New Zealand may be a small country, but its gins are slowly but surely making their mark on a global scale.
While my wife and I were travelling around New Zealand, we were fortunate to meet Joerg Henkenhaf, distiller and founder of Broken Heart gin, at his home near Queenstown. Broken Heart’s story has been told many times, so it was great to chat to Joerg more about his gins and how he created them.
We were spoilt for choice when I visited with my wife in early May with so many amazing restaurants and bars just outside our hotel. The first place we visited on arriving in the city, was Tasquina do Be to tackle the local delicacy: the francesinha. Layers upon layers of various kinds of pork sandwiched between 2 pieces of white bread, covered in melted cheese, topped with a fried egg and drenched in a tomato soup-like sauce. Just what we needed after the early flight. They also make gluten free versions of this and other dishes here.
Deep in the heart of Western Australia’s wine country you’ll find Margaret River Distilling Co, one of the distilleries I profiled in my previous blog. It’s not the sort of place you expect to find a distillery, nestled between vineyards and surrounded by karri trees, but we made sure to stop by on our way through the town.
While staying in Perth we grew particularly fond of the laid back atmosphere of nearby Fremantle (Freo to the locals). Not only that but there seemed to be a real passion for independent food and drink.
In a few weeks I’m off to Perth, Western Australia, to see some friends and soak up some winter sun.
When I think of Australian gin I tend to think of the likes of Four Pillars, and others from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Western Australia, however, can more than fight it’s corner as, while it lacks in the quantity of distilleries, it more than makes up for with quality of gin. Several of their distilleries have achieved top accolades from the global spirit community.
The last night of our honeymoon. Where do you eat to finish the week of incredible Spanish food?
The answer was right under our noses. Just down the road from our apartment, in nearby Camp de Mar, was an unassuming black sign which led the way to a hidden gem nestled on the hillside.
Flor de Sal is the restaurant of Chef Jonay Hernandez.
The restaurant’s extensive tapas menu combines traditional Spanish classics with modern flavours and ways of cooking. It was so hard to chose what to order that we actually experienced a restaurant first: being told not to order more food!
Even before our food arrived we were hugely impressed by the freshly baked olive ciabatta slices that we were presented, alongside the restaurant’s namesake, the black olive salt. It was served in a ceramic star fish with a miniature spoon alongside Mallorcan olive oil.
As an amuse bouche the waiter brought out a small blue bowl containing a pinch of shredded potatoes. Neither of us really knew what to expect. He then proceeded to pour a beautiful soup over the potatoes, made from an Ecuadorian vegetable. Beautifully creamy, it made for a deliciously unexpected start to the meal.
To break up our massive (but restrained) tapas order we were informed our dishes would be arriving in 3s. First up was a trio featuring a goat meat taco, an egg cooked 2 ways, and grilled goats cheese.
The soft corn taco cradled the tender, slow-cooked goats meat and black beans. The rich dark colours contrasting beautifully against the light taco and sour cream topping.
Next up was the egg. Looking like a cross between a scotch egg and a Spanish croquette, we cut into the crunchy fried outer layer to reveal the beautifully runny yolk. It dribbled over the pureed potatoes and garlic which surrounded the fried egg.
Think cheese on toast couldn’t get any better? Wrong. Who needs the toast when you could just have more cheese. More beautiful goats cheese. Grilled in a small skillet with a herb dressing that was so decadent and moreish.
Then it was time for part 2… cubed croquettes of iberico ham with a sweet jelly, ‘wrinkled’ potatoes, and octopus tacos.
Cutting into the fried croquette revealed the cloud-like centre. Soft, creamy potato encased in salty iberico ham and crunchy breadcrumbs.
Wrinkly potatoes don’t really sound like something you’d expect from a restaurant like this. It’s actually a big nod to the chef for using local ingredients that wouldn’t have made the grade elsewhere and gone to waste. New potatoes, lumps and all, were presented to us with two ‘mojos’. One red, one green.
It’s not every day that your dinner is served to you on an octopus tentacle, even a ceramic one. In came the second helping of tacos, this time with a distinctly lighter flavour. Fresh octopus served in lettuce leaf tacos. I’m a big fan of corn tacos and am often left disappointed when they’re swapped out for greens but these worked remarkably well. A gem lettuce style leaf would’ve possibly been more appropriate for holding the juices in though as a lot of the beautiful flavour poured out the side whenever we went in for a bite.
The waiter had been right. As incredible as they were, there’s only so much tapas a body can take in one night…
We had to go all the way for the final meal of our honeymoon though and tapped into that magic second stomach, reserved for dessert, even when you’re full.
Having made our choices we were presented with a little palette cleanser in the form of a small lemon sherbet mousse. Only a few spoonfuls, but just the right balance of sweetness and sharp to get us in the mood for what was to come.
I’d ordered a creme Catalan and my wife, a chocolate and beetroot mousse.
There’s not much more satisfying than that first crack of the sugary crispy top of a creme Catalan. The smooth cream working perfectly with the sharp berry compote accompaniment.
Beetroot isn’t normally by go-to choice for dessert, it’s not even my go-to choice for vegetables, but it added a beautiful moistness to the chocolate and helped cut through what could’ve been overly rich and intense. The mousse was topped with hazelnut ‘soil’, which outside the theatrics was a small rock-shaped chocolate truffle, and tasted delicious.
It was the unforgettable meal that I’d been hoping for, and thanks to the waiter, I now have the perfect excuse to return and sample the dishes we didn’t get to!
If you’re in south-western Mallorca visit this small, unassuming slice of food heaven.