Posts Tagged ‘New Zealand’

1. The News Truce

   Published on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

   In Ypres, 1914 a Christmas Eve ceasefire became the stuff of yuletide legend.

   The truce began when German troops decorated their trenches, the soldiers placed candles on trees and sang Christmas carols. Not to be outdone British troops responded singing their own carols back in English. In no time the two sides were shouting greetings to each other, there were calls for visits across No Man’s Land where small gifts were exchanged. Whiskey, jam, cigars and chocolate was shared and the artillery in the region fell silent that night.

   This exceptional outbreak of peace reminds me of the news over the summertime here in New Zealand, it’s as if our world stops speaking for a month. Could this outbreak of ‘nothing happening’ be because all of us in the information exchange business have waved a white flag and sent the news on holiday?

   The news goes soft. Not a peep is heard from the courts or councils, the lobbyist and legislators languish. Business leaders too are mute, our captains of industry have headed off in the caravan and so have the agitators and activists. The Beehive itself is silent. Even the sports reporters have given up the ghost.

   The papers are scrawny and the news bulletins truncated. They will contain stories from the seaside, teens running amok, cute kiddies frolicking, kooky animal stories, a freak storm perhaps, sunscreen warnings, surf beach rescues and the road toll.

   The lifestyle pages will be chocka with recipes for leftovers, anniversaries of other things, musings on the future or the past from famousish New Zealanders and book reviews. The news in other words – will be nice.

   This is not a global news-truce, the Northern hemisphere draws a breath for Christmas but their news-machine barely misses a beat. It is us who have a full hiatus of real news and maybe that’s just the way we like it.

   

2. A Fish Supper

   Published on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

   I love my neighbour, I’d be stupid not to. His name is Greg and he cleverly caught the pictured four and a half pound snapper on the Hauraki Gulf on Sunday.

   He and his cousin went out at dawn, apparently pausing somewhere about 40 minutes from our houses, to pull up ten fish and casually make their way home again.

   Yesterday, on Labour Day Monday, Greg made a fragrant bed of manuka shavings, rubbed the biggest of the catch with brown sugar and salt, and smoked it.

   We ate the fish still warm from the smoker with dill potatoes, bread and butter and a salad of greens from my garden.

   It was a wonderful meal; the fish was moist, perfectly flaky with just the right hint of smokiness.

   In New Zealand we are so close to where our food comes from we sometimes take it for granted.

   We shouldn’t, we are blessed with the best food in the world. Wild, farmed or cultivated, we have enviable standards of production, a stunning range and seasonal freshness.

   But one doesn’t just have to hunt and gather for the good stuff, our supermarkets, green grocers, butchers, bakers and fish mongers are a treat.

   For a comparison and a reason to thank our lucky stars go and see Food Inc, an American documentary that seeks to highlight the underbelly of US food production and agricultural processes. It’s a frightening portrayal if indeed it is a fair and accurate one, well worth a look.