Queenstown daredevil Chuck Berry's creation for the
Glenorchy Local Wild Food Challenge, which earned him third
overall. Photo supplied.
While many home chefs make the trek to the supermarket
for supplies, Chuck Berry went foraging at Rob Roy glacier and
base-jumped off a waterfall before flying a microlight plane to
catch freshwater crayfish to make a meal.
For his efforts, the Queenstown adventurer came third in the
Glenorchy Wild Food Challenge on Saturday.
His dish consisted of fallow back steak with onions and pine
nuts, wild crayfish and home-baked focaccia stuffed with wild
pig.
However, groper ceviche in coconut cream, lime and tomatoes,
tuna sushi stuffed with baby carrot salad and crayfish salad
with lime leaf cupped by avocado proved to be the winning
match for Rachel Holmes-Lippis, who has been living in
Glenorchy for a year.
A Glenorchy family cleaned up the prize plate. Mother Glynnie
Barry came second and son Dart Watson, (8), took home the
kids' prize for his specialty of fried deer brain, acquired
on a hunting trip with his father.
Ms Barry entered a dish of wild pork belly with cabbage tree
heart slaw and elderberry syrup.
Tadpole patties earned Paul Fraser the wildest ingredient
award and best effort went to Heather Vincent and her
impressive list of ingredients for a wild dessert.
Ms Vincent presented lavender and manuka honey with sugared
walnut ice cream and wild raspberry and white chocolate
elderberry cheesecake with hazelnut praline accompanied by a
sorbet combination which included wild mint, watercress and
dandelion.
The inaugural competition last year was won by Shaun
Fa'Amalepe, of Arrowtown, and organiser Bill Manson, of
Wellington, said Glenorchy folk were already planning their
entries for next year.
Mr Manson said he travelled
the world helping to organise wild food challenge events,
which are all about ''embracing the places these guys live''.
He said it was not about ''just one day a year eating the
freakiest thing they can''.
Despite 15,000 people being at the Gibbston Valley Summer
Concert, Mr Manson estimates a couple of hundred people
visited the food challenge.
The competition drew 28 entries.
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