As winter arrives, there is nothing better than reaching for a bottle of preserved fruit to make your favourite crumble or add to your morning porridge. A Wanaka man is tapping into the renewed appreciation for the old craft of preserving and continuing love of fresh Central Otago produce. Rebecca Fox finds out how Gus Hayden is turning a favourite Central Otago fruit into a boutique, luxury product.
In the summer months you are most likely to find Gus Hayden searching for forgotten orchards of Central Otago apricots.
The Dunedin-raised, Wanaka-based chef has a soft spot for the lush golden fruit, which, along with cherries, apples and now grapes, the Central Otago region is renowned for.
Realising you could not buy canned Central Otago apricots - or, indeed, any canned New Zealand apricots - he decided to bottle his own.
''Growing up I always saw my grandmother do it.''
There were a few ''trials and errors'' along the way, like bottles not sealing, but he got the hang of it.
He did some preserving at the restaurant he works at for its menu, but thought he could do more.
Since he had his days free, he put some advertisements in local magazines and newspapers looking for untouched orchards.
''I find natural-grown fruit is much tastier.''
He then found the ''perfect'' orchard just out of Cromwell.
It had been part of a commercial orchard but sold off and had since grown free, being pruned only occasionally.
''It's spray free, hence it's such a special product.''
Originally he bottled the fruit for friends and family as gifts and for fundraisers.
''The reception was amazing.''
As the apricots were so special he thought ''why not try something a bit more gourmet?''.
He first preserved them the ''normal way'' in a sugar syrup, but then decided to take it to the next level using wine.
''Wine preserves the colour of the fruit as well.''
With a bit of trial and error, he found a medium riesling to be the best wine match for the apricots.
''I'm not a big wino, so I cooked up different batches with chardonnay and pinot gris, but in the end the riesling produced the best. It's slightly sweet, which goes with the sweet and tart apricots.''
His spare room has been turned over to jars and jars of apricots and it had made for a very hectic summer.
''Augustines of Central Otago'' apricots were selling fast in Moore Wilson Wellington, the Cooks Deli in Arrowtown and Florence's Food Store, Wanaka, he said. Each jar's label included the batch, date it was bottled and where the fruit was grown.
''I wondered if they'd sell, given they are a high end product at around $30.''
However, it appeared people would pay for ''a little slice of Central Otago'', he said.
He chose the name Augustine as it was his full name, although he was known as Gus, and ''of Central Otago'' because he wanted to highlight the special ingredients - the fruit and wine - came from the region.
And as to how or what to do with them: ''I eat them straight out of the jar, but they're also great in smoothies or the fruit and syrup in pies and crumbles.
''Even with chocolate mud cake, a single half of an apricot on the side of it.''
He had ensured he had exclusive rights to the orchard's crop and was on the lookout for more naturally grown fruit so he could expand.
Apricots would remain his main fruit, as other Central Otago fruits either were available all year round or were not ideal for preserving, such as cherries and peaches.
''Peaches you have to skin, whereas with apricots all you do is split them and the stone falls out.''
He was putting any profit from his endeavour aside to fund his long-term goal of establishing his own commercial kitchen.
''I work full-time, so there is only so many hours in the day I can do it.''
His passion for food came from his mother, who was a ''big foodie'', he said.
''She's a great home cook.''
Preserved fruit pinot noir mulled pears
Makes 5 litres
Ingredients
1 bottle of pinot or red wine of choice
4kg of pears (Bartlett or beurre Bosc are best varieties for bottling )
1 orange
1 lemon
2 star anise
2 cinnamon quills
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
250g white sugar
1.5L water
Equipment
1 large pot
1 deep baking tray
tea towel
potato peeler
4 1L or 8 500ml preserving jars plus screw bands and dome lids
Method
1. Turn your oven on and set to 150degC. Take out the shelves, apart from the bottom one, to allow room for the jars to stand up in. Line the base of your baking tray with the tea towel and fill the tray with 3cm of water and place in the oven ready for the jars.
2. In the pot, combine the red wine and water, the zest from the orange and the lemon, the juice from the orange and all your spices. Bring slowly to the boil while you prepare the fruit.
3. Fill a large bowl or container with water and add the juice from your lemon. Peel, core and quarter your pears and place in the water waiting to be packed into your jars.
4. This next step is personal choice. You can add the core and peels to your syrup if you like, which will add more flavour but will make the syrup cloudy. Once the syrup is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
5. Clean your jars and sterilise by filling with boiling water. Once sterilised, place on a tea towel on your bench. Filling hot jars directly on a cold bench will cause them to crack; that's why they are on a tea towel. Place your dome lids in a bowl with hot water to help soften the seal.
6. Strain your syrup and return to the pot, setting aside the cinnamon quills. Add the sugar and return to the boil while you pack the jars.
7. Pack the jars with the pears, fitting as much as you can into each jar and adding a sliver of cinnamon to each.
8. Once the syrup is boiling, turn off the heat and ladle the syrup into the packed jars, tapping gently on the bench as you go to help the air bubbles escape. Fill until 5mm from the lip of the jar, place on the dome lid and screw on the bands, giving them a half turn back to let air escape while they cook.
9. Place the jars in your baking tray in the oven, making sure they are 5cm apart so they have airflow between them. Cook for 50min for 1L jars or 40min for 500ml jars.
10. When the time is up, carefully remove from the oven using tea towels or oven mitts and place on your tea towel (remember hot jars and cold benches don't mix), tightening the screw bands as you go. Leave to cool.
11. Once completely cool you must check your seals. Do this by looking if the dome has popped down. You can also remove the screw band and gently lift the jar by holding the seal by the edge.
If the seal is good you can label the jars and keep them in your pantry for up to a year.
If the seal didn't work, keep in the fridge and eat within the month.
Gluten and dairy-free almond and marmalade crumble
The reason I have flipped this crumble upside down is so the beautiful colours of the fruit are not hidden under the often boring looking crumble.
Ingredients
1 150g packet of original flavoured corn thins
40g gluten-free flour
120g whole natural almonds
70g olive oil
60g white sugar
2 heaped Tbsp sweet orange marmalade
Method
Preheat your oven to 160degC.
1. In a food processor, blitz the rice crackers to small chunks and add to a bowl.
2. Do the same to the almonds and add to the bowl.
3. Sift the 40g of flour into the bowl.
4. Add the olive oil and the sugar to the food processor and blend for a minute to combine
5. Add the oil and sugar to the bowl of dry mix and rub together between the palms of your hands until the mix is combined to an even consistency.
6. Place your mix on a baking tray. Take your two tablespoons of marmalade and roughly chop with a knife before adding fingernail-sized blobs to your crumble mix and rubbing them gently through.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 160degC, stirring every five minutes. You will know it is ready when the almonds are coloured and smelling cooked.
8. Leave to cool slightly, then add to the base of your plate and top with your favourite preserved poached or stewed fruit and also cream or ice cream, or, if you want to keep it dairy free, coconut cream ice cream or yoghurt. The combos are endless.
Crumble mix will keep in dry store in an airtight container for two weeks.
Why no canned New Zealand apricots?
While apricots are New Zealand's main stone-fruit crop, they are no longer canned in New Zealand.
As of 2011, only 11% of New Zealand apricots were processed, compared to 50% of peaches.
Canning New Zealand apricots ended in the early 2000s when Roxdale's cannery in Roxburgh closed.
Watties, the brand associated with providing home-grown New Zealand produce, still cans New Zealand plums, pears and peaches but not apricots.
A spokesman said since many orchards were flooded with the creation of the Roxburgh dam they did not have enough suppliers of apricots to meet the demand for the canned goods.
Instead they sourced their apricots from South Africa for the canned product on New Zealand supermarket shelves.
Apricot Facts
• 68% of apricots are grown in Central Otago
• Total sold in New Zealand 2.3 million
• Total sold from South Island 1.4 million
• 31% exported
• 68% sold to New Zealand market
• 200ha of apricots grown in Central Otago (2011)
• 39% of summer-fruit growers are based in Central Otago but they account for 55% of the production
- Source: Summerfruit New Zealand (2012-13)
