jack feels overwhelmed by having to tidy his room, or frustrated that he can't complete his tower of blocks - and though our Little Monkey is a bit young to work through the reflection page at the end of each one, the simple narrative and bright pictures already appeal.

It's a simple concept but a very welcome addition to our bookshelf - and hopefully it will bring both enjoyment and understanding to our kids over time.

I've been given two copies to give away to one of you lucky folk (so you can keep one and give one to a friend), so if you think this would be a great addition for your bookshelf, hop over to my Facebook page and comment on the post there to get in the draw.

Alternatively, you can order the book directly from www.jackfeelsbig.nz, and until the 10th of May you can get 15% off using the code MrsCake. It's only $20 to start with so that's a pretty sweet deal!

My four favourite pregnancy and parenting books (with a strong science bias)

When I was pregnant with the Little Monkey, since it was an all new game for us, I was keen to hunt down the best resources to inform me for the path ahead.

So I read a heap of books, some of which I hated, some of which had a few good points in them, and a few (i.e. those listed below) which I devoured, which resonated with me, and which have made me feel more comfortable and in control of my parenting. If they were real books they'd be dog-eared and weathered by now because I have referred back to them on many occasions, but I primarily read on Kindle so the wear doesn't show.

Veteran parents are probably already laughing at me, because really you can't really know it until you're in the midst of it, and "control" becomes a much looser concept when there are small people in the mix. But I respond well to data: it makes me better able to cope with the unpredictable. It's how I think. If you're also data-driven and you're getting ready to start a family (or are just interested in the science) then you might enjoy some of these books.

All these books are packed full of data on various topics, and aren't judgemental or preachy - they just lay out the info for you to make a call on what's best for your family. There are lots of different ways of going about things and there isn't necessarily a right or wrong for everything - but feeling comfortable about your method helps make the journey more relaxing.

1. Expecting Better 

Written by economist Emily Oster, this looks at data on what pregnant women should and shouldn't do, and breaks down risks, myths and old wives' tales. Rather than prescribe a course of action, Oster presents the data in a digestible way and encourages the reader to make their own informed risk assessments and decisions.

My key learnings: recommended dietary restrictions for pregnant women are often overstated, and some matter a lot more than others; alcohol in moderation is most likely fine after the first trimester; most of the things people recommend to bring on labour don't work (but a couple have reasonable evidence). I also really liked the probability charts.

2. The Science of Mom

This is my most recent read (it only launched at the end of August), and I wish I'd had it earlier. Topics start at cutting the cord and run through milk, sleep and vaccines through to introducing solids. As with Expecting Better, the data is presented for the reader to draw conclusions from, and Callaghan weaves her own parenting experiences into the data which makes the book very relatable.

My key learnings: That the benefits of delayed cord clamping are very important for the iron levels of breastfed babies; food allergies are substantially more common in kids who have the potential allergens withheld until late infanthood.

3. Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue

A great book about how gender impacts on our kids - which I reviewed in great depth here. It's split into three sections. The first discusses the effect of sorting and labelling by gender on how we think about people. The second attempts to identify what the real differences are between boys and girls - hard to pin down, due to the effects of stereotype reinforcement. The third section looks at how we can use this information become better parents.

My key learnings: Individual personality is way more important than gender for determining what children will and won't like; gendered perceptions become pervasive for children at a very young age.

4. The Happy Sleeper 

Yep, a sleep training book. So I'm starting with a caveat: this is a very personal thing, and if sleep training is not for you, no worries! We worked out that it was going to be our thing when, after a long day with not much napping, I put the Little Monkey into his cot for a nap. He looked like he was drifting off... And then he started crying. I was at the end of my tether, so I took a deep breath and took the best piece of advice I got from our antenatal group: if you are pushed to your limits, leave the baby in a safe place (like the cot), close the door, and give yourself five minutes to calm down. At around four and a half minutes, just as I was about to go and get him up and cuddle him, he went to sleep. And had a lovely, long nap. Which we both needed. And woke up happy as anything.

After that we read up a little on gentle sleep training methods, and ended up using The Sleep Store's verbal reassurance, which was very effective. He learned the signals and words that meant it was time to sleep, and though there were a couple of stressful nights getting into the groove he has become a champion sleeper. I know this is partly temperamental - not all kids respond to this - but for us it was a life-saver.

So back to the book - I saw it recommended as a science based look at sleep training, and bought it without knowing what it recommended (hoping it wouldn't tell me my child would hate me forever!). It looks at the research on infant sleep but also the health of the family as a whole, which I think is very important. If the parents are exhausted and can't cope it will rub off on the kids. And then it goes on to discuss techniques that are appropriate for various ages. Though the methods don't differ much from The Sleep Store's VR, they are slightly gentler and there's more background info, which is helpful to refer back to when you're in the midst of it and questioning whether you're doing the right thing.

My key learnings: That the appearance of a long evening sleep is a strong signal that the baby's circadian rhythms are kicking in; the "soothing ladder" suggestions for young babies, that allow you to work through the least disruptive calming methods before picking up the baby.


I'd love to hear your recommendations - what did you rely on to get you through the fog? Any other great reads I should get into before the arrival of number two?

Links in this article are affiliate links so if you click through and buy a book you're supporting my blog. I only ever recommend things I happily spend my own money on though! :-) 

Roots Restaurant

While in Christchurch last week we had the opportunity to sneak off for a night out, a rare occurrence for us now that we have the Little Monkey in our midst. Since it is such an unusual treat for us we decided to apply a strategy of Go Big or Go Home, and booked ourselves in for the 12 course degustation at Roots Restaurant in Lyttelton.

Roots was the Cuisine magazine restaurant of the year this year, so came highly recommended, and has a simple, honest food ethic. Ingredients are either straight out of their own garden, or from local providers (foraged or sustainably farmed). Because everything is seasonal the menu is constantly changing, and there is no a la carte menu - you can choose between five, eight or 12 courses (and they will cater to dietary requirements), but what you are served is at the whim of the chef.

Because we went for 12 courses and detailing all of them would be pretty dull, I thought I'd just talk about a few highlights.

The first was the stellar view we had over Lyttelton Harbour. To fit 12 courses into our evening we started at 6pm, which was just as well because it took a full four hours. This gave us an ever changing scenic view, through twilight and into darkness with lights twinkling around the bay (and the port still busy beavering away).

The second was the lovely artwork - beautiful prints featuring native birds (and some slightly more quirky ones). I quite like the pair of huias but they're a bit out of our budget right now... Maybe there'll be an art budget when we've finished renovating (probably not. We'll probably keep spending all our spare money on delicious food).



And then there was the food. It was excellent, as you'd expect at this level of establishment; immaculately presented, delicate, interesting, varied. I especially liked that some of the dishes were vegetable centric - if you're having this many courses they don't all need to be meat.

Mr Cake's favourite course was quail egg with celeriac mash and spring onion (top centre). My top pick is hard to define - they were all pretty good, but pregnant lady hormones lead me to heavily favour the bread, which was fantastic (and came served with duck fat, happy days). The course served with bread was a duck egg yolk on a bed of beetroot and grains, which was great but (preggo problems) my egg got fully cooked due to my "delicate condition," and I was more than a little jealous of Mr Cake's oozy yolk (don't get me wrong - their attention to detail was awesome here... I'm just looking forward to the return of unrestricted eating).

The cheese course was also fantastic, with the house-made biscotti of particular note. I also appreciated the crockery of this course, since I grew up with this style of Temuka Pottery - family members will have enjoyed many a sausage roll off Mum's platters at Sunday Tea over the years.

And of course I have to give a nod to the three dessert courses. The last was my fave, and included a cookie (though soft enough to be spoonable) with milk wafers, which Mr Cake immediately likened to freeze-dried ice-cream. I haven't tasted the ice-cream in question, but I feel like this was probably better. (Unrelated: apparently, freeze-dried ice-cream, a.k.a. Astronaut Ice Cream, has only been used on one space mission, whereas regular ice-cream has been taken on several)

I'm not entirely convinced that 12 courses is the best option - there were two other couples near us having the eight course menu, and it seemed that the dishes they missed were the ones we liked least. It's also optional to add the cheese course to the eight course menu - so then there are only three courses you miss.

One other minor grumble - as is often the case non-alcoholic drinks were a bit lacking. I'm always aware of this because I'm not a big drinker at the best of times, though I'll usually have a glass of wine with a meal like this. There were only three non-boozy options on the menu, and I chose a freshly squeezed juice, but it was citrus and ended up overpowering the food a bit. Something a bit less powerful would have worked better with the delicate food. A small quibble but I would love if restaurants would provide better upmarket soft drinks.

It was a great meal though, fantastic service, a lovely view and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a fine dining experience in Christchurch.

Where was your most recent notable meal? Have you been to Roots?


Roots Restaurant is located at 8 London Street, Lyttelton, phone 03 328 7658, www.rootsrestaurant.co.nz

Hacking My Food Bag

My Food Bag is old hat these days, positively mainstream (well, in the corporate world anyway). When it arrived in Wellington we were pretty interested (I'd watched the fanfare when it launched in Auckland) and signed up immediately.

It is pretty pricey, but depending on your circumstances can still be beneficial. I thought I'd share my tips on how to get the best out of it, because although the concept is great I reckon there are a few things you can do to maximise the benefits.

1. Give it a try before deciding you're in it for the long term

There is no minimum term so you can try it once and never touch it again. It is largely cooking from scratch and not everyone has time for that (especially during the working week) so don't stress if it's not you. The flip side is that giving it a go once is pretty doable, so there's not much to lose.

2. Don't assume you have to get the bag "designed" for your family

Do what suits you! When we first got it there were just the two of us, but we chose the Classic bag, which is designed to serve 4-5 people. We had it delivered fortnightly, which allowed us to continue our well-established habit of only cooking every second day, and having leftovers in between - and it's cheaper. I recommend you look at all the options and if you're not sure, try a couple of different ones. 

3. Make notes on the recipes you like - and throw out the ones you don't

In my mind, expanding your cooking repertoire is one of the biggest benefits of My Food Bag. You could just buy a new recipe book, but if you're like me you'll make one or two of the recipes and then stash it away. My Food Bag essentially forces you to try lots of new recipes - but that doesn't mean you'll love them all. 

We found the flavours and quantities of the recipes great, but sometimes there's room to simplify the process. Example: anytime kebab sticks are used we ignore that step altogether. Quicker to prep, easier to cook and easier to eat (unrelated: does anyone have alternative uses for kebab sticks? We seem to have accumulated quite a few). 

There's also sometimes a level of luxury that we don't need for everyday dinners, e.g. an extra drizzle sauce or sour cream for serving - so I'll make a note that it's optional if I intend to make the dish again. 

4. Use it for a while, then stop

I reckon My Food Bag is most beneficial when used for seasons in life. If you're looking for a menu reset it might make sense. If you're trying to break a takeaway habit it'll probably save you money and get you eating more healthily. If you are working too many hours it can save you the thinking time on what to have for dinner. But the benefits start to abate after a while. 

Partly this is because cooking new recipes all the time is more difficult than having a regular rotation. And partly because once you form new cooking habits they become more automatic, and maybe you don't need the magical ingredient delivery anymore. 

I recommend thinking about how long you might do it for (e.g. 3 months, 6 months, a year) and then re-evaluating at the end of that time. Have a break and see how much you miss it. And when you're not reaping the benefits anymore, stop. 

Life after My Food Bag

We got the Classic bag fortnightly for about a year. These days we get a veggie box delivered, and then plan our dinner menu using My Food Bag recipes (we have a few old favourites that sneak in as well). I flick through the current season's recipes in the folder and flag the ones that work with the week's produce, then write a shopping list for the ingredients we don't have on hand. It works pretty well for us, and doesn't take that long to plan and shop (maybe 15 minutes or so to pick the meals, and a few extra minutes in the supermarket or on the Countdown website). 

I'm pretty sure that the veggie content of our meals has increased, so we're eating better, and we definitely have a lot more variety in our menu now. The Little Monkey eats pretty much everything, though occasionally we'll add some yoghurt to spicier meals to suit his palate - but there's no need for separate cooking.

I'd definitely get the deliveries again - maybe when our new family member arrives and we're getting new routines sorted - but for now we're good with our hacked solution.


Have you tried My Food Bag or any similar services? How did you find it?

Lovely little cakes from J'aime les Macarons

I've long been a fan of J'aime les Macarons - they definitely win at macarons. I'm yet to have any other macarons as good in New Zealand - and I have tried plenty. They featured on our wedding dessert table, and we try to make them appear at as many special occasions as we can (especially as a few family members can't have gluten, and macarons are gluten free). They're not limited to Cantabrians, either - they have stockists around the country, including Kirkcaldie & Stains in Wellington.

A few years ago they expanded their repertoire to include exquisite little cakes, and I'd be lying if I claimed this was the first time I'd tried them but just for you guys (ha!) we went there over the weekend (while in Christchurch for a wedding) to pick up a few to review (unfortunately these ones are only available in Christchurch).

From left; strawberry and vanilla layer cake; chocolate caramel tart; peach dome;
chocolate caramel layer cake; rhubarb, raspberry and pistachio Alaska

The chocolate caramel tart took my heart - it's incredibly rich so if that's not you then maybe go for one of the fruitier options. But if gooey caramel and rich, dark chocolate topped with crunchy chocolate pearls sounds appealing then we are kindred spirits and you should pop down to The Colombo at your earliest convenience and try one.

The mini baked Alaska is also pretty awesome, with flavourfully fruity raspberry mousseline and rhubarb compote hidden inside. I am a fan of all things textural, so I am always pleased to dig into a treat like this and discover layers of differing deliciousness inside.

They were all delicious, but the Alaska cake and the two chocolatey ones were definitely my picks of the five we tried. The range is changing all the time, but those three seem to be part of the core range, so maybe the classics trump the seasonal offerings... Or maybe my bias for chocolate is getting in the way of the sweet summer cakes. At any rate, none will disappoint.

Have you had any amazing cakes recently? And have you tried J'aime les Macarons' treats? 

J'aime les Macarons is located in The Colombo, 363 Colombo Street, Christchurch. Macarons are available from a number of other stockists throughout New Zealand and to order online from the website, www.jaimelesmacarons.co.nz. 

Ti Kouka: The Cake Family's Favourite Cafe

Ti Kouka is my favourite cafe. It's the best. It's like my second family. And they have great food.

When I was working in corporate land my office was just a few doors away, and so I would make a regular morning pilgrimage to get a hot chocolate and a scone (I don't drink coffee).

Their hot chocolates are magnificent - they feature some kind of magical spice blend which takes it far beyond what you expect from a cafe hot chocolate. Every time I get one of these delicious beverages the first sip is like coming home and sinking into a comfy sofa.

Their scones are always good, too, buttery and light. They usually have three or four flavours including a couple of cheese variants, but my pick is the date and caramel one. You have to be in early for them, though!

If a lunch date is more your thing a side of chips is pretty much required. You probably won't need the extra food but you do need to try these triple-cooked beauties. They come with ketchup, harissa and aioli so your sauce preferences should be covered, and they are impossibly fluffy inside while being crunchy and perfect outside. I have been know to skip the main menu and just have chips (in fact, Little Monkey is probably about 50% made of these chips, considering how many of them he made me eat before he was born).

Last time I was there for lunch I had the TK platter, which varies from day to day but is a generous array of all sorts of pickles and morsels along with plenty of Leeds St Bakery bread to schmear and dip.

These days my best shot at getting to TK is if I convince Mr Cake we're in need of a weekend family brunch outing. It's not a hard sell - usually I suggest it and he vehemently agrees. Or he suggests it and I vehemently agree. Either way, it's our go to.

They're pretty good at looking after (and doting on) the Little Monkey - they don't have a kids menu as such but are very happy to adapt to suit, so we usually just ask for a piece of bread and some jam for him. And for the grown-ups - well, there are heaps of delicious options on the brunch menu, but if pancakes are available I'm having pancakes! The specimens above are from our most recent brunch a week or so back, and featured candied mandarin, marscapone and a side of maple syrup (because all good cafes serve the maple syrup on the side so you can decide how much to pour). Mr Cake opted for the scaled up version, which added mandarin marmalade and bacon for a couple of dollars extra.

I reckon these guys do the best pancakes in Wellington (happy to test that assertion but I'm yet to find any that come close) and they change up the menu pretty regularly. Honorable mentions of the past go to the gingerbread pancakes (glory!) and the caramelised banana pancakes which came with chocolate pouring sauce and praline.

So basically, an all round rave review. I struggle to find anything bad to say about them - probably the worst thing is that their awesomeness is the worst-kept secret in Wellington so they tend to be pretty busy, so it pays to book if you're going at a peak time.

Do you have a favourite cafe that's like a second home to you?


Ti Kouka Cafe is located upstairs at 76 Willis Street, Wellington, phone 04 472 7682, www.tikouka-cafe.co.nz.

Book Review: Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue

When we were expecting the Little Monkey, though we found out we were having a boy at the 20 week scan, we decided not to tell anyone. One of our main reasons was that we didn't want people to think that everything in his life has to be blue. It was a bit superficial of us, but if you start looking at baby gear there is an extraordinarily strong blue/pink divide, to the point where, if shopping online, you usually have to click a gender category before viewing any products.

We didn't specifically want to avoid blue, or want him to wear only pink instead (nor were we wishing he was a girl); we just think that colours are an arbitrary (and irrelevant) way of categorising children.

(And for anyone who has had to ask if he is a boy or a girl, or has accidentally referred to him as a girl: we don't care, and neither does he. Please don't worry about it!)

Somewhat ironically, we ended up painting his first bedroom blue - we were going for a grey that would tone well with the existing blinds, but on the walls it looked blue. C'est la vie...

So that's a bit of context which will tell you why Christia Spears Brown's book Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes appealed to me.

When I bought it I thought it would probably be fairly hypothetical for us - I smugly thought I knew a fair bit about gender issues already, and also guessed the content might be more relevant for parents of girls. I was wrong.

The book is split into three parts. The first covers how we use gender to sort and label people, and how that changes how we think about people. The second section works to identify what the real differences are between boys and girls, versus those which appear through stereotype reinforcement (I found a lot of the findings here quite surprising). And the final section looks at how using gender as a category affects children, and how we can use the information available to us to become better parents.

The book covers many effects of gender categorisations, and some of these stunned me. It seems that a lot of the time we don't realise that we're using gender to influence our language or attitude, but kids, from a very young age, pick up on subtle signals and work to conform with what they think is the right option.

Although initially Christia seems quite extreme, it quickly becomes apparent that while she is aware of the various pressures applied to children, she has a pragmatic approach to dealing with them. She's not into making a big fuss in public, but encourages thoughtful discussion of the stereotypes as appropriate.

It's also a very readable book - though it's thought-provoking and packs a lot of solid science in (the reference section at the back is substantial!), it's also enjoyable and relatable.

The main point I took away was really that gender, while a category which can be used to sort people into groups, is far less valuable as a sorting mechanism than many individual characteristics, and that where possible it's best to avoid boy/girl divides and instead rely on actual personality traits.

Our main objective, as I'm sure is true for most parents, is to enable our child to be the best he can be. If he is a naturally sporty, mechanically minded person then perhaps we don't need to worry about the pervasive stereotypes - but we can't possibly know that about him yet, and if he, say, prefers sewing to rugby then they may stifle him.

Though I'm sure having read this book won't make us perfect parents, hopefully it will make some minor improvements in the way we support our child's learning. I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids or is interested in gender issues - a fascinating read.



Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes is available from Amazon.com (affiliate link). 

Burger Wellington - Five Burroughs

Despite having a whole house impatiently waiting for us to renovate it, we're trying to achieve family balance by making sure that we have at least one weekend day every week where we don't put our work clothes on or hang out at Bunnings.

We're still kind of new at this family thing, but we have worked out that it's quite good to do something other than sit inside with us all playing with our respective toys all day long (of course kids aren't necessary for that to hold true... It's just harder to get out the door once you have them and for us anyway that means we have to be a bit more intentional about it).

Yesterday we were thinking of heading down to the local playground, but that happens to be right on the south coast, and there was a fairly brisk southerly waiting to chill us to the core, so Plan A lost its gloss.

Luckily, it happens to be Wellington on a Plate season, which means that Wellington's already awesome eateries are all busy upping their game. Mr Cake's colleagues have been working hard to make him jealous by eating as many burgers as possible (the festival started on Friday and by Friday night one workmate had already had tried two), so it seemed only right that we seek out a tasty burger.

After some slightly hangry web-trawling (tip: don't leave the decision making until mealtime) we settled on Five Burroughs, as they had an interesting-sounding burger and we hadn't been there before.

It's always a bit of a gamble taking a wriggly and hungry toddler to a restaurant or cafe. Many cater well to kids but some don't at all - and fair enough, some places aren't aimed at the family market - but you can't always tell which is which until you get there.

Five Burroughs didn't seem to have high chairs, which I guess means they're not super excited when a smeary baby comes in the door (who is?), though bigger kids would probably be pretty happy here. Our whippersnapper (let's call him Little Monkey Cake) was happy enough there but did try to destroy both the venetian blinds and some of the art before we distracted him with food.

Service-wise they were great - just attentive enough, and (a definite win in parenting-land) brought out Little Monkey's burger very quickly.

As well as their "Some Sort of Burger" - Wild venison patty, truffled Kingsmeade Ngawi brie, exotic mushrooms, black garlic mayo, and foraged blackberry ketchup in a Zaida's squid ink milk bun - we ordered the buttermilk fried chicken, truffled fries, and a Bam Bam Baklava milkshake (how could we not?). And a kid's burger for Little Monkey.  

The shake was delicious, with lashings of honey and nuts as you'd expect. I thought it could have been improved with a touch of butter (for the true baklava experience) as the honey was a bit sweet, but I guess there's a very fine balance between serving a flavoured milk beverage and pureeing a dessert and perhaps the latter is not so desirable after all. 

Some Sort of Burger was excellent, with a succulent, well-cooked patty and a rich umami flavour thanks to the intriguing wild mushrooms. The garlic mayo and truffled brie melted into the other flavours, and the blackberry ketchup, served on the side, went well with the burger, though we just added it all to the burger. It was served with a few crisps but these were just okay. 

The fried chicken was pretty good - perfectly cooked meat and lovely crispy coating, though it was a little bland. You can choose between gravy and maple syrup to accompany, and I went with the gravy but think perhaps the syrup would have been a better match. 

The truffled fries were tasty, perfectly cooked with a good truffley flavour... Sadly we couldn't finish them, despite a solid effort by both myself and the Little Monkey.  

All in all it was a pretty awesome Sunday lunch, and it was good to introduce the small person to the marvels of Wellington on a Plate - start as you mean to go on, I say. And we still squeezed in some playtime at the cool Waitangi Park playground afterwards. An all-around win!

Have you tried any burgers yet this year?


Five Burroughs is located at the corner of Roxburgh and Marjoribanks Streets, Mt Victoria, Wellington, fiveboroughs.co.nz

The Colour of Food, by Anne Else

I met Anne Else about three years ago, at a food blogger gathering, when there were only a handful of us in Wellington and it was a bit of a weird thing to do (at least back then when I told people I had a blog I then had to explain it and usually they still didn’t really get it!). Anne was delightful and embracing the modern despite (I hope she doesn’t mind me mentioning her age!) being a generation or more older than most of the rest of us. In fact, it has made her blog more interesting and perhaps more real in some ways – where the 20-somethings are fanciful and impractical Anne is grounded (but far from boring) and has many more stories to tell.

So when Anne announced she was writing her food memoir I was pretty keen to read it - I love biographies and they're even better when there's a personal connection. Despite looking forward to its release (and as luck would have it got a pre-release copy for review, so didn’t have to wait as long as I thought), I hadn’t quite anticipated how she would draw me in with her incredibly vivid storytelling - I ended up reading the whole thing in less than 24 hours. The meals she served up made me feel like part of her family, and starting on familiar ground (her oh-so-Kiwi-childhood in Auckland) somehow meant when she travelled to Albania with her young family I went along for the journey, even though I don't have much common ground there! Her experiences are rich and varied, she is open and honest, and the emotions - at both ends of the spectrum - reach out of the book and grab you the whole way through.

If you enjoy food and/or memoirs I definitely recommend this - and as an eBook it's very affordable. If you don't have an eReader you can read it on your laptop, tablet, or even smartphone - I read on my iPad at home and on my phone on the bus on the way home from work. The only drawback to the book being in this format is that the adorable cover photo of a young Anne is not seen so much on an eBook as it might be on a bookmarked hard copy on the coffee table!

Are you an eBook fan, or do you prefer being able to turn pages the old-fashioned way?

The Colour of Food is available in eBook format via the following links: Kobo     Amazon     iBooks

Chocolate Degustation at Chameleon

One of the (okay, many) things I was sad to miss during last year's Wellington on a Plate was the chocolate degustation at Chameleon, so when Mr Cake asked me where we should have dinner on Monday night it was top of my list of things to do. In the very early days of the blog we went to a three course chocolate dinner at Vivant, which was interesting, but not particularly impressive. This one was a different story, though. :-D

The first course was an aperitif, a shot of Tuatara London Porter with Valrhona 66% chocolate. The cracker on top was delicious, particularly the cheese which was good and strong. The porter was okay but isn't really my thing so Mr Cake got extra - he loved it (disclaimer: I'm not too much of a fan of the hoppy/malty flavour profile. And it wasn't bad, which is pretty much high praise from me).

The next course was scallops, poached in pinot noir and served on swede mash. And yes, a little chocolate on top, as well as some dehydrated ginger. We weren't too impressed by this one - the swede was a little on the sweet side and the scallops were quite bland. But fear not - things are looking up!

Course 3 is a chorizo lasagne, which was rich and morish, with the chocolatey sauce balancing out the spicy sausage. A nice twist on comfort food.

Of the savoury courses (and they were generally pretty savoury, in case anyone was worried) the main was definitely the star, though. The venison chop was succulent and tender, green beans (which were cooked just so, crunchy and fresh) have never been so welcome, and the pie - I can only hope that Chameleon might keep this on their menu a little longer. The filling is beautifully cooked, hearty, rich, chocolatey, meaty, and the mashed potato topping is crispy on the outside and fluffy within, and melds perfectly with the filling. My biggest complaint: too much food! It mightn't look like much but the gigantic plate distorts reality almost as much as eating it distorted my belly. ;-)  (full disclosure: I actually left some of the pie filling, for fear I might not be able to enjoy dessert which would clearly have been a disaster)

And speaking of dessert - oh my word! It was AMAZING. Caps are necessary. It was described as a mille-feuille of Valrhona Ivoire parfait and Kapiti marscapone with Ivoire mousse and a bitter orange salad. Translated, that reads: utter deliciousness, perfectly balanced sweet with bitter, creamy with crisp, rich with tangy. The parfait itself was a delight to eat, and the oranges/orange foam/orange zest made great accompaniments. The dark chocolate pouring sauce (which we think might have featured Grand Marnier) was scrummy too. I wanted to lick my plate clean (I didn't though).

So the dessert - I would go back for anytime. The waitress expressed surprise we had finished it - personally, I can't see how we could have not finished it. Even Mr Cake, who was disappointed to see the dessert was white chocolate centred, polished it all off.

The chocolate degustation is on until the 26th of August, so you only have a few more days. It's $85 per person, which I think is pretty good value. My advice if you're worried about running out of belly real estate would be to ease up on the swede mash, and make sure you save room for dessert.

What have you eaten as part of this year's Wellington on a Plate? I can't wait for the Food Bloggers' Conference this weekend, which incorporates the Chocolate Festival - and I guess next week I'll be on salad and soup in preparation to pay penance. ;-)



The chocolate degustation is available at Chameleon in the Intercontinental Hotel, 2 Grey Street, Wellington, until 26 August 2012. Ph 04 495 7841, http://www.chameleonrestaurant.co.nz/

Lunch with Chef Wan and the Malaysia Kitchen Night Market

Unbelievably Wellington on a Plate is drawing to a close for another year - though I'm sad it's almost finished my body is slightly relieved, as my food consumption has been a bit excessive over the last couple of weeks and I have that permanent sort of food baby feeling going on. However, it's not over till it's over, and the grand finale is the Malaysia Kitchen Night Market tomorrow.

Today I was fortunate enough to have lunch at Kayu Manis with a munch (that's the collective noun for a group of food bloggers, as defined by Jo from Wellingtonista) of lovely ladies and the great Chef Wan, to prepare my tastebuds for tomorrow and to further enhance my food baby.

Having Chef Wan at the table was not only highly entertaining (he talks a mile a minute) but very informative - he really is an ambassador for Malaysian food, and as we ate he told us about ingredients and variations on each of the dishes we were trying.

For example, as we ate the cucur udang (prawn fritters) he told us that these are an everyday snack in Malaysia, and are treated as breakfast or perhaps as a teatime snack. Fillings can be varied, and apparently when made for children for breakfast anchovy is often used instead of prawn - I can't help imagining the reaction I would have given my mother if she'd tried to substitute fish for my cornflakes when I was a kid! ;-)

If you're dining at Kayu Manis and get to sit downstairs you can watch the roti being made. When the chef started on this our food-obsessed table all got up and swarmed around to watch - it's an impressive process, with a great deal of skill (sadly the really impressive bits are performed too quickly for me to capture without huge amounts of blurring, so you'll have to go see for yourself), and the resulting roti are amazingly fluffy and very authentic according to Chef Wan (who would know!). 

 

While the bloggerati were busy snapping the roti action Chef Wan turned the tables on us and whipped out his camera - so I created an infinite loop by photographing him photographing me photographing him...

Once we were done snapping pictures of each other we returned to the table for the main part of our meal. The mains were all so very, very good - the fish sambal was full of huge pieces of crunchy fried fish and the sambal sauce was lovely, and the rendang (which I've had before) has a lovely rich flavour, though is a little dry for my liking. The star for me was the lamb kuzi - it's the unpretty dish in the middle above, but it well and truly made up for its looks with flavour. The sauce for this dish is made with raisins and milk or yoghurt, and the sauce was creamy and rich, with incredibly tender lamb - just fantastic!

In case you're wondering what a "munch" looks like, this is us, with Chef Wan hamming it up in our midst - such a friendly soul!

Chef Wan will be demonstrating at the night market tomorrow, and there'll be various stalls with food available for purchase. It's in Opera House Lane, so hopefully will be nicely sheltered from any crazy weather conditions Wellington chooses to throw at us, and sounds like a great afternoon/evening out - hopefully I might see you there!

What Wellington on a Plate events/restaurants have you been to? Are you using tomorrow as a final opportunity to squeeze some eating in?




The Malaysia Kitchen Night Market is tomorrow, Sunday 21st August, 4pm-7pm in Opera House Lane, Wellington. The event is free and food is available from $5. Mrs Cake dined at Kayu Manis as a guest of the Malaysia Kitchen programme.

My Chocolate Tour of Christchurch (and Ashburton)

Having done chocolate tours of Melbourne and Wellington it seemed only right that I explore the chocolates available in my hometown. We're back in Christchurch pretty regularly and it's fair to say that I am reasonably familiar with the local options but I'll take any excuse to purchase the stuff. It is interesting trying different chocolates at the same time (I certainly wouldn't normally have all these different ones at once!) and if you're in Wellington next weekend it's been made easy for you - the inaugural New Zealand Chocolate Festival is on so they'll all be in the same place at once! 

First on the Christchurch list was Theobroma, which is upstairs in Westfield Riccarton. Theobroma is a chain of stores, appearing in quite a few malls around the country (and in Australia and Malaysia), and I understand they have great hot chocolates. I was only after the boxed chocolates, though - it does always seem to be super busy, which is a great endorsement of the product but puts me off a wee bit, especially choosing a box of individual chocolates.

The chocolates at Theobroma (at their New Zealand stores at least) are made by Van H, which you may be familiar with under their own brand as well as under the Theobroma label. Van H made the chocolates which you could (and presumably will be able to again when it reopens) get from Ballantynes and I was a bit disappointed they were going to be precluded from my tour so was pleased that Theobroma could provide. 

The chocolates are very nice - good quality chocolate and nice fillings - and err on the sweet side, which is fine by me but some dark chocolate fans might not be so happy. My top picks are the Baileys one (the white cone) and the hazelnut praline heart. All the chocolates are good, though none are exceptional and as the pricing is at the top end of the scale ($29.95 for 12) they wouldn't be my first choice. Not to be sniffed at but not top of the class - and they lose points for not securing the box closed, so that the lid fell off in transit and the chocolates got a bit beaten up.

The following day we headed off to Dunedin (we had planned to visit the other Christchurch chocolate shops before setting out, but the snow thwarted us), and though Ashburton isn't quite Christchurch it's not big enough to have its own chocolate tour and I figure it's close enough, so we stopped in at Bullrush Chocolates.

The store is really interesting - quite small but crammed full of all sorts of things, including 100% pure chocolate from Willie's Cacao (we were very tempted to get some but managed to refrain) and lots of fun memorabilia as well. We were focused on the chocolate cabinet, though, and selected an assortment to take home.

At $20 for a box of 12 this was the cheapest chocolate box, though most of the chocolates were solid with the flavour infused into the chocolate rather than the fussier filled variety, which probably explains the price difference. The flavours were all very good, though quite subtle and in some cases (such as with the raspberry wasabi) utterly delicious yet nearly impossible to identify the flavour. These are more serious, I guess - good dark chocolate with grown-up (yet playful) flavours, so if you're more a fan of the dark side these will suit you well.

The only negative was that despite being solid some of the chocolates were as thick as soft-centred chocolates, which made them hard to bite through. Plenty of people I know would solve that problem by popping the whole thing in their mouth at once, but if you aim to share perhaps arm yourself with a sharp knife and a chopping board! Overall very good, though, with different and interesting flavours to tantalise the tastebuds.

The third stop, after returning to Christchurch, was She Chocolat in Governors Bay. You might recall I went on their Chocolate Tour late last year, so I'm definitely familiar with their chocolates.

The location is stunning and the restaurant serves brunch and lunch so if you want to venture to Governors Bay you can make a day of it - if that's a bit far (or, like me, you don't enjoy driving over the hills!), they tend to have a stall at the Christchurch Farmers Market at Riccarton House on Saturday mornings, and pop up in various other places fairly frequently too.

I bought a pre-packaged box from She, because the selection was pretty close to what I would have chosen anyway, and I reckon these are the best chocolates in Christchurch. Every flavour seems well balanced and you can taste the thought and care that's gone into honing the fillings. "She" is white chocolate with a filling of raspberry and dark chocolate with rosewater, and I have to say though rosewater often seems a bit strange to me that this combination is great. "He" is a buttery caramel in dark chocolate and is swoon-worthy. Other notables are the salty Velvetine and the lime and black pepper chocolate - but they're all very good. The box of 12 is $30 and I think well worth it - I would possibly fall in love with anyone bestowing a box of these on me (don't tell Mr Cake) (maybe I overstated that a little, but now you know how to get in my good books!).

Last but definitely not least is De Spa, based in Ferrymead. De Spa is the longest-established fancy chocolate purveyor in Christchurch - they've been there since 1992 and I remember as a kid eyeing up a box Dad had bought Mum for some occasion and wishing they were all mine. ;-)

Ferrymead is an area that was hit pretty badly by the February 22 earthquake, and damage is very evident driving out there - the road is full of potholes, there's a bit of a detour down Ferry Road, and many of the buildings are red- or orange-stickered. De Spa fortunately is still operational, though they lost a ton and a half of chocolate on that dreadful day, but due to other buildings nearby needing demolition and complicated regulations to do with flood plains and the like there is a rebuild on the horizon. I'm sure the flow of chocolate will not cease, though - Philippe De Spa and his team will see to that!

The range of chocolates De Spa offer is huge, and it took me a while to choose my twelve. Quite a few of the chocolates have boozy fillings, which I'm not such a fan of, so that helped whittle down the choice and I got there in the end (sometimes I'm not very good at making these sorts of important decisions!). The box was $24, which is pretty good for these kind of chocolates, especially all prettied up.

The chocolates were good - the Amaretto one (my token liqueur choice) was quite strong, and though I like Amaretto was still a bit much for me. The gianduja and orange cream were both good - in both cases I chose a similar-but-different version of the same flavour (hazelnut truffle and orange heaven) and found the aforementioned ones to be my preferred option. My top picks were the honey truffle and the vanilla cream - both very sweet and very enjoyable, the honey with a strong, true honey flavour, and the vanilla cream with layers of white, milk and dark chocolate encasing the soft vanilla centre.

De Spa is good value, and there are so many chocolates in the range there's something for everyone. Their chocolate is also available in quite a few places around the country, so you don't have to be in Christchurch to get a fix - see their website for details.

I understand Bullrush, She and De Spa will be represented at the Chocolate Festival, along with lots of others, so if you haven't scoped that out yet and you're a Wellington-based chocoholic I recommend you investigate - tickets are $20 and it sounds like a good chocolatey day out. Are you thinking of going?

Have I missed any great Christchurch/Canterbury chocolatiers?



Theobroma, Bullrush, She Chocolat, and De Spa are in various locations around Canterbury - see the websites for locations and stockists.