Depot is New Zealand’s restaurant of the year 2012. It’s in Auckland, in the shadow of the Skytower. You can’t book – you just have to turn up and trust your luck. We got there early one lunchtime. It was already a third full, but the charming staff seated us on the top level (of two), near the open kitchen…we passed the oyster-bar on the way to our seats…
The tables are rumpty old planks – smooth, but pock-marked (if you know what I mean?); knives and forks plonked into old mackerel tins; water glasses are made of pewter (an idea I am going to steal because pewter keeps cold water – cold – does anyone know where to buy pewter tumblers??); wine is served in thick glass tumblers – at home, I sometimes drink my wine from a regular drinking glass…
Depot’s menu is a series of plates meant to be shared… lots were gluten-free, others could be changed to suit – the waitress was friendly and knowledgeable… we were discussing what we would eat when a chap came to our table – said hello and asked if we needed any help with figuring out what to eat…
Al Brown…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Al Brown is a superstar of New Zealand food. He has a blog… http://albrown.co.nz/
and there he was, talking to US!!!
We stammered something pretty daft, I think – I really don’t remember. It was one of those occasions when you think of all the clever things you should have said, while you’re awake in the middle of the night…
The meal was delicious. I can honestly say it was the best roast pork meal I have ever eaten – and I do a pretty darn fine roast pork dinner myself!
One of the sides was a ‘blackened kumara’ (sweet potato), which had delicate curls of pickled lemon sprinkled over it – it ‘lifted’ the sweetness of the kumara…
I was inspired – and came home to preserve lemons of my own…
Lemons cut long-ways into slices; salted.. lots of salt…. jam them into a small jar… top up with lemon juice… screw the top on and shake the jar to dissolve the salt (and to get the air-bubbles out). Put the jar in the fridge – shake it about every couple of days for about 3 weeks.
To use them, carefully fish out a lemon slice (you don’t want to touch the other slices if you can help it – because you might get something manky on them and they’ll go nasty on you) … and you only want the rind, so scrape the seeds and pulp out and discard. Finely slice the rind and away you float on deliciousness…
The only bad thing about preserved lemons is that the combination of salt and lemon juice gets into the scratches on your hands made by any random kittens who live with you… 🙂
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