The remainder of my time on the north island, was hectic and adrenaline fuelled. Starting slowly, we made a trip to Hobbiton, the set used in the Lord of Rings movies. Although I have watched all six of the Peter Jackson-helmed films, I never considered myself a rabid fan, but the set visit was a real highlight. From there it was in to Rotorua where I visited a Maori village, where I was elected Chief of the visiting tribe by my fellow travellers. This meant I had to greet the villages Chief, dance the Haka and sing a song native to my homeland. I chose Wannabe by the Spice Girls, naturally! Next, we ventured on to Taupo where I hiked 12 miles up and along a volcanic ridge, in the shadow of mount doom. That same day I dove out of a plane at 12,000 feet. Frankly the experience was one of the most mind-blowing and exciting of my travels so far, though quite honestly my friends and I were so exhausted from the hike that it all felt a little dreamlike. We ended our north island tour in Wellington, where we stayed for three days for a well deserved rest.
During this period of my travels I was in extreme money saving mode – jumping out of planes isn’t cheap. So a lot of the time I ate instant noodles, peanut butter sandwiches or cooked cheap meals like bolognese and burritos. I did enjoy one superb meal however, when visiting the Maori village. Known as a Hāngi, the meal consisted of roasted meats and vegetables, that had been cooked in an underground fire pit. This process lent the food a moreish smokey quality, that went surprisingly well with the Anglo-Kiwi additions of stuffing and gravy. As much as I would love to include these recipes on my blog, I do not feel adequetly experienced to teach you all how to make a fire pit in your back garden. Instead I will focus on the dessert – the Pavlova. The Kiwis and the Aussies have long contested the origins of this simple meringue based dish, but I tend to side with the people of New Zealand on this one.
In order to make a pavlova, with the necessary billowy, mallow like centre is simple. The addition of vinegar and cornflour is all it takes to make a soft, chewy meringue. And to top it all off – what could be more authentic than the Kiwi fruit!
Level: easy
Methods: whisking method, italian meringue
Skills: baking
Time: 4 hours (including cooling time)
Makes: feeds 8-10
Ingredients
For the meringue:
4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the topping:
2-3 kiwi fruit, skinned and sliced horizontally
2-3 passion fruit, seeds and pulp only
2 tbsp icing sugar
350ml double cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 130C.
2. Using a pencil, mark out the circumference of a dinner plate on baking parchment.
3. Whisk the egg whites with a electric hand mixer until they form stiff peaks, then whisk in the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until the meringue looks glossy and stiff peaks form.
4. Quickly whisk in the vinegar, cornflour and vanilla.
5. Spread the meringue inside the circle, creating a crater by making the sides a little higher than the middle. (Kiwi Pavlovas tend to be tall with straight sides like those in the picture.)
6. Bake for 1 hr, then turn off the heat and let the Pavlova cool completely inside the oven.
7. When the meringue is cool, whip the cream and icing sugar together, to form soft peaks. Spread it over the meringue.
8. Arrange the kiwi fruit slices on top of the cream and then haphazzardly drizzle over the passion fruit pulp.
Mastication / Destination 