20 April 2007

‘Otago cuisine’ a growing idea

Otago could be among the best cuisine regions in the world, given time, Farmers’ Markets New Zealand South Island representative Chris Fortune said at the weekend.
But regions famed for their food do not get their lofty reputations in a hurry, he advised.

Mr Fortune, who runs the Marlborough Farmers’ Market and has 15 years of experience as a chef, visited the Otago Farmers Market in Dunedin on Saturday, to promote the “cuisine region” idea.

“More and more every day, the horticultural centre of New Zealand is shifting south, down to Central Otago and the Otago district,” he said.

“There is a real opportunity for Otago to have a regional cuisine, and to grow on what is already been happening over the last four years since the Dunedin market opened.”

Already the market’s fish, vegetable and fruit range was impressive, and the quality of those foods world-class, he said. The country’s two biggest farmers’ markets, Hawkes Bay and Whangarei, attracted 7000 and 6000 people each weekend respectively, he said. With the Dunedin market only relatively new, its 5000-strong weekly attendance was impressive, he said. However, Mr Fortune emphasised Otago could not become a famous food region overnight. “The idea today was to sow the seeds, and nothing happens straight away. We’re talking about regional cuisine developing over a number of years.” Mr Fortune met 10 of the city’s chefs to discuss their involvement in the plan. Four of those chefs were already using the market to sell and two were using it to buy produce, he said. They were open to the “cuisine region” idea, and to using the Otago Farmers Market as a part of that, he said.