- 1 year ago
The Food Truck NZ - S02E02 - Seafood
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TVTranscript
00:00New Zealanders love their food, and they love it fast.
00:06But with more than a third of Kiwi adults tipping the scales,
00:09it's time for a tasty new menu.
00:13Michael van der Elzen is a fun-loving gourmet chef
00:16with a passion for fresh food.
00:18Beautiful.
00:20He's back with his trusty Bedford truck
00:22to challenge the way we eat.
00:24Oh, yeah, look at that. This is awesome.
00:26I think it's perfect. Hey, Grace.
00:29Tonight, can Michael serve up a healthy take on seafood
00:32with the price, speed and taste Kiwis want?
00:35Find out in the food truck.
00:42Forget burgers, pies or fish and chips,
00:45New Zealand's first fast food fad was a little pearler, the oyster.
00:49In the late 1880s, oysters in the shell were the snack of the day
00:53in saloons up and down the country,
00:55and it seems to have worked a treat.
00:57We still love our kaimoana today, and we're still by Valve Curious.
01:01When it comes to seafood, we're so lucky as a country.
01:04Look at it! It is incredible what's out there.
01:07You have the snapper, the blue cod, crayfish, shellfish, salmon.
01:12The ugly monkfish. It's just there.
01:15Kiwis chomp through more than 30,000 tonnes of seafood a year,
01:19sometimes fresh, but sometimes straight out of the deep fryer.
01:23Love my mussels, love my seafood.
01:25I do like fritters a lot.
01:27I prefer to have fresh seafood and don't go for the fast food option usually.
01:33I think there's a greater market of people out there
01:35that just want something a little bit different.
01:37You can go into any takeaway bar in New Zealand
01:39and you pretty much know what the menu's going to be.
01:41Why can't we be more adventurous when it comes to takeaway seafood?
01:46Michael's found the ideal spot to test his healthy, tasty treats.
01:50He's ditching the kitchen for the roadside?
01:53I can remember as a child going up to Wairua
01:55and buying fish from this roadside car.
01:57It was beautiful, fresh fish in such an iconic Kiwi setting.
02:01So I've decided to set my food truck up in Wairua
02:04and serve my healthy seafood takeaways on the side of the road.
02:08The classic roadside seafood stand is nowhere near as common as it was,
02:12but you can still find them, especially around the coast.
02:15Before discerning diners can decide on dipping into Michael's menu,
02:19he needs to write one.
02:21With some takeaway research.
02:23New Zealand-owned and operated with 20 stores on board,
02:26Burger Wisconsin has made a meal out of fresh, all-natural ingredients.
02:31The fish, coriander and lime burger sounds awesome.
02:34I would recommend the fresh avocado and hot salsa.
02:36Sounds great.
02:38The burger may be chock full of fresh veggies,
02:40but the fish is frozen and takes a swim in the deep fryer
02:43before sailing into Michael's hands.
02:46Looks fantastic. Look at that.
02:48Ten minutes and 13.90 later, does the Wisconsin feed Michael's machine?
02:53I'm glad I went for his recommendations of that salsa,
02:55because that's awesome.
02:57Tomato and fish, always a great combo.
02:59Everything is great about this burger,
03:01apart from the fact that the fish wasn't fresh and it was deep fried.
03:05Michael is hoping to get fresher fish at Ocean Seafood,
03:09where everything is fresh off the boat.
03:11How are we? Morning, mate. Are we well?
03:13Well, almost everything.
03:15I have to order one of those whitebait fritters.
03:17You definitely can.
03:19Fresh New Zealand whitebait?
03:21Pre-frozen, because the season's finished.
03:23So it's the freshest frozen whitebait in town.
03:26But what about the taste?
03:28Whitebait fritters never cease to astound me how popular they are.
03:31You put them onto a menu, no matter what the price,
03:34they will sell out before anything else.
03:36This one is fine. It's got heaps of whitebait in it.
03:39Whitebait's expensive. It's $139 a kilo.
03:41I personally think whitebait fritters are overrated.
03:44You can just taste the egg.
03:46The whitebait is so subtle, so mellow.
03:49It's just lost.
03:51Last in the line-up, Latino seafood styles
03:54with travelling food cart, Maldito Mendez.
03:57Seafood paella. Yeah, one of those.
03:59That'd be lovely. Just one, please. Thank you. Perfect.
04:01Fish, clams, prawns and Spanish rice
04:03are cooked with fish stock and tomatoes,
04:05with some octopus grilled on the side.
04:07Here you go. Smells fantastic.
04:09Thank you. Thank you.
04:11$15. Took them 20 minutes.
04:13It's really fresh. You're eating fresh octopus
04:15that's just been cooked.
04:17I love it. Super healthy,
04:19but 20 minutes is probably too long.
04:21I'm starting to get an idea for my menu.
04:23I think some kind of a fritter is essential.
04:26And the paella, it's so vibrant, so fresh.
04:29I think it would be a no-brainer for me
04:31to try and do my own version of one.
04:34If you want really fresh seafood,
04:36get up before the sea gulls.
04:38Auckland Fish Market is the best bet short of a trawler.
04:41This seafood has just come off the boat,
04:43so it's probably getting unloaded now.
04:45So you know it's fresh.
04:47Paul from Oceans is back to show Michael
04:49around the fish auction floor.
04:55Chefs and cooks flock here every morning
04:57to bid on 18 to 20 tonnes of fresh seafood.
05:00So this is as fresh as fresh gets.
05:02Yep, you won't get it much better.
05:04I mean, straight from here, straight to the plate.
05:06An average of 50 fish species are up for auction,
05:09from the ordinary inshore favourites...
05:11Beautiful red gurnard here.
05:13Isn't that stunning?
05:14These are really nice gurnard.
05:16...to the decidedly disturbing.
05:18That would have been a good harpooker.
05:20Look at his eyeballs!
05:21Turbot is sensational.
05:23It is, it's very nice.
05:24Is that an expensive fish?
05:25It would be cheaper than snapper.
05:27And I think that's a better fish.
05:29Much cheaper than snapper.
05:30It's getting New Zealand public used to
05:32changing their diets with types of fish.
05:35They all think of snapper, teriki, gurnard.
05:37It's very hard to get people to change,
05:39but if they did, you would find that they would
05:41absolutely love it.
05:42The fish auction begins at 6am every weekday.
05:45Registered buyers use a Dutch auction system
05:48where the price drops until a buyer bids on the lot.
05:51Not being registered himself,
05:53Michael has to wait for oceans to open
05:55to buy his seafood.
05:58Beautiful, look at that.
06:00Fresh squid.
06:05Oops!
06:06I guess I'll be having squid for dinner tonight.
06:09The squid may be hitting his dinner plate,
06:11but mussels and oysters are for food truck testing.
06:14Next door, Michael finds the ugly betty of the sea floor.
06:19Mungfish stargazer?
06:20Yep, $9.95 a kilo.
06:22$9.95?
06:23Yep.
06:24Look at that.
06:25Mungfish are awesome stewing fish.
06:27Their flesh holds together, it's much like crayfish.
06:29It eats a lot of scampi,
06:31so all that flavour runs through to the flesh.
06:33I've been slimed.
06:35How can they get so slimy in the sea?
06:37With a truckload of treats,
06:39it's a matter of two blocks and some mega yachts to Silo Park,
06:43the testing ground for Michael's seafood fiesta.
06:46But will the punters take the bait?
06:48So I've got all my ingredients, I've got my fresh seafood,
06:51and now it's time to just pull it all together
06:53and see what people think of my seafood creations.
06:56Gourmet chef Michael van der Elzen
06:59is on a mission to reinvent oily old battered oysters
07:02and rubbery tasteless fritters.
07:04To see if his healthy upgrade of these seafood standards do the business,
07:08he's gone to Silo Park on a summer's day.
07:11I want to get some honest feedback just from general passers-by.
07:15First up, shellfish takes centre stage.
07:18Everyone's heard of oyster shooters, but these morsels are all new.
07:23Green olives, lemon zest and cucumber
07:26are blended for salty sour shooter number one.
07:29Intriguing.
07:30The next shot is the more familiar blend of tomato juice
07:33tomatoes straight off the vine and horseradish.
07:39That's awesome. Really, really full on horseradish.
07:42And it's back to green for shot number three.
07:45Green tea and green apples.
07:51Green tea is very bitter,
07:53but I'm interested to see what people think of it with the oysters.
07:56That bitterness and the oyster together could be magic.
07:59The shooters are adventurous,
08:01but will they hit the bull's eye?
08:05Going to the food truck oyster bar.
08:07You should be able to knock it down.
08:09OK.
08:13Mmm. Not bad.
08:15I always get nervous at this part.
08:17What is it?
08:18It's lemon, cucumber and olive.
08:19I'm not a huge fan of olives, but that was actually quite healthy.
08:22It wasn't bad at all.
08:23This one is probably a little bit more up your alley.
08:27I like that one better.
08:28Tomato and horseradish.
08:30Better than the first one.
08:31Finally, we have this one here.
08:38No. No?
08:39No.
08:40Really don't like that?
08:41I don't know, the flavours just kind of clash a bit to me.
08:43Green tea and apple.
08:44Ah.
08:45Might be the...
08:46I'm giving you my opinion.
08:47Absolutely, that's what it's for.
08:49I drink a bit of green tea.
08:50Yes.
08:51But if I brew it too long, it becomes quite bitter.
08:54This was very bitter.
08:56Yeah.
08:57Oyster fans?
08:58No.
08:59No?
09:00Never had one.
09:01Maybe.
09:02Maybe.
09:03I'd better go easy on you.
09:04I'll give you the milder before I go the harder.
09:06It's raw.
09:07I understand, it is raw.
09:09On the count of three, this is like at a saloon shooter bar.
09:12One, two, three.
09:20Wow, I think you're going.
09:22Wow, that's good.
09:23Next one.
09:24One, two, three.
09:30That one's good too.
09:31I like the red one better.
09:36Honestly, I think I prefer the second one.
09:38Have I turned you into an oyster lover?
09:41I wouldn't say no outright the next time.
09:45The traditional tomato horseradish leads.
09:48Oh yeah, look at that.
09:49I think that's the best one.
09:51But Michael wants the word from a genuine oyster aficionado.
09:55How are you, matey?
09:56Hey man, good, thank you, buddy.
09:57Definitely love oysters.
09:58One of my favourites.
09:59If I could eat them every day, I definitely would.
10:01Oh yeah, there you go.
10:02That is beautiful.
10:04It's a nice chilly flavour.
10:05Bit of citrus zest in there, some lime.
10:08Pretty close.
10:09That one's horseradish and tomato.
10:13Green tea.
10:16This man's on fire.
10:17I have to say, it's damn tasty.
10:19Better than the first?
10:20Oh, it's close, close.
10:22Okay, let me give you one more.
10:23Same colour, different flavour.
10:25Dig into that.
10:27Flavours don't come through as much as the first two.
10:30But I have to say, the first one was the winner for me.
10:33How much would you pay for one of those?
10:36Well, I'm from Papakura.
10:38Money's still the same, isn't it?
10:40Money's all pretty tight, but for one of them,
10:42I'd give it a good five bucks if it had a bit of tequila in there as well.
10:49Next up, Michael's giving monkfish the facelift.
10:52My take on the classic ceviche.
10:55I want to make this really quick,
10:57so I'm going to take my beautiful fresh monkfish,
10:59slice it really thin,
11:01then marinate it in my lemon and lime juice.
11:03What the lemon and lime juice does
11:05is the acid breaks down the structure of the fish
11:08and it basically cooks it.
11:10The thing is, with that lemon and the lime juice,
11:12very overpowering, so we need to neutralise that out.
11:15Best way to do that is use coconut milk.
11:17Pop that into your fridge, 30 minutes, ready to rumble.
11:20The monkfish goes into a summery salad of avocado, cucumber and apple.
11:25It's all served on a Whitloff leaf,
11:28a combo one taster can't wait to chow down on.
11:32It's great.
11:34You don't muck around eating, do you?
11:36No, it's very good.
11:41That's really nice.
11:43Your sister's having a few problems.
11:45Do you like it?
11:46Yeah, I just like it that the fish is still quite tender.
11:49It's not just falling apart.
11:51Last, he's having a go at a kiwi icon,
11:54but lighter and brighter.
11:56When I add that whitebait fritter,
11:58it just tasted of egg,
12:00so I want to make my fritter without any egg at all.
12:02Not only will it allow my seafood flavour to come through and be dominant,
12:05it'll be lower in fat because it won't have that egg yolk in it.
12:08Genuine whitebait is beyond most people's reach,
12:11so Michael's subbing it with fresh green shell mussels.
12:14Like a pressure cooker.
12:16Just hold that puppy down. Give him a shake.
12:19In Michael's fritter mix, he's bravely deleted the egg.
12:22This batter is simply onion,
12:24chickpea flour,
12:26rice flour,
12:27baking powder,
12:28seasoning,
12:29Spanish paprika
12:30and a dash of water to bind.
12:33A quick chop and the mussels enter the mix.
12:36Steamed kumara bulks out the mixture.
12:38Then, for extra nutritional muscle, hazelnuts.
12:42You just spoon them in.
12:45Right, let's dig in. Let's try this.
12:49It's so good.
12:50Sweet potato coming through.
12:52Little bit of mussel in the background. Great.
12:54Even non-mussel lovers would love this because the mussel is not super dominant.
12:58It's just all come together in a beautiful harmony of fritter goodness.
13:02But will this harmony of flavours send seafood lovers singing praises?
13:07There's a nice little bit of heat to it,
13:09but the mussel's a bit lost, I think.
13:11Too lost?
13:12Yeah, just a little bit.
13:13They're really good, though.
13:14What about if I put like a salsa or something like that on top of them?
13:17Yes, yeah, that would be good.
13:18Will the young boy eat a fritter as well?
13:20Do you want one?
13:21Yeah.
13:22Okay.
13:23Here you go.
13:24Challenge that, let me know what you think.
13:27Is it yummy?
13:28Yeah.
13:29Real yummy.
13:30Now it's my turn.
13:32Yeah, it's real good.
13:33Yeah.
13:34Is there anything I could add to that to make you go,
13:36man, this is just fantastic?
13:38No, I think it's perfect.
13:40It's really good.
13:41One more.
13:42Right.
13:43One more, he wants more.
13:44Do you want to try some fritters?
13:45Definitely.
13:48Never had seafood like this before, but very good.
13:51Do you like mussels?
13:52I've never had them, but yeah.
13:54Never had mussels?
13:55Never, ever.
13:56Not too strong.
13:57Also, the other flavours come out quite well and blends well together.
14:00Michael's had feedback from people from all walks of life,
14:03and it's mostly been a tidal wave of praise.
14:06Everyone really enjoyed the dishes that I made for them today.
14:08If I can get these dishes even more healthy,
14:11and if I can make them really fast so I cook them to order,
14:14I think game day is going to be a hit.
14:17Chef Michael van der Elzen is pushing the culinary boundaries
14:20of the Central City kitchen.
14:22He's reassembling his recipes for tomorrow's seafood cart,
14:25by the road and by the sea in Waiwera.
14:29I thought yesterday was awesome.
14:31Everyone loved the dishes,
14:32but what I want to do now is I want to refine them.
14:34I want to get even more veggies into them,
14:36and I just want to increase the wow factor.
14:40I want to take my fritters, which worked well,
14:42but fritters by themselves is a little bit boring,
14:44a little bit dull.
14:45I'm going to turn them into my mussel burger.
14:48Michael's shellfish take on the fish burger
14:50features a tomato and raisin chutney.
14:52This will give me my sweetness without having to add any extra sugar.
14:56Cider vinegar, nutmeg and fennel finish off the chutney,
14:59and cos lettuce completes the $7 burger.
15:02They'll look fantastic.
15:03I think people will just snap them up.
15:05Sweet.
15:07Next up, Michael is making the oyster shooter
15:09into a $5 triple threat.
15:11First up, I'm going to have an oyster in the shell,
15:13nice and natural,
15:14followed up by a shot of the tomato and horseradish.
15:18Finally, the Whitloof leaf,
15:19chopped cucumber,
15:20some celery,
15:21avocado,
15:22parsley,
15:23a little drizzle of avocado oil,
15:24season,
15:25give that a mix,
15:26bang.
15:27Look at that.
15:28Beautiful.
15:29It's a little bit fancy actually.
15:31Last, the challenge of value and quality.
15:34$10 gets the punters the classic paella,
15:36squid,
15:37shellfish,
15:38monkfish from the ceviche,
15:39and of course,
15:40the traditional chorizo.
15:42Vegetables boost the health factor.
15:44So I'm going to chargrill some courgettes,
15:45chop up some radicchio,
15:46great colour,
15:47little bit of bitterness at the end,
15:49plus it's just super nutritious.
15:52Nobody expects the food truck to go fast,
15:54but in the back, it's all about speed.
15:56So Michael replaces rice with pre-cooked orzo pasta.
16:00Watercress salsa gives the paella a zesty zing
16:03and even more natural goodness.
16:05That is fast food at its absolute best.
16:07Seven minutes, including making the fresh salsa.
16:10Now I just need to make it multiple times on game day.
16:13Turning round orders solo
16:15isn't the only challenge on Michael's plate.
16:17I've prepped the food.
16:18The food is great.
16:19It's looking good.
16:20But will people take the time to actually stop
16:23at the food truck?
16:24We've always gone to a festival,
16:26always gone to the crowds.
16:27This time, we're on our own.
16:29But Michael's plan of a substantial seafood sellout
16:32hits the rocks.
16:33The next day is one of New Zealand's famous summer days,
16:36and driving rain could drive away the roadside punters.
16:40It is absolutely bucketing down.
16:42I have the freshest fish in the back.
16:45There is no option to come back tomorrow.
16:47The fish will be old.
16:48I'm just hoping that people are willing to pull over
16:51just because they want a hot meal.
16:53Untaunted, Michael gets to work
16:55setting up his high-end advertising campaign
17:00and prepping the food truck for business.
17:02For my mussel fritters, I need a really big surface.
17:05Like in a restaurant, I'd use like a flat plate.
17:07So what I've done is I've brought my hot plate for my barbecue,
17:11put this on top of the burner,
17:14and Bob's your auntie,
17:15hopefully this will give me enough heat
17:17so I can get heaps of fritters on at once.
17:19Hopefully.
17:21As Michael finishes setting up, his luck turns.
17:27Might be OK, might be OK.
17:30Out with the sun, and along come the customers.
17:33Hi.
17:34Hello.
17:35I'd quite like to look at the mussel burger.
17:37I'm keen on the burger. It looks really nice.
17:39Burger?
17:40I'm going to have the paella.
17:41Oh, yeah.
17:43With so little prep time, Michael's being caught flat-footed.
17:46One thing I am missing is my smoked paprika.
17:49And the orders are already stacking up.
17:51Afternoon.
17:52One second, I'll turn my buns.
17:54Do the buns, yeah.
17:55I'll take two of those mussel burgers, please.
17:58And I'll have an oyster shooter as...
18:00Just one?
18:01Yeah.
18:02Ace.
18:03Can we please have one of the paellas and a mussel burger, please?
18:06Absolutely.
18:07That'll be five to six minutes.
18:10Here we go, here we go.
18:12Not quite ready. A little bit more.
18:14Cooking on the barbecue plate is taking a while,
18:17and nothing's quite going right for Michael.
18:20Let's have a look at these clams.
18:22Oh, that's hot.
18:23Not quite, about 30 seconds.
18:25How long have you been waiting?
18:27Oh, not very long.
18:28Eight minutes?
18:29Maybe, yeah.
18:31But timely or not, it's still satisfying.
18:34Yeah, I paid $10 for this, and for fresh seafood,
18:37and cooked really nicely like this, I think it was worth it.
18:40It's good value for money.
18:41The kouma's really nice.
18:42The sweetness goes really well with, like, the tanginess of the chutney.
18:46Yeah, it's not often you can order paella as a takeaway,
18:49and it's really novel, and, man, it's tasty.
18:51Really good.
18:52Naturally, the paella and mussel fritters are both hits.
18:56Very nice.
18:57And it looks like the oyster shooters are on target.
19:01It's good. Very refreshing.
19:04With more and more customers arriving, everything's going smoothly,
19:08except for the fritter prep.
19:11Flipping time. Not looking forward to this.
19:14Oh, God, that's annoying.
19:16If Mike's not already under pressure, here comes a brother in arms.
19:20Have you been training today?
19:21Yes, definitely.
19:22How's the weather for you over there?
19:23Well, it's a bit wet over the hill.
19:25Like, is the weather a fixable trait?
19:27As soon as the old wipers go on, people don't like getting out of their cars.
19:31The weather's holding up, but will the fritters fall to bits?
19:35I'm sick of these fritters collapsing.
19:38This is probably the downside of not adding an egg to the fritter,
19:42because the egg is the binder. The egg holds it together.
19:45It's time for a peer review.
19:49Goes without saying, top-notch.
19:52A little bit messy, though, huh?
19:54The old fritter's very falling apart.
19:56And Michael's not the only one disappointed with the muscle burger.
20:00I couldn't tell Michael to his face. I just couldn't.
20:03I'm just not that sort of person, but it wasn't muscly.
20:06I mean, it wasn't muscly.
20:08I do muscles at home, and they're muscly. They taste the muscle.
20:11I think his chutney was just overpowering.
20:14But naysayers are in the minority.
20:16This is beautiful and fresh, really lovely.
20:19It's food for the ages, all the ages.
20:22What can we get you?
20:23Um, three muscle burgers, please.
20:25That's it?
20:26Yes.
20:27Three muscle burgers.
20:28Yummy, I'm coming.
20:30Do you enjoy?
20:31Fancy plates, man.
20:32Aren't they?
20:33You know what? You can actually eat the plates.
20:35They're made out of potato.
20:36Are you joking?
20:37I'm serious.
20:43The plates may not be a hit, but the contents are.
20:46That is beautiful.
20:48I really like oysters and mussels.
20:51This is really good.
20:54Yummy!
20:58What a day, and what an achievement.
21:00Eighty portions of fresh, fast, unique seafood later,
21:04Michael's serving the last customers.
21:07As he gets ready to haul up the anchor,
21:09the muscle mistake is revealed.
21:11The reason why that first muscle fritter mix was falling apart
21:14was because we only made one time the recipe,
21:18but we had two times, maybe even three times the amount of mussels.
21:22So we needed to make three times the amount of chickpea
21:25and three times the amount of rice flour,
21:27but we only made one times.
21:29So that's why the goddamn things are falling apart.
21:31Look at those.
21:32Firm.
21:33That's how they should have been from the beginning.
21:38You know, it's the chefing part of me coming out.
21:41You know, failure is not an option when you're a chef.
21:43But one failure can't cast a cloud for too long on a successful day.
21:48I think the biggest thing I got from today was
21:50the food truck doesn't need to go to a festival,
21:52it doesn't need to go to a crowd.
21:54We set up on the side of the road,
21:56we did a little bit of advertising,
21:58and the people came.
22:00It's a new chapter in the food truck.
22:02Next week, it's crunch time for Michael Crispability
22:06as he challenges chips.
22:08How can I make a healthy chip?
22:09They're cooked in goddamn pools of fat.
22:11The chips!
22:12But will this chip cowboy...
22:14Yeehaw!
22:15...hit a bullseye?
22:16That is damn good.
22:18Oh, well done.
22:19Or miss the mark?
22:21Hi, kids!
22:22Have a try of these.
22:24Hey, guys.
22:25Woohoo!
22:26Chips, chips, chips, chips, chips.
22:28Find out next week in the food truck.
22:30Not many people here.
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