Going Wild in Ōhope
Hunters are starring in a beachside festival that celebrates wild-gathered food and the people who know how to prepare it.
This article first appeared in NZ Outdoor Magazine. Follow the NZ Outdoor Magazine facebook page here.
The Local Wild Food Festival, at Ōhope Beach on 22 February, will pull together foodies and foragers, hunters and conservation groups to celebrate the Whakatāne region’s bountiful kai. Chefs and butchers will work alongside the people who hunt venison and goat, pork, possum, peacocks, ducks and fish.
The line-up includes outdoorsman, conservation worker, author and regular NZ Outdoor magazine contributor Sam ‘the trap man’ Gibson. Sam’s plans include taking a small group of attendees foraging for ingredients that will be used in his Saturday cooking demonstrations.
Fellow bushman and Keeping it Wild YouTube sensation Shay Williamson is also a first timer at the annual festival, held beneath pohutukawa trees at Mahy Reserve.
Shay has promised to demonstrate a possum break-down, before cooking it in a camp oven for four hours. He will also show festival guests how to find, identify and prepare foraged berries.
Māori kai expert Hamuera (Joe) McLeod is promising festival attendees a sneak preview of recipes from his upcoming cookbook as well as tips on which leaves to use in place of cling film or aluminium foil. The Ngāi Tūhoe chef has been nationally recognised for his ability to transform harvested natural ingredients using Māori traditions and knowledge. He has also cooked on television and at the Ritz in Paris, and prepared meals for royal families, diplomats and heads of state.
At last year’s festival, Joe made a bush salad that included native ferns, palms, seeds and vines he collected en route to the site. This February, his various roles include helping to judge a team-based ‘mystery box’ cooking contest.
Education plays a major part in the event, which has been running for more than a decade.
“We want to show people what’s available in our local bush country and surrounding rivers and lakes and ocean inlets,” event manager Kim Fort says.
“And we’ll offer tips and tricks and recipes to utilise all that abundance. It’s an inspiring and informative day but it’s hugely entertaining, too.”
Paul Patterson, the new owner of Ōhope’s Wharfside Restaurant, is promising to hunt venison and peacock then cook them over an open fire pit. He will also teach the audience how to prepare kūmara mash and cured venison.
Meanwhile, Tauranga chef and educator James Broad will show hunters they can look beyond the fridge and freezer to keep their catch. James will demonstrate traditional salt-based meat preservation techniques and discuss the easiest way to make bacon, using wild pork supplied by a teenaged Whakatāne hunter.
The $15-$20 entry fee includes access to plenty more demonstrations as well as live music, food trucks and free tastings. Community and environmental groups are promoting kiwi conservation and pest control activities, while food producers showcase the region’s oysters, olive oil, truffles, gin and other treats.
“It’s also just a really great fun family-friendly day out,” Kim says. “Our festival garden bar is right alongside one of the best beaches in New Zealand.”
