food travel life: Raw Figs, Spreadable Liver and Canapes for all, with a side of justice

As previously stated, I was planning on doing a bit of a spread for when my Aunty came round for dinner on Friday night. Much to the ol’ sister’s horror, this meant no proper dinner but just a fairly substantial amount of canapés.

It’s hard to tell a hungry athlete to enjoy the small things.

The night consisted of ten foodie treats, AND I was able to cross off two items from my list (well done me. Thank you).

However, before any food was eaten there was a slight incident between my, once beautiful, left index finger and our gloriously sharp bread knife. There was blood. There was pain. And what some people call, watering of the eyes.

After some heroics from the extended family I had a band-aid on, yet was of the opinion there was some extra layer coming. After about 5 minutes I realised I was no longer receiving medical attention, so Katie found a glove in her first aid kit in her car (wicked) and I got back into the kitchen.

This is what we had…

Chicken liver parfait (bought from Farro) on baguette (bought from Farro). Easy as bro.

Caramelized onion and feta puff pastry tarts

Mozzarella, basil and tomato ‘burgers’ with balsamic vinegar

Smoked salmon and sour cream/aioli on pikelets

Pancetta wrapped figs drizzle with balsamic vinegar and cooked on the BBQ

I don’t usually like salty things…but let’s just say I was relatively pleased with the overpowering Pancetta in this case.

This is nothing to do with figs…

And this is definitely nothing to do with the quality of the amazing fig growers (you’re outstanding)…

It’s purely to do with my wanting something before nature was willing to give it to me.

You can’t outsmart nature.

It will laugh in your face.

Calamari with aioli

Toasted baguette with curry butter and shrimp

Nachos with mince, guacamole (99.9% avocado and 0.1% fresh lemon juice, thank you very much) and sour cream

And then for dessert…lemon meringue spoons

And ‘pavlovas’ with cream and blueberries

Now, where is this aforementioned ‘side of justice’?

Well…that came in the form of the Glenfield Night Market. After the abysmal event that wasn’t Takapuna Beach market, I was able to make perfectly amazing amends with a trip to my local market. On the bottom level of a fairly unappealing mall car park, my good friend Hannah (along with her man friend and his cousins) and I wandered the aisles of this bustling foodie experience. After bumping into my fig suppliers and having a wee natter, it was time to buy some kai.

But there are so many choices…and choosing one is too hard.

So we shared…and chose four.

Obviously.

We had…

A spicy chicken kebab with a delicious abundance of chicken and the perfect balance of herbs and spice