Jul 12, 2024 Metro Eats
Over the past few months, the familiar assortment of winter colds, flus, Covid-19, and other unpleasant viruses has spread through my social circles. I’ve been holding my breath (sometimes literally), waiting for my inevitable turn to get sick. After managing to dodge them all for months, I began to wonder if my evasion reflected something special about my immune system. Could I have super strength immunity? Maybe it’s all the vitamins I take, or the Berocca I have in the morning, the cloves of raw garlic I eat while cooking, the fact that I wear a mask on the bus, or even something genetic?
Then, as if on cue, I woke up on Monday morning with all the classic symptoms of winter ailments: a fever, sore throat, and sniffles. Those viruses I’d managed to avoid for so long had finally caught up with me. Consequently, I’ve spent most of this week either asleep on the couch or watching YouTube videos (also on the couch).
I’m never more hungry than when I’m sick. The proof of this is in my Youtube history from the last week which shows video after video of people eating enormous seafood boils, episodes of Parts Unknown, and convenience store mukbangs. This is to say, in my sniffly state, I thought a lot about food. Not just because I was especially hungry, but because of the kinds of foods I turned to while sick.
The whole idea of food as medicine is an interesting one. Humans have long considered the relationship between food and health. In Western societies, the connection between food and health has been fragmented through the advent of industrialization, chemical pesticides, and cultural homogenization. The rise of Western medicine, which tends to approach health in a more compartmentalized way compared to, say, indigenous or Eastern traditions, has also added to this detachment. At the same time, we’re seeing a growing sense of food as medicine, unfortunately in a largely individualised fashion, by way of superfoods, the emphasis on health foods and organic products, and canned drinks that are (apparently) good for your immunity or gut health or brain.
I’ve come out of my four days off being sick believing that there are three general philosophies of eating while sick. One camp eats whatever they want, with little to no consideration for how particular foods might aid or worsen an illness. The second opts for clean, soothing foods like broths and rice. I belong to the third group: the attack method. If I’m sick I’m consuming shots of lemon juice, cloves of garlic, hot sauce on everything, and Pocari Sweat all in the name of pummeling whatever virus I have. I will often have the obligatory chicken soup, but always with a hefty amount of chilli. And when my illness is at its worst, nothing but an extraordinarily spicy bowl of tom yum suffices. I’m still not entirely sure which of the three camps is the most useful, but I will say that I felt about ten times better after eating that tom yum.
P.S. Last week I bought a copy of Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food, a recently published cookbook by Fadi Kattan. While I haven’t been able to cook any of the recipes yet, I’ve read and flicked through a lot of it over the past week and it’s a truly beautiful book.
P.P.S. We have a new issue of the magazine arriving very, very soon – more on that next week.
Comings and goings.
Nehad Albattniji, who has until recently been operating a Palestinian catering company called Nehad Catering, opened a brick-and-mortar shop this week in Manurewa. Called Zaitoon Kebab and Grill and located in the South Mall food court, it has kebabs (which I’ve heard are wonderful) and a range of charcoal-grilled proteins with salads — I’d love to see his legendary knafeh pop up there once in a while too.
The Good Luck Club, a new diner-esque restaurant in Takanini, opened this week. It’s open seven days from mid-morning till night, with an Americana-inspired menu of sandwiches, hotcakes, fried chicken, pecan pie, mac ’n’ cheese, shakes and filter coffee, as well as a selection of cocktails, wine and beer.
There’s a very new and very small casual Chinese restaurant on Ponsonby Rd called Dragon Kitchen. You’ll find dumplings, noodle soups and stir-fried rice dishes for under $30 — a welcome addition to a suburb lacking in affordable takeaway options. They also do deep-fried ice cream… yum.
Jiangxi Rice Noodles is a new spot in that row of ever-changing restaurants on the steep part of Queen St. From the looks of it, they specialise in rice noodle dishes in numerous versions, like mustard pork, fried sliced pork with soy sauce, or spicy beef. In the next block along, Lucky Cat Hot Pot has taken over the teensy space that housed Miss Pancake (which was only open for a few months). They were yet to open when I wandered past, so I’ll give more details on the menu once they’re available.
It looks like Swings, the laid-back Korean toasted sandwich joint opened by Paul and Lisa Lee in 2022, is for sale.
After shutting abruptly in November last year, Cotto reopened in February with a new name (Otto), new owners, the same kind of delicious Italian fare, but unfortunately no liquor licence. Now, almost six months later, Otto has finally regained its licence. Cin cin!
Hot.
Kika’s in Henderson.
Jin Jjambbong ramen.
This piece on dip.
The crab kottu from Kolombo in Northcote.
Roses Dining Room’s new gilded window paint.
Rhubarb Royale from Mezze Bar (perpetually).
Savoury doughnuts.
The ika-mata-inspired coconut chilli and lime Eta chips by Kasey and Kārena Bird.
Not.
Carpet in restaurants/cafes.
The government’s plans to erode sick leave entitlements for part-time workers. I can’t help but think about the impact on hospitality workers, who are more likely to work part-time hours compared to other industries, have high levels of public exposure, and can’t work from home if they are sick.
The perplexingly slow service at Paskatsu.
Supermarket fish fillets packed in thick vacuum-sealed plastic — there’s something extremely off-putting about how much they look like toys in blister packaging.
The premature end to Bluff oyster season.
What we’re sipping.
(A new semi-regular drinks dispatch by Metro’s editor, Henry)
I drove to Wellington a couple of weeks ago to attend my de-facto-brother-in-law’s 50th-birthday party. The most popular drink of the night was, by some margin, pét nat (aka pétillant natural, a sparkling wine made using older methods — those employed before some monks in the 17th century invented the “traditional method” for wines like Champagne). Sure, people drank other things, but when you combine the bottles the host had provided with what people brought, it was a pet-nat-dominant party, and so seemed like a good time to compare a few.
The thing with pét nat (and Champagne/sparkling wines in general) is because it has bubbles, it is automatically thought of as a celebratory drink. And it can be! But in addition to the bubbles, a lot of pét nats have acidity levels more geared to sipping with food than quaffing while trying to keep up with a conversation over the increasing volume of the DJ.
So there I was, my mouth puckering with acidity, when someone passed me a bottle of Niepoort Drink Me Nat Cool “Branco” 2021 from Portugal (now sold out in many places but available here from Bare Wine). It was vibrant and refreshing and a little bit easy, but not so easy as to be boring. Simply, it was delicious! If you’re after something that’s as at home on a house party dancefloor as at the dinner table, this is a perfect choice. — Henry Oliver
Where we’re going.
Homeland , which has now officially closed after wrapping up their final cooking classes over the weekend, is holding an on-site garage sale next Saturday and Sunday (20 and 21 July). There will be Temuka pottery, glassware, kitchen items, books, retail, aprons and more. The garage sale will stretch across both days, from 10am to 3pm.
Lillius ’s Fraser McCarthy is collaborating with Jason Kim of Tokki and Lesley Chandra of Sidart for a charity dinner to raise money for Lifeline Aotearoa. The event will take place on 5 August at Lillius, from 5.30pm and includes a six-course menu with snacks, petit fours and matching wines. Tickets are $200pp and can be purchased here. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Lifeline Aotearoa.
To celebrate Bastille Day, Paname Social is hosting a long table lunch on 14 July. There will be live entertainment, a five-course meal plus canapés on arrival, and a glass of AIX rosé to toast the revolution. Tickets are $120 and can be found here.
Friday and Saturday nights are officially espresso martini nights at Bar Magda . From 8pm to midnight, espresso martinis are $18, with your choice of tequila, vodka or rum.
Karangahape Rd Restaurant Month continues with restaurateurs along the road honouring the road’s history as a red-light district through food and drink. Next week’s special-edition dishes include a chocolate tart from Coco’s Cantina , a grilled cheese lasagne from Fort Greene , a whole snapper from Java, Chianti-braised beef cheeks from Alla Prossima, truffle-topped cacio e pepe from Pici and a set of dishes from Bar Magda.
