Really spicy street food is Amy Melchior’s type of food.
The Auckland cook visited Dunedin last week to open her exhibition of encaustic paintings, but when she is not painting she is in the kitchen.
She is the woman behind the art, styling, writing, food testing and styling in the popular Ripe cookbooks created by Angie Redfern who owns the Ripe cafes in Auckland.
Melchior’s food journey began as a child growing up in the Hawke’s Bay and going with her parents to their night work at a local restaurant.
"I ended up in the kitchen helping where I could. It’s where I wanted to be."
She remembers as a child being in the backyard happily "cooking up" random things she had found in the garden and trying to feed it to people.
At about 8 years old she was making brandy snap baskets at the restaurant and helping out with the puddings.
By her early teens she was helping out at an American-style milk bar making pies and doing prep after school.
In her late teens she moved on to a "funky cafe" in Havelock North as a kitchen hand and filling in when the chef was indisposed.
"I thought this is quite easy and I really enjoyed doing it."
Then when she moved to Sydney for art school she kept working in cafes.
"So I just fell into it really."
"Mum and Dad had travelled extensively. So we had interesting food. We were not eating chops."
She returned to New Zealand for her 21st and stayed, getting work in Auckland and Waiheke cafes and restaurants before 20 years ago meeting Redfern and joining the team at Ripe.
"I found my good food family."
Her first job at Ripe was as a baker as it is something she loves doing and is good at, if "not precise".
"It’s a bit like art. Once you have got the knowledge you know what you can and cannot pull off. I like to experiment with different flavours and incorporate different spices."
She prefers savoury to sweet flavours but really enjoys the process of baking.
"Even as a kid I’d be baking the birthday cakes and taking baking to parties. My mum wasn’t a good baker so I was the one that made sweet things."
She attributes her skill as a baker to learning at the bench of her grandmother and believes the gene has been passed on to one of her sons.
"He’s an amazing baker. At 8 he made French macaroons for the very first time using the internet and following a recipe and they were perfect; better than I ever made. I said he was showing me up."
Her love of savoury food came from her time in Asia and India. Their cuisine was her "go to". She also loves Japanese, Moroccan and Middle Eastern food.
"I’m a flavour girl. I think Angie calls my food "a party in your mouth". You taste it all. When you are biting into something you go ‘oh yeah’ immediately."
They are flavours she serves up at home as well with her boys occasionally asking to just have pasta.
"I say no it’s boring."
"We’re definitely not a roast family."
Melchior herself is a pescatarian for health reasons so does not eat meat but is happy to serve it to her family.
"I’m not a fake chicken vegetarian. I’d rather eat eggplant."
She now works six months at Ripe and does six months on her art. Her work at Ripe has morphed into mostly managerial work but she still puts on an apron when needed.
Most recently she got to mix her art and cooking by doing the food prints for the deli’s two latest cookbooks. She has been involved in styling and writing the cookbooks which feature a mix of staff and Redfern’s friends recipes as well as Melchior’s.
"I dip and dive, it works quite well. It means I get to enjoy both worlds. I find food is as much an art as art. They’re both art to me. One’s edible and one you look at. Good tasting food - there is an art in that."
Writing recipes is something she loves as is the testing, styling and being part of the recipes being photographed. Ripe’s philosophy is that the dishes need to look achievable, so it is OK if it cracks or breaks, as they are not looking for perfection, just that it is fun to make and tastes good.
"I could write recipes constantly. I love the process. It’s exciting. It can be exhausting as we have to shoot 10 recipes in one day."
Natural light is used to photograph the dishes even if it is pouring down.
"I like that - it’s more fun."
Chance to win
Ripe recipes: Thought for Food by Angela Redfern & The Ripe Deli Team, and Ripe Recipes - A Third Helping, RRP $60 each. Beatnikpublishing
Amy Melchior has provided a copy of each book to give away. Please send your name and address to playtime@odt.co.nz indicating which book you would like to win in the subject line by June 14.
Arabian Nights salad (From Ripe Recipes: A Third Helping)
Serves 6-8
Suitable for DF, EF, GF, NF, vegan
Zaatar roasted crispy cauliflower, baby carrot, beets with buckwheat and a delicious Egyptian tahini dressing. This is a great recipe by Amy that can easily be adapted to any winter vegetables you have on hand. Try this salad served with slow cooked lamb.
TIP: You don’t need to peel any of the vegetables as the skins are full of goodness and they help the vegetables keep their shape while they are roasting. The stem of the cauliflower and the leaves are all delicious so make sure you use it all. Buckwheat makes this salad gluten free but you could substitute any grain you like, or have on hand.
1 whole cauliflower, thinly sliced including the stem and any leaves
olive oil
4 Tbsp zaatar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
350g baby carrots, sliced in half
2 beetroot, chopped into thin wedges
1 cup (190g) buckwheat
a bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 quantity of egyptian tahini dressing (see recipe this page)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180degC fan bake. Line two baking trays.
To cook the vegetables: place the cauliflower in a mixing bowl. Add a big splash of olive oil, sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of zaatar, season lightly with salt and pepper and toss to coat the cauliflower in the oil. Transfer on to one of the prepared trays and place in the oven. On the second tray, place the carrots and beetroot. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle with a tablespoon of zaatar. Season lightly with salt and pepper and place in the oven. Cook the vegetables for 20 -30 minutes or until well roasted and starting to char around the edges.
To cook the buckwheat: place a small saucepan half filled with hot water over a high heat. Add the buckwheat and cook for 10 minutes or until just cooked but still holding its shape. Drain and cool under cold water. Set aside in a sieve to drain completely.
To prepare the salad: mix the buckwheat and parsley with the rest of the zaatar and a drizzle of olive oil. Spread 3/4 of the dressing on to a large serving platter, top with half of the buckwheat mixture and then layer over the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle over the remaining buckwheat and drizzle on the rest of the dressing.
Egyptian Tahini Dressing
Makes 1 cup
Suitable forDF, EF, GF, NF, vegan
We use this as a dressing for the Arabian Nights Salad. It is also a yummy vegan dip served with crudites, olives and toasted pita bread.
½ cup (125mls) tahini paste
2 tsp white vinegar
¼ cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, smashed and very finely chopped
1 tsp each of sumac, ground coriander and ground cumin
a pinch of salt
1 tsp brown sugar
¼ cup (60ml) water
Method
Place all the ingredients into a small bowl and using a stick blender, blend until well combined. This tahini dressing keeps well stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
