INDEPENDENT NEWS

Matterhorn Drops Its Latest Summer Menu:

Published: Fri 19 Nov 2004 08:38 AM
Matterhorn Drops Its Latest Summer Menu:
Matterhorn is proud to launch a killer summer menu for your dining pleasure.
After 11 months onboard, chef Nick Huffman is now stretching out and has left no stone unturned in designing the new menu now on offer at Wellington’s renowned Cuba chalet.
“It’s conjured from the steaming cauldron of my head” says Nick who has drawn on over 20 years professional experience in his quest as well as introducing some fond memories from his childhood. “Every time I go home my mother makes me kumara and mandarin hash and I’m greeted with this lovely sweet smell.” The spiced hash recipe has found its way on the mains menu as a bed for smoky pork fillet with hot mustard oil, bacon lardoons and broad beans. Nick has also added brandied raisins and orange rind to provide some sweetness and balance to the smoky pork flavors.
New arrivals include: Black tiger prawn cocktail with horseradish, avocado, red onions and snow peas King salmon confit with sauce ravigote, eggplant caviar and slow roast tomatoes Char grilled red pepper soup with pesto and buffalo mozzarella Crisped veal schnitzel with parsley potatoes poached in olive oil, tuna roe mayonnaise, lemon and braised artichoke Venison leg steaks with truffled cherry syrup, black pudding, red cabbage confit and sour cream bake Among the dessert selections is a recipe from his South African grandmother, preserved melon rind that accompanies an olive oil and Sauternes cake with lemon-ricotta curd, saffron and candy caviar. Nick describes the preserved melon rind as “a big juicy morsel with texture and crunch, it adds a real freshness.”
For the Matterhorn boys, the summer affair is a Trifle offering with the sweet seduction of rides on the Magic Carpet…in this, their favourite dish, apricots are cooked off in a syrup of cardamom, cinnamon and star anise and bedded by a light fluffy sponge drizzled with orange flower water scented sugar syrup. This acts as the downy pillow on which to lay the heavenly, silken body of creamy almond milk custard, around which wafts the haunting subtlety of handmade Turkish delight…
Ahhhhem. So, yes, the summer menu meets all of Nick’s criteria - creating food with integrity, balancing flavours, ingredients and texture. “Its light and fresh and healthy yet there’s depth and character. The Matterhorn crew joke about having ‘artisan rustic’ written on every menu I create but that’s what it’s about, it’s handmade rustic, its blood sweat and tears, its f….. Real”.
Matterhorn was established as a Swiss pastry shop in 1963 and is a valued Wellington institution breathing and exuding life, culture and diversity. Check the latest installment with its new summer menu online: http://www.matterhorn.co.nz

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