this is a massive five-part food road trip adventure all around Northland there is so
much good food this is part two of our Bay of Islands episode and we have landed right
on a farm at a cheese factory cows are right there milkshed's right there cheese factory
is right there so good so we left Paihia this morning check out video 1 in this
Bay of Islands jaunt yesterday we went to a winery we ate our way around the Bay of
Islands and now this is part two and we're continuing that food jaunt so we're starting
at Mahoe cheese factory, cheesery Dutch style cheeses these guys make award-winning cheeses
I'm Thomas and I'm Sheena and we're Chasing a Plate we hope you're hungry let's eat
so this place was started in the 1980s it's still family owned and operated
and they specialise in Dutch style cheeses so gouda and edam and you can obviously
there's a fridge full of cheese, there's yoghurt, Greek yoghurt, blue cheese
you know it's going to be good when the view out the window is the pasture that the cows
are grazing for the cheese so the the milking sheds right beside the
cheese factory they milk the cows push it through pasteurize the milk as it comes out
of the milking shed straight into the factory make the cheese age the cheese in the ageing room
cheese in hand and I made sure to pack our chilly bin today
because I knew that we'd be visiting
farm gate shops and we're also heading to the Old Packhouse Market the Kerikeri
market so we'll probably be picking up some produce there
from the cheese shop we've popped into the Kerikeri Packhouse market
the Old Packhouse Market this is a great local market we've picked up some fruit some veg
some local oranges Kerikeri oranges
famous for its oranges around here this is a great market food music you can grab a coffee
a pastry get your fruit and veg so the road out of Kerikeri has a lot of neat little
places on it this Market there's Keri Berries where they've got great jams and
stuff it's a real neat little stretch and it's on the way to where we're going now
there's so much range in this Kerikeri area of
the Bay of Islands so cheese factories some markets and now we're at a winery
for a long lunch out on the balcony in the sun look at this beautiful setting
the Bay of Islands is wine country we've arrived at Marsden Estate Winery it's named after
Samuel Marsden who planted NZ's first grapes here in the Bay of Islands in 1819
love a long winery lunch let's head in
how glorious is this so we've got a table up there on the terrace and it overlooks this
glorious view it is just beautiful and it's the most beautiful day the sun is out it is
warm I know I will be happily whiling away the afternoon up there with a glass of wine in hand
we're settling in for the afternoon we've ordered a couple of courses we've got glasses
of wine on the table Thomas has got a Syrah and I've got their famous Black Rock Chardonnay
to start we've got anchovies on toast so both salted anchovies and white anchovies
and they're on garlic and parsley toast with a bit of tomato and some microgreens
that's so good I love anchovies super salty tangy crunchy crusty bread and then
this view this is the perfect thing to be eating it feels so summery and bright and relaxed
how good does this food look picture postcard I couldn't go past the tāmure so snapper
we're in the North Northland snapper is famous it's on some cauliflower puree there's some
prawns almonds brown butter Thomas went for the Fiordland venison his looks amazing as
well and fries shoestring fries every time we see it on the menu we have to go for it and it's
a piping hot huge bowl my snapper is going to go perfectly with the Chardonnay that I'm drinking
and also having a chat to the team before and they were saying it this is the Chardonnay that
put Marsden Estate on the map Marsden Estate is owned by Cindy and Rod McIver, Rod is the
wine maker and he's a master winemaker he makes not only Marsden Estate wines but also a lot of
wine for the vineyards in Northland this is going to go perfectly with the snapper
it's so good silky cauliflower puree that brown butter is so luxurious and velvety and
then the fish it's fresh as anything oh yum
look at this venison dish absolute picture postcard now we're here
just at the end of their winter menu so that explains this dish lots of parsnip it's a heavier protein
the red meat black pudding parsnip puree yum
but look at this I mean this is Northland the winterless north I'm sitting here in a t-shirt incredibly comfortable in fact I'm hot
and we're still eating the winter menu so that's the joy of Northland it's balmy it's tropical
it's lush it's such a special part of New Zealand because New Zealand's so long and we're right at the top
we've just got this stunning weather up here
oh that venison just melts in your mouth I knew it would as soon as I cut it and
I was watching it being cooked in the kitchen actually and I knew that was just gonna melt in
my mouth it's like butter and this this flavor combination works so well that black pudding
gives it a little bit of a different texture and a oh yum have a bit of Syrah to wash that down
doesn't get much better this view sitting amongst the vines essentially they're all
around us the vines eating this incredible food and it's just gorgeous what a meal it's delicious
we were just working off our lunch having a walk amongst the vines and we stumbled
onto master winemaker Rod McIver we're so happy to be here it's a beautiful property
oh great
and I wanted to ask you you know people the average joe probably doesn't
think of Northland as wine region what do you think makes this region special for making wines
each area has got its pluses and minuses so traditionally Northland wasn't looked at as a
wine growing region because of our humidity and quite high rainfall but a lot of that rain comes
in the winter time so it's not going to affect the grapes but as far as the humidity is concerned we
tend to plant varieties that aren't susceptible to rot and have got thicker skins one of the
advantages we've got is that we've got a very long growing season so we can just about get most
varieties ripe
if someone came to Marsden Estate and they're only going to drink one glass of wine what would they drink?
what would you tell them to drink?
it's a tricky one because it's like saying you know what if you're going to have one meal what
would you have I know
so we're probably best known for our Chardonnay that's been fermented in oak so it's an oaky Chardonnay
so if you like oak then that's the wine for you if not I'd say if you want a more fruit-driven style than something like the
Pinot Gris, Rose are the other surprise wine I guess because they've become very popular in
the last maybe seven or eight years so Rose would probably fall along with that one glass of wine
you're gonna have if I was picking one of the more unusual interesting varietals from Northland I'd go
for Pinotage okay and so what would you liken that to?
it's a juicy fruit driven wine so it's got lovely soft fruit ripe tannin fuller than a Merlot but not as intense as say a Cabernet
so those would be the probably the ones I'd go for
I think we've got to head back into the restaurant and order a couple more glasses
we couldn't go past the the citrus tart to finish up so this part of the world's
very famous for its citrus Kerikeri oranges this is a lemon tart covered in
meringue we thought the perfect way to end a long lunch sitting out here on the deck
oh yum silky tangy that's a great way to round out this lunch I have
thoroughly enjoyed this meal and what a possie to have it
what an epic day of eating and exploring it's been so far so we've worked off our
winery lunch and we've been exploring Kerikeri, the township we went to the Old Stone
Store and now we've arrived at Wharepuke which is this lush wild subtropical garden and we're
here for Māha which is the restaurant here in the gardens and this is a very special
place I've been wanting to eat here for a very long time look how inviting it is let's head in
I think this screams about the variety here in Northland I mean we've gone from cheese factories to wineries
and now we're in a subtropical super lush green colourful garden so these road
trip itineraries just weave you in and out of so many different landscapes and different
environments remember all the links down below about these road trips that we're on because
they are totally worth doing check them out look where we are this is gonna be a cool meal
Māha is owned by chef Ming Poon
and his wife Diane Langman in this restaurant they're serving modern New Zealand cuisine Asian
influences so influences from Japan influences from Hong Kong and look at this kitchen it's so
neat it's I don't know I feel at home in here I feel at home in here
it's not so much trying to decide the home feel because I've been working over 30 years in this trade every kitchen
I work in doesn't matter it's open kitchen hotel kitchen you name it they always look horrible stainless
steel white tiles looks like especially back in the day in Hong Kong you work inside a third
floor in the building so the whole kitchen it looks like a mall yeah it's white tiles
yeah it's sterile sterile yeah so now I have my own environment
I want an environment I feel happy and comfortable
I think that's what it is it's your essence that makes the kitchen feel really I don't know it just feels comfortable
and Chef Ming's going to be cooking us up a feast
we've got kingfish which is going to be cooked on the hibachi grill that comes from Ruakaka
we've got woodear mushrooms we've got pork tonkatsu all sorts citrus from the garden
ah my mouth is watering at the thought
what a setting to be eating dinner in there's the sounds of the birds chirping we're surrounded by this lush
green foliage and then this feast I'm so pumped to get into this we've got tonkatsu which is crumbed
deep-fried crumbed pork in a curry sauce we've got fresh greens which came from the market this
morning the market that we're at this morning this interesting paper bag chicken dish
which is a dish from Ming's childhood in Hong Kong back in Hong Kong so the chicken loaded
with lemongrass five spice there's preserved black bean in there swimming in a sauce woodear fungus
and then this Ruakaka kingfish which was just cooked on that hibachi grill over charcoal oh yes
this is a sharing style menu so just load up your plate get into it grab what takes your fancy
mm-hmm that paper bag chicken
melt in your mouth the chicken I could barely hold it in my chopsticks because it was just
slipping off it was so tender then you got the fresh coriander the fresh spring onion
everything's fresh and flavoursome and I just love the Asian influence this woodear fungus
great texture a little bit crunchy
it's steeped in black vinegar there's a bit of chilli so a hint of spice oh
that's the kingfish that was on the grill that charcoal smoky flavour has come right through the
flesh oh yum local ingredients and here look at this subtropical garden you're surrounded by
this lush green environment very unique restaurant unique food unique environment yum what a
way to wrap this one up so this is part two well there's five videos in fact we're doing
four massive road trips all around Northland this one in the Bay of Islands area is so big we had
to split it into two parts so this is the second part of a massive couple of days of eating there
is so much good food in this region and all across Northland it's a special part of the world special
food special people making the food it's so nice here lots of owner operators so you're meeting the
chefs you're meeting the owners and you're just so engaged with the food and you get to sit in places
like this and have a blood orange cocktail with local cocktail local blood oranges
which is incredible you can't not be happy it's so good check out the other videos in the series there's more to
come hit subscribe thank you for watching I cannot wait to just devour all of this