Cooking 30 dishes in 12 days sounds difficult, but achievable - add in having to hunt for the protein and then cook it in the wild and the challenge ratchets up. It did not faze game chef Angelo Georgalli, Rebecca Fox discovers.
Angelo Georgalli readily admits he has become addicted to filming - to the point he often films himself when he goes out hunting.
The Wanaka-based chef, known to TV One audiences as The Game Chef, has surprised himself at how much he enjoyed filming his first television series.
''I'm good under pressure. I'm addicted to it.''
Now an accompanying cookbook is also out, featuring recipes from the series.
''It's like when the nurse hands you the baby. Wow, it's amazing. It was very emotional,'' he said of seeing the book the first time.
The cooking show came along at just the right time, when he was at a loose end, he said.
''There couldn't have been a better time in my life.''
Mr Georgalli came to New Zealand in 1996 with his Kiwi wife, Steph, and opened a cafe in Mt Eden.
During the next 15 years he opened a number of cafes and restaurants around Auckland, making a name for himself in the gourmet pie market with The Fridge in Kingsland.
He then sold his businesses and took his family off to Italy for a year, renting a house in the Tuscan mountains and enjoying life at a slower pace.
They came back to Auckland and opened another business but discovered they no longer wanted to live in the big city, so put their house on the market.
They moved to an 8.4ha run-down farm at Matakana and proceeded to do up the 1937 bungalow and convert the barn into a bed and breakfast.
He also started an archery school - a pastime he had picked up after talking to an archer who visited one of his cafes.
It only took one experience of hunting with a bow and arrow to convince him it was the way to go, especially as the kill was so quiet compared with a gun.
''It felt really natural. It's such a cool way to hunt.''
He joined an archery club and went on to also become a competitive target archer and coach.
But after three years in Matakana enjoying the good life, he was asking his wife - what next?
He liked the sound of the South Island, given he was the hunting, fishing sort, so they did a house swap and tried out Queenstown, but found it too commercial.
They tried Wanaka next.
''It was a ''wow'' place. It had the schools, the hunting and fishing. We went back to Auckland and packed up and three weeks later we were there.''
Finding the right schools was important, as his oldest child has dyslexia, as he does.
They rented out their Matakana property and built their own house in Wanaka.
''I was getting itchy feet so I took a job in a restaurant as head chef.''
When he felt he had done what he needed there, he moved on. He also opened another archery school, which did well in the summer but tailed off in winter.
So when producer John Ulrich, who he had worked with briefly on The Kitchen Job four years before, called about doing a cooking show, it could not have been more perfect timing, he said.
''I thought `I'm absolutely so ready for this'.''
So he packed up his bow and fishing rod, designed an outdoor cooking stove and got it locally made, and then picked up a table found on the side of the road to use as his prep bench.
It all went on the back of his ute and he headed out in the middle of winter to Glendhu Bay to film a pilot.
He caught and cooked trout, a goat and wild turkey.
TV One liked it so a production team flew south and Mr Georgalli took them into the wilderness.
''I hunted and cooked, they filmed. The views were stunning. Nothing was rehearsed; it was just as you see it. No script. It was all off the cuff.''
The pressure was on.
They had to film three episodes each day but, weirdly enough, it all went to plan, he said.
Only one dish did not make it, but out of that came the sweet and sour hare recipe, which ''worked really well''.
His aim was to show hunters and others there were healthy alternative ways to cooking game.
''A lot of hunters just chuck it on the barbecue. I wanted to think outside the square and make it more interesting.''
His Greek and Italian heritage came out in many of the recipes, he said.
Putting together the cookbook was harder work than the television series.
''It's a big mix of myself and my heritage. What I really enjoy doing.''
And it seemed to be working.
The series was going to market at the Cannes Film Festival in October and his book, to the Frankfurt Book Fair.
''It's very exciting stuff. I'm so, so lucky.''
Mexican brown trout wraps
Serves 2
With the chillies, the subtleties of the brown trout, the creaminess of the avocado this is one hell of a lip-smacking dish.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 red onion, cut into 2-3mm slices
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1-2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
2 jalapenos, sliced
2 Tbsp fresh coriander leaves
220g brown trout fillet, cut into 2.5cm pieces
olive oil
salt and pepper
Guacamole
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
100g aged cheddar, grated
1 Tbsp fresh coriander leaves
1 tomato, diced
1 capsicum, cored, deseeded and sliced
salt and pepper
To serve
2 tortilla wraps
juice of a lime
fresh coriander leaves
thinly sliced capsicum
Method
In a bowl, combine the onion, tomato, garlic, chilli, jalapenos and coriander and mix well.
Cook the trout pieces in a hot frying pan in a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper for about 2 minutes. While the trout is cooking, add the onion and tomato mixture to the pan and toss, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside for about 1 minute. Transfer the cooked fish and vegetables into the bowl in which the vegetables were mixed.
In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for the guacamole.
Warm the tortillas on the barbecue grill. Spread the guacamole on the tortillas, followed by a layer of the cooked trout mixture. Roll the tortillas into a wrap, tucking the corners in. To serve, cut the wraps diagonally and garnish with lime juice, coriander leaves and capsicum slices.
Sweet and sour hare
Serves 4-5
Inspired by the Chinese miners that mined for gold throughout the Cardrona Valley in the 1860s, this dish is gold - inspired by their memory.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
3 shallots, sliced lengthways
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar
400g hare, jointed and chopped to make 5 pieces
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sliced fresh ginger
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp fennel seeds salt and pepper
500ml apple juice, plus extra if required
¼ fresh pineapple, cubed
zest of 1 lemon
juice of a lemon
handful of fresh lavender flowers and leaves
To serve
lavender
rice or bread
Method
In a hot frying pan, brown the shallots with olive oil and the maple syrup or brown sugar. Add the hare, followed by the vinegar, ginger, allspice, fennel seeds and salt and pepper to taste, and toss well. Cook until the hare is brown on all sides. Stir in the apple juice and pineapple cubes and simmer for about 1 hour, ensuring that the meat is submerged in order to absorb all the flavours. Add more apple juice or water as the mixture reduces and thickens.
Just before serving, add the lemon zest and juice and lavender to the pan. Garnish with some sprigs of lavender and serve with a side of rice or bread.
Rack of lamb with grilled haloumi and asparagus
Serves 2-3
If I were a dish, I would be this one. Mum's Italian, hence the pesto. Dad's Greek-Cypriot, hence the haloumi, and I've been living in New Zealand for the past 16 years, much like the lamb. This is a dish that's come from my heart and soul, and it tastes bloody amazing.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
1 lamb rack or 8 cutlets, trimmed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
rosemary sprig for brushing
10 asparagus spears, trimmed
6 tomatoes, halved
150g haloumi cheese, cut into 1cm slices
Salad
2 cups rocket or watercress
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp red wine vinegar
½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of ½ a lemon
To serve
pesto
lemon zest
Method
Place the lamb in a bowl and toss with the rosemary leaves, half of the lemon juice, and the salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate for a few minutes.
Cook the lamb racks on the barbecue grill for 5-7 minutes on each side. While the lamb is cooking, sprinkle it with the lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper, then brush it with a sprig of rosemary doused in olive oil to impart more flavour. Set the cooked lamb aside to rest for 10-15 minutes.
In a bowl, toss the asparagus spears with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Season the halved tomatoes with salt and pepper and cook on the barbecue grill for 2-3 minutes on each side, seasoning to taste with more salt and pepper. Cook the asparagus spears on the barbecue grill for 2-3 minutes on each side or until al dente, basting with the remaining lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
Brush the sliced haloumi with the olive oil-doused rosemary sprig and sprinkle with a pinch of pepper, then cook on the grill for 2 minutes on each side.
Make the salad by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and tossing well.
Serve the lamb stacked on a bed of salad, tomatoes and haloumi cheese with the asparagus on the side. Garnish with a dollop of pesto and scattering of lemon zest.
