Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:26a.m.
By Lyn Potter
We managed to find that rare commodity, a dog friendly bach at Snell’s beach, less than an hour’s drive out of Auckland if you use the Puhoi motorway. It was the perfect place for a week’s holiday with 1 Labrador and 3 granddaughters in tow. It had a fenced garden fringed with banana palms, cabbage trees, flax and a tui singing at dawn.
The days soon passed, filled with barbecued sausages wrapped in white bread with tomato sauce, ice creams, dog walks, swims, sandcastles and playgrounds. We noticed lots of other grandparents at the beach looking after their grandkids. The baby boomers have changed into baby minders, and they obviously love it!
Favourite doggie spots (which the kids enjoyed too) Snells beach and Martin’s Bay (before 9 am and after 7 pm. during daylight saving), Point Wells fringed with pohutakawas and flax on the seaward side, and Scott’s Landing where an old hotel stood sentinel on a grassy verge near the water.
As a special treat we drove to Matakana one day and sampled the ice-cream at Blue. The others declared that their ice creams made from blueberries sourced from the family organic orchard were gorgeous. But I went for the liquorice ice-cream studded with little black nuggets, delicious!
When our provisions ran out there was no shortage of food to be bought. At a tiny roadside stall we bought beans and courgettes and strawberries picked early that morning. My foodie nose also led us to a great gourmet larder called Market Providores in the Mahurangi Shopping Centre in Snell’s Beach. There were fresh fruit and vegetables, breads and a sizeable collection of artisan food products from throughout New Zealand. But what caught my eye were the delicious freshly baked goodies, made in the commercial kitchen at the back of the shop.
One of the most popular items (the chocolate caramel squares) looked seriously tempting, but having packed on a few kilos over Christmas I settled for a banana hotcake and a banana muffin (never mind the butter and sugar, there’s always goodness in fruit!) The hotcakes were light and not too sweet, and the muffins had plenty of blueberries and a true banana flavour.
I was intrigued by the fact that such a gourmet larder had found its way to Snell’s Beach? How did it come to be there? Being a bit of a culinary sleuth I soon found out more from Barbara Souter who runs it. It has been up and running for 3 years.
Rob Murphy, Barbara’s partner formed links with the area, which he loves, more than 50 years ago when his Epsom parents put a caravan on a section in Archie’s Bay and the family came up during the school holidays. Later they retired there and left Rob enough of a legacy to start Market Providores. A good location as Snell’s Beach has a bigger population than adjoining Warkworth.
Barbara Souter, who formerly managed the Matakana Village Farmer’s market, is not a professional chef (her background is in public relations and marketing) but she has long loved entertaining at home. She also did a course on permaculture and grows all her own veggies. After travelling through India several times she wrote a book on Indian fare.
Most of her customers are locals. They were coming in the door in droves while we were there.
If they need advice on how to use her products Barbara is more than happy to give it. And if they need a bag to carry their stuff home, she also sells Trade Aid and Fixit bags which promotes sustainable and ethical shopping, something she is passionate about.
That evening we had a great dinner with friends who live locally. We started with ciabatta bread and a mint and feta dip (from Market Providores) and then onto the mains. Our host
Craig barbecued some fresh snapper he had caught earlier in the day from the waters off Little Barrier Island. He dipped the fillets in egg and then coated them in crispy Japanese Panko breadcrumbs (recommended by Barbara). Then he placed them on the barbecue and lightly seasoned them with Manuka Smoked Gourmet Sea Salt made by Pacific Harvest. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice completed the dish. Cooked in this way the delicate flavour of the snapper was not overpowered by the seasoning.
The snapper was accompanied by oven potato chips, a hot courgette dish and salad, and home made meringues with strawberries for dessert. It was a memorable meal!
Having had such a great time at Snell’s Beach we plan to return soon to sample those chocolate caramel squares. Well worth a visit!
You can find Market Providores at Shops 6-7,
Mahurangi Shopping Centre,
Snells Beach, ph: 09-425 5815
Barbara kindly provided the recipe for Banana Hot Cakes. This recipe will make several batches.
Banana Hot Cakes
Ingredients:
100 g butter
2 cups of sugar
2 tbsp milk
3 cups of flour
2 tsp vanilla essence or 2 1/2 cm of grated ginger
6 bananas
3 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Caramel Sauce
50 gm butter
150 gm brown sugar
1 extra banana per 6 hotcakes.
Method:
In a food processor cream the butter and sugar, then add the bananas and whizz again to mix.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and vanilla essence.
Add this to the creamed mixture,
Mix in the eggs,
Add the flour and baking powder.
Put the batter into a container.
Seal it airtight with glad wrap until ready to use.
Make the caramel sauce by cooking 50gm butter and 150 gm of brown sugar slowly until it is caramelized.
To make each batch of 6 hotcakes cut a banana into small cubes.
Divide over 6 patty tins.
Add a spoonful of the caramel mixture to each.
Then pile some cake mixture on top and bake in a moderate oven until golden brown (about 10-12 minutes). They will rise to a dome shape.