Kate Coughlan’s Foodie Favourites

The first in our series of Foodie Favourites, an insight into the food experiences which have shaped Kiwi food lovers and producers. Here NZ Life & Leisure editor Kate Coughlan shares her food story.

Your Favourite Recipe Book?

That’s like asking ‘Which child is your favourite?’ Simply can’t choose. My most recent cookbook purchase is Homecooked by Lucy Corry, The Kitchen Maid, editor of NZ Life & Leisure Taste section, and a judge for the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards. I picked up Homecooked in a bookstore, found myself laughing loudly while reading her text. It was as though I was sitting with Lucy sharing a chuckle and eager to get cooking.

What’s your Favourite Kitchen Utensil?

My zester is an equal first to the Asian vegetable grater given to me by the wonderful Plaa Corrigan of Waikawa. Plaa taught my sister Annie and I how to make a Thai Salad and then gave us each a special grater. That utensil, and the zester, always remind me of wonderful times cooking and of the uplifting impact of zested citrus.

What’s your Favourite ‘Go To’ Recipe?

Slow-cooked brisket (12 hours for a whole brisket) smothered in smoked paprika and a little chilli, served on a shared table with a pile of slider buns, Nadia Lim’s braised red cabbage, finely chopped kale salad, thin slices of gherkin and horseradish. A good winter crowd-pleaser. I replace beef with smoked salmon for the fish-aquarians and smoked tofu for the vegans.

What’s your Favourite NZ ingredient?

Gosh, another curly one: Salmon or cheese? Really, this decision kills me. But I think I’d go for salmon. When I was a vegan, for three years, I dreamed equally of smoked salmon and grilled cheese.Those dreams ended my veganism as I couldn’t bear the thought of life without ever eating smoked salmon again - or was it grilled cheese sandwich I couldn’t live with? Can’t choose..

What’s your most memorable meal?

Oysters, soda bread and a half-pint of Guinness at a small restaurant on the banks of Galway Bay in southern Ireland. The cook ran down a narrow path to a shed on the water’s edge and returned with a bucket of drippingly fresh oysters for the lunch I was sharing with my friend Bev Doole. Twenty-something years ago and I can still taste the briny, salty deliciousness and the satisfying maltiness of the beer. Oddly enough I have never drunk Guinness since. Then again, there’s the memory of a Caprese Salad, eaten while overlooking the island of Capri from Massa Lubrense (near Sorrento). My host was someone’s cousin from Island Bay and he’d dashed outside to pluck tomatoes, still warm from the sun, sliced them and a lump of mozzarella, sprinkled red wine vinegar over them before dousing the dish liberally with olive oil, salt and a handful of basil leaves. He then poured me a kitchen tumbler of homemade red wine. Ahh, if I had died right then, I’d have gone straight to heaven.