We're trying to play catch up here at Gisborne Gourmet, so please bear with us as we try to let you know all that's been going on since you heard from us here last...

Firstly we'd like to introduce you to a new gourmet product on board - Manurau Game Birds. 

Manurau's "many birds" are located 30 mins south of Gisborne, where they free range over five acres of pasture and grassland with plenty of fresh water and space. Manurau love their birds, holding the simple philosophy to let them run in as natural environment as possible. With a natural ability to understand how the birds live and the signs they exhibit when they are content, Manurau are always looking for ways to keep its birds happy and maintain their quality of life. After all, happy birds mean sustainable farming and better quality product!

We at Gisborne Gourmet are excited to be able to bring this beautiful local produce to you. Happy birds for happy foodies! We are currently stocking Quail, Duck, Goose, Squab, Pigeon, Guinea Fowl and Pheasant. Now who else is dreaming up supper ideas from that list!?

GG

Made from the milk of Waimata's own cows, Waimata's gourmet mozzarella is first portioned into blocks of curd as a result of the draining or separating of the whey.

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The curd is then diced into small pieces after being pushed through a stainless steel net. This method allows the 80-85 degree sterilised water to then heat the curd to the point where the cheese can be kneeded and stretched into a delicate consistency. 

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The Cheesemaker's then kneads the cheese with their hand, much like a bread maker, until he obtains a smooth, shiny paste, a strand of which he pulls out and lops off, forming the individual mozzarella balls. The Mozzarella balls are then are then cooled in a bath of iced brine and packaged!

Back at the Kiwi Juice Headquarters, we have been developing a range of delicious and refreshing grape juice based recipes, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic (5% alc). Our taste team reckons the juices pack so much great flavour that the addition of only sparkling water (non-alcoholic) and vodka (to 5% alcohol by vol.) make for the perfect drink.

For a simple non-alcoholic version simply take one of our 250mL grape juices and mix with two 50 mL shots of sparkling soda water. For the alcoholic version (5%), replace one of the 50 mL soda shots with vodka. Serve over ice. We have even calculated the alcohol concentration and the standard drinks as 0.6 per serve, based on a single serve of 150mL.

In future we will highlight new recipes; this week we provide just the base recipe to make perfect sparkling grape juice drinks - serve over ice for the ultimate refreshment. 

"In all my years writing wine columns, one of the most common questions I'm asked is whether it's possible to find grape juice made from the types of grapes that make wine? Why? Because believe me, once you’ve tasted the juice of a wine grape, it's almost impossible to go back to bland old grape juice.

There are a few wine producers in New Zealand producing non-alcoholic grape juice from the same grapes as they make their wine, and they’re great because they taste like the wine they’d normally make yet they're sweeter and contain no alcohol.

This week I tasted a new range of pure grape juices from First Press in Gisborne. They're made from Hexton-grown Chardonnay, a lychee-laden Gewurztraminer from Patutahi and fruit from Tolaga Bay goes into their Merlot and a spicy-sweet rosé crafted from Syrah grapes.