The Aristologist

The Aristologist New Zealand home cook, writer, researcher publishes a food history journal “The Aristologist.”

Friday and Saturday Program 28/29 November. $80 one day registration available, and $50 / day registration for unwaged s...
09/11/2025

Friday and Saturday Program 28/29 November.

$80 one day registration available, and $50 / day registration for unwaged students.

Registrations at www.aristologist.com. Day 2 - Saturday may be of particular interest to students of viticulture. Morning, afternoon tea and lunch provided.

Friday

9.00 am: Tracy Berno : The Humble Swede

9.45 am: Nicki Tarulevicz : Christmas in Singapore

10.30 am: Morning tea

11.00 am: Juliet Galuszka : Conservation of Historic Cook Books

11.45: Dave Veart : Why I cook the Way I Do.

12.30 pm: Lunch:

1.15 pm: Leanne Miranda: Chai pe Charcha - Migrant Community kitchens

2.00 pm: Alison McKee : The Hare

2.45 pm: Afternoon Tea:

3.15 pm: Omai and the Tahitian Barbecue

4.00 pm: John Webster : The Self-styled Honest Man - Richard Butneer

Saturday

9.00 am: Ian Quinn : Premium Viticulture at Two Terraces

9.45 am: Amy Farnsworth: Biodynamic winemaking

10.30 am: Morning Tea

11.00 am: Dan Brewster: Regenerative Viticulture

11.45 am: Raquel Kallas : The Fruit of 11.000 years labor: Domestication of Vitis

12.30 pm: Lunch

1.15 pm: Nicholas Drinnan: Wild Vines of the Ngaruroro

2.00 pm: Duncan Galletly: One and a half days to dig - an Amateur Vigneron

2.45 pm: Afternoon Tea

3.15 pm: Karen Wishart : Abel or Fable (Pinot Clone)

4.00 pm: Max Di**le: Sparkling Red – An Australian Regional Tradition

Chateau Garage-ista social club gathering at the garage. 🌞Invited members of the club were spoilt rotten with delicious...
06/11/2025

Chateau Garage-ista social club gathering at the garage.
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Invited members of the club were spoilt rotten with delicious platters and almost the full range of Chateau Garage’s wonderful wines - the two rosés, Albariño, Chardonnay (22 and 24), Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.. Tasted en masse it reinforced for everyone that Ollie Powrie gilds small-batch wines of exceptional character, there is nothing so-so, no duds, nothing boring - all deliciously interesting.
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Joining the club is highly recommended - chateaugarage.co.nz


The ARAB platten printing press was produced by Wade of Halifax from the late 19th to mid 20th century. Designed to be d...
02/11/2025

The ARAB platten printing press was produced by Wade of Halifax from the late 19th to mid 20th century. Designed to be delivered flat packed in bits and reassembled on site. Scott took one to the Antarctic and there is a suggestion that Shackleton had one too. Some steam ships carried them for printing menus etc. my one is from about 1900 - it weighs 600kg. A beautiful piece of engineering that proved too much for any of the carriers / machinery movers etc etc in the Hawkes Bay. So, in moving from our Napier house to Maraekakaho there was nothing for it but to disassemble the beast. Yesterday I t took me 7 hours and still not finished, a pesky wedge to remove from the flywheel and then it’ll be done.

It’s light years from the modern desktop printer, but there’s something beautiful about it.

Some stuff I didn’t post but should have because they gave me pleasure. Two red wines : Primativo de Manduria. An Italia...
02/11/2025

Some stuff I didn’t post but should have because they gave me pleasure. Two red wines : Primativo de Manduria. An Italian Primitivo 14% ABV. Took it to the neighbours and on tasting my immediate response was “YUM - F**k that’s good!! Sorry for the indelicacy but it was me being honest. Decadent and deep tiramisu chocolate aromas the texture of mercury and a soft plush bed of down. Voluptuously moreish. About $30 from and worth three times that.

With a humble repast of pork sausage, slaw and air frier game chips, a bottle of Barossa Langmeil Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro, also - As I drew the cork I was expecting a red on training wheels, hot climate fruit and a same-old sort of drop - but no - my focus was arrested by a beautifully complex - spice box, leathery red - immediately interesting - lovely balance, good length, and delicious. One to remember.

Budburst from the carmenere two days ago, but too frantic with other stuff to post. One slightly irritating thing at th...
02/11/2025

Budburst from the carmenere two days ago, but too frantic with other stuff to post. One slightly irritating thing at the moment is the annual flight of the bronze beetle - emerging from the soil after a previous life as a grass grub. Not only do they eat grass roots, but on emerging they eat fruit trees and vines. They can skeletonise small fruit trees in a matter of days. I thought I’d laid the groundwork for them by dosing the orchard floor to kill the grub stage, but no - they are now out in force. Some people think light traps work - basin of detergent water with a light above - I tried it and no it doesn’t work - it’s a waste of batteries. Spinosad spray was perhaps marginally effective but the beetles keep eating anyway before being affected. So last night at dusk - torch and pyrethrum in hands - the teeming hoard were inspected before getting a dose of the organic daisy extract. Thousands of the little beetles succumbed within minutes and I’ll repeat that in three days. Be interesting to see what their numbers are like then. Particularly badly hit were apricots, pears, peaches and chestnuts.

And the vines? Looking down each vine guard they looked beetle free but I’m not going to get complacent.

Another couple of weeks and it’ll be over, the beetles laying eggs in the ground for next years ritual, then dying. Some local vineyards are badly hit, especially on the outside edges next to open paddocks. The pyrethrum seems to be very effective but it has poor longevity on the leaves, hence the need for frequent reapplication - and at night when the beetles are starting to feed. I’m not sure whether commercial growers spray in the dark but it seems to be the best time.

Not the usual aristologist post, but that’s life - and sorry about the video for the squeamish.

Duck, turnips and turnip sauce: Carmenere breaking bud.🌞Planted on the 16th, about 75% of the carmenere from had broken...
28/10/2025

Duck, turnips and turnip sauce: Carmenere breaking bud.
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Planted on the 16th, about 75% of the carmenere from had broken bud by the 28th. Nerve wracking!
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Duck and turnips - a classic, simple combination, here playing with the turnips to make a delectable sauce.
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Turnips immersed in chicken stock with a tbs or 2 of butter and same of creme fraiche, a little pepper. Cooked slowly to reduce to a sauce-like consistency. Adjusted salt and pepper.
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Duck breasts scored, into cold pan and cooked to render fat and give a golden skin. Just a minute or so on the other side, then into air frier for 5-10mins at 160C. Rested and carved. Plated. Simple and insanely delicious.


Planting day. 600 vines went into the earth, with the help of friends, who are also viticultural experts. Ollie from Cha...
21/10/2025

Planting day. 600 vines went into the earth, with the help of friends, who are also viticultural experts. Ollie from Chateau Garage, Raquel of , Jill, ex , rod the tireless gardener, Brigid, myself and a few dogs. Many many thanks to you all (except the dogs). The holes dug, vines in and watered - 100 vines per hour, all in the face of hot winds gusting over 60km/hr and trees falling over in the next door paddock. Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. A final toast to our efforts and the vineyard with a bottle of Grange 2016 - what better drop for an off beat vineyard, that many would say was insanity. A tiny vineyard, and a tiny bit more diversity in Hawkes Bay wine.

From protovineyard to vineyard. I spent the afternoon planting the first batch of 150 Carmenere vines, this lot from the...
18/10/2025

From protovineyard to vineyard. I spent the afternoon planting the first batch of 150 Carmenere vines, this lot from the nice folk at . Warm and drying weather, so soaked in Agrimm Abzorber gel and Unite bacteria / fungi then watered with a Radifarm liqueur. Guards on and fingers crossed from here. On Tuesday the next 600 arrive - as well as hot, gale-force winds - that’ll be a day to remember !

Watering baby shrubs - the puppies and their mum.

Last night of restaurant Ari’s international winter series of dinners - this time Lebanese - sold out and requiring an e...
16/10/2025

Last night of restaurant Ari’s international winter series of dinners - this time Lebanese - sold out and requiring an encore at the weekend. .ari
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I don’t know how they do it but with research and artistic flair and a bit of artistic license, Ari comes up with sensationally good international cuisine that carries authenticity into stand-out deliciousness.
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Kicking off with falafel, pickles and an arrestingly interesting whipped tahini, a series of plates arrived - none failed. Tuna with spiced filo; Macaroon bil toum - pasta in garlic sauce; Kingfish wrapped in grape leaves; Melting lamb shoulder on Mujardarra with fattoush - a fried flatbread salad. Finally a brilliant baklava of sorts on a carrot jazarieh - grated carrot cooked in sugar syrup.
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A cocktail starter of preserved lemon, vodka and lillet - the preserved lemon giving it moreish fascination, then three Lebanese wines with the meal (the rest of the wine list is excellent). The B-Qa dry white was mineral, citrus and good acidity which I couldn’t rationalise with the climate. The two reds - Musar Jeune - simple but lovely - jeune in fact, then the Hochar, more robust and perfect with the lamb.
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A special evening, delicious and considered, great atmosphere and much hilarity both within and between tables. A highly recommended restaurant - next winter’s international series should be unmissable.

Crème fraiche fried eggs and asparagus; Telmo Rodriguez Basa Verdejo 2022.🌞I was doing asparagus as I normally do - butt...
13/10/2025

Crème fraiche fried eggs and asparagus; Telmo Rodriguez Basa Verdejo 2022.
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I was doing asparagus as I normally do - butter, lemon peel, lemon juice, water to half cover the asparagus in a single layer. Bring to boil and reduce to a nice buttery, lemony, asparagus glaze. However here I added creme fraiche - a big dollop and, when the buttery glaze appeared, added the eggs. Basically they were cooked in flavoured cream.
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The bread - a .frenchbaker baguette - was drenched in water and given 4-5mins at 180 in the air frier - a secret I wouldn’t normally share.
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Deliciously simple.
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Telmo Rodriguez Basa Verdejo 2022. A Verdejo blend with a bit of Viura from Spain. Classy citrus with mineral complexity. A lovely sophisticated dry white - perfect with the asparagus and its eggy sauce - from and

Lamb “cassoulet”; Salad: Vinoè Aglianico del Beneventano IGP🌞An air frier cassoulet of sorts but really a mish mash of t...
05/10/2025

Lamb “cassoulet”; Salad: Vinoè Aglianico del Beneventano IGP
🌞
An air frier cassoulet of sorts but really a mish mash of two of my favourite dishes - cassoulet and roast leg of lamb cooked with cannellini beans and tomato.
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Four lamb shoulder chops cut into large chunks. An onion diced. A carrot cut into pieces. Garlic shoots. A can of chopped tomato and a can of drained cannellini beans. Chopped herbs. A spicy sausage from and a glug of red wine. Chicken stock.
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Fried the onion transparent, added carrot and garlic shoots then the lamb and sausage, allow to colour. Add wine and reduce to almost nothing. Add beans, tomato, herbs. Cover with chicken stock and cook very slowly, uncovered, for about 2hrs, occasionally stir and a little water if sauce is reducing too much. Then into a cazuela, top with breadcrumbs and push down to moisten. Into air frier and give it 15-20mins at 135C.
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Deliciously unctuous, and cassoulet-like. A real winner.
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Vinoè Aglianico del Beneventano IGP. About $30. From southern Italy. 100% aglianico (silent g). Deep ruby with blackberry complexity, long ripe gentle tannins and nicely balanced acidity . A delicious accompaniment and foil to the richness of the “cassoulet.”
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Waking up (frosty) with only 15 more sleeps to go until the vines arrive from . Picking up on Tuesday morning (21st) from Hastings and they’ll go into the ground in the afternoon. Offers of help gratefully received.

Beef with a potato topping / Beans and sprouts glazed in black honey.: Günzer Tamás Cabernet Franc, 2022. Villány, Hunga...
29/09/2025

Beef with a potato topping / Beans and sprouts glazed in black honey.: Günzer Tamás Cabernet Franc, 2022. Villány, Hungary.
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First food post in a while - distracted (and slightly over food posts). But with B away for a few days on oma duties, and with the vineyard prep almost completed, and with mince in the fridge - I made dinner.
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Soffritto of onion, carrot and celeriac stalks and leaves, added beef mince - coloured then added chopped Cavolo Nero, herbs (parsley and thyme), tomato paste, a glug of red wine, reduced, stock, reduced, then a can of chopped tomatoes. Simmered an hour. Into a cazuela. Thinly sliced potato stirred and coated in the red oily residue of the beef, then layered on top. Into air frier at 135 for half an hour.
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Brussel sprouts and beans parboiled for appropriate times, tossed in black garlic honey and salt, then finished off in the air frier on top of the potatoes. Delicious!
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Günzer Tamás Cabernet Franc 2022. Good value ($25-ish), smooth, easy drinking red from south west Hungary. Garnet side of Ruby, reasonably robust, slightly nutty, with red fruits and nice finish. Good balance and difficult to dislike - a gentle unassuming soul.

Merlin has zero table manners, but likes his food.

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