By James Murray
Rick Stein spent his 21st birthday in New Zealand with nothing but crayfish and a pack of dogs for company.
The renowned food writer, presenter and chef, in New Zealand touring his stage show “A Food Odyssey”, had blagged a lift into Kaikoura while travelling.
He says the boot of his driver’s car was reverberating with noise and it was only when they stopped at the seaside town, the owner revealed it was packed to the brim with eight dogs.
Fresh Kaikoura crayfish is the sort of simple seafood that gets Stein enthused about New Zealand cooking. It is community cooking – something he enjoys more as he gets older.
“I do get a bit pissed off with ‘cheffy’ cooking to be honest,” he says.
“Local food is so much better as far as I am concerned.”
“There is a place for experimental cooking but for me, food is like language – it’s about the persona of the community you belong to.”
Stein has travelled to New Zealand five times and says he has monitored the change in the way the country views its food.
When he first came, the only thing worth eating was the ice cream and the fish, Stein says.
“I remember that nobody had any money – you had to use foreign currency to buy a car!”
But today things are different.
“Everywhere I go the food is civilised,” he says after remarking on the quality of our Pinot Noir.
A reporter asks him whether he thinks we do anything wrong in New Zealand – gastronomically-speaking.
“Nothing really,” he replies. “There is a serious wish to know more about the produce and cooking available.”
It’s all part of what Stein sees as a global move towards a better appreciation of food, although that hasn’t extended to British coffee.
“Coffee in the UK is basically rubbish, it’s not just about the coffee and beans you have to train people to do it properly,” he says.
“I still, at home, try to cook the perfect fillet of fish – it’s endlessly beguiling, you can never get it quite right,” he says, knowing that dedication is the key to perfection.
Excitingly, Stein said he was interested in recording a series on Australian and New Zealand food culture – he just has to “persuade the BBC to shell out”.
But before that happens you can see him live at the Aotea Centre. Tomorrow’s show is sold out but there are still tickets available for his matinee show on Thursday.
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