Many people guard their recipes, preferring to keep them a secret, but Jonas Jessen Hansen and Caitlin Holloway have a different philosophy.
"We’ve always believed in transparency. If people ask, we let them look at the recipes in the cafe," Jessen Hansen says.
"We’ve never really felt we’ve lost customers because of doing it. It’s a good thing people enjoying it at home as well as here and for out-of-town people as well to take something home."
They hope the policy makes their customers feel more at home and connected to their Nordic cuisine-influenced cafe Adjo.
So it seemed a no-brainer to take it a step further and create their own cookbook. Initially the project was just going to be a magazine-style publication but it soon took on a life of its own, especially when customers were asked to nominate their favourite dishes.
"They started flooding in."
In the end they decided not to choose recipes, instead including just about every dish requested multiple times or requested in the past and producing a 158-page book featuring 65 recipes.
"It’s our whole team inside the book. It’s a little time capsule in a way. For people who have really connected with the space it is a way for them to always remember it in a certain light," Holloway says.
They also included some quirky recipes that have not been on the menu but were made for specials or events or which they dug out during Covid lockdowns for things such as the super basic bread on a stick, which people could cook over a fireplace when they were stuck at home.
"It was nostalgic, you just sat by the fire with garlic butter, dipping the bread in."
Also included were recipes that had a purpose, such as their gluten-free bread and vegan gluten-free cookies.
"Both of those things are really popular and took a lot of development from us as chefs, for us to perfect those. They are the type of recipes we want to share because people who are gluten-free don’t have access to these really cool recipes."
Jessen Hansen says the cafe has a small kitchen that is not too dissimilar to a home kitchen so all of their recipes can be easily made at home.
"They’re simple recipes, they don’t take any fancy equipment to make."
They decided to divide the book into seasons following the same ethos as their cafe where they do a major refresh of the menu every three to four months with smaller changes during that time depending on availability of seasonal ingredients such as asparagus in the spring.
Holloway’s favourite recipe is the meatballs in curry, a dish she says is very ugly but well worth trying.
"It’s delicious."
Jessen Hansen’s is the vegetable haggis, a recipe that was inspired by one Holloway had seen cooked in a restaurant she worked in.
There was no recipe but every chef was taught to make it and when she checked back with her old colleagues no-one could tell her much apart from what it included — allspice, nutmeg, oats and lentils.
The end result is a recipe with a lot of ingredients — needed to imitate meat and sheep bladder — and the importance of getting the right texture and meatiness. But what really makes their recipe special, they say, is Marmite, an old trick of Holloway’s grandmother, which helps give dishes a meaty flavour.
Seeing the book for the first time was a proud moment for the pair who were first-time business owners when they opened Adjo three and a-half years ago next month.
They admit while they usually cook at home, takeaways were often on rotation during the book’s development.
"We worked really hard on it."
Some of the most popular recipes are their Danish pancakes, the vegetable haggis and their meatballs. Jessen Hansen also included one of his late grandmother’s recipes for potato salad.
"Lots of my passion for cooking came from her and my mum as well, even though it’s a simple one, so it means a lot," he says.
Living so far from home means his family has been supporting them from afar, commenting on every Instagram post they make. The recipe book will allow them to see what the pair have been doing in New Zealand. It also features some of Jessen Hansen’s drawings.
"They’ll be able to see what we have built here in book form."
The couple admits there have been some major challenges over the past few years, including the learning curve of running a business for the first time, but also Covid and more recently, produce shortages such as eggs.
"It’s not super fun. There is always a new battle. Our equipment always seems to break down on weekends when it’s harder and more expensive to fix. It couldn’t just happen on a normal day."
Despite all this they would not have it any other way. Things that used to stress them out at the start do not even register now.
"I don’t think we could go back to any other lifestyle. Mistakes are good, you learn from them."
While both have worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years, they rarely collaborate on recipes but do help each other perfect them, Holloway says.
"Each menu we’ll have one idea each we’re both focusing on."
Jessen Hansen gets his inspiration from other cookbooks and is more of a baker than Holloway, who admits she loves cooking at home even after a day in the kitchen at the cafe.
"Menu development gets my juices going."
They are fans of batch cooking so often freeze portions for those busy nights or when they are too tired to cook.
"We never know what each week will bring. You have to take it as it comes."
Gluten-free apple cake
This cake is super easy to make and works great with gluten-free flour. In the cafe, we bake it in a large baking tray, but it works really well treated as a pie and cut into triangular slices.
Serves 6
Dough
200g butter (soft)
175g cane sugar
4 eggs
165g gluten-free flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
90g hazelnuts or almonds
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cardamom
Filling
300g apples
3 Tbsp cane sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Method
1. Core the apples and cut them into thin wedges and put them in a bowl.
2. Mix them thoroughly with sugar and cinnamon, and let them sit while you make the dough.
3. Mix the sugar, butter, cardamom and salt well with an electric beater.
4. Add one egg at a time and beat thoroughly between each egg — beat everything until it’s fluffy.
5. Blend the nuts into coarse flour.
6. Add the flour, nut flour and baking powder together, mix, then fold into the egg mixture.
7. Put the dough in a buttered spring form, sprinkled with a little sugar.
8. Spread the apples over the dough, skin side up, and pour the sugar syrup from the bottom of the apple bowl over the cake.
9. Bake at 175degC on fan bake for 50-60 min. Keep an eye on it as youmight need to lower the temperature to 160degC for the last 10 minutes, if it’s getting too dark on the top.
10. Take the cake out of the oven and remove the ring from the spring form, letting the cake rest for at least 60 minutes before cutting it.
11. Enjoy on its own or serve with vanilla ice cream.
Vegan cookies
We created our vegan cookie recipe with the goal to make the vegan equivalent of a Cookie Time cookie, and as anyone who has tried to invent a recipe for baked goods, it can be a little challenging if you don’t have a basic understanding of chemistry. This recipe has gone through many iterations, but after about a year of tweaking we finally found one that works the same every time. While the spices may sound a little odd we suggest you trust the process.
Makes 18-22
1½ cup melted
coconut oil
1½ cup white sugar
1½ cup brown sugar
1 cup plant milk
6 Tbsp peanut butter (we use Bay Road crunchy)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon,
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cardamom
½ tsp allspice
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 cups gluten free flour
1 whole block of vegan dark chocolate, cut into chunks
Method
1. Put the warm, melted coconut oil, and all the sugar into a large bowl. Cream the coconut oil with the sugar for 30 seconds or so, just so that the sugar is combined with the oil.
2. Add the plant milk slowly, while continuing to cream. After all the plant milk is added, add the peanut butter, and soon you should see the texture change completely, holding it’s shape from the egg beater. This will take about 5 minutes total.
3. Add in the spices, the salt, and baking powder and soda and mix so that they are all well distributed throughout the batter.
4. Add the chocolate chunks and gluten free flour, and mix until it is pretty well combined, then use your hands to lightly knead the remaining flour into the cookie dough.
5. The cookie dough should not be crumbly at all, it will be a little oily to the touch, and really easy to form into balls.
6. Separate the dough into balls, you should get somewhere between 18-22 cookies. Put the balls on the oven tray, and don’t press them down.
Arrange so that you have a good amount of space around each cookie, so that they end up cooking as perfect cute little circles.
7. Bake at 180degC on fan bake for 15 minutes, then press down lightly with a spoon, just slightly (don’t flatten them, it’s just so they take on a cookie shape) and cook for another 2 minutes.
Meatballs in curry
We call our Havoc pork delivery day "meatball day", and while it is one of the most laborious work days in the cafe, it’s one of our favourites once we’re done. Without
fail, we’ll save a portion of the mince for ourselves and make this for dinner after work. This is one of our most comforting and favourite meals as a couple.
Serves 4
Meatballs
500g free range minced pork
2 tsp salt
1 egg
45g flour
250ml milk
2 grated onions
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp curry
1 grated carrot
Curry sauce
25g soft butter
25g flour
2 finely chopped onions
2 diced apples
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp minced garlic
100ml milk
50ml cream
500ml vegetable stock
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
For serving
Rice
Method
1. Meatballs:
Grate the onions and carrot. Mix all ingredients together and place them in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. The mix will be a bit wetter than your normal meatball recipe, but go with it and trust the process.
2. Curry sauce:
Mix soft butter and flour together to a smooth mass. Save the butter ball and place it aside to thicken the sauce later. Saute onions, apples, garlic and curry in butter and oil. Add vegetable stock, milk and cream and bring to boil.
3. Thicken sauce by adding the butter ball and season with salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar or more curry to taste.
4. Turn the element right down so the curry sauce is just simmering. Form the meatballs using two spoons and carefully place them in the sauce. Cook until done, stirring occasionally, while being careful not to break the meatballs.
5. Cooking time can vary depending on the size of the meatballs you are making, so after 5-10 minutes take out a meatball, cut in half, and make sure it’s fully cooked. Serve on top of white or brown rice and enjoy.
Pea and spinach risotto
It’s hard not to get excited about peas when they come into season in spring. We love this risotto, it’s simple and fresh, and is a hit in the cafe on a sunny Friday night. If you can find a nice bunch of asparagus you could fry it in oil and lemon juice and serve it tossed through or on the side.
RISOTTO
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 celery stalk
2 Tbsp olive oil
30g butter
1 l vegetable stock
300g arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
125g grated parmesan
80g butter
Filling
50g spinach
100ml cold vegetable stock
1 cup fresh peas
For serving
Salt and pepper
Apple cider vinegar
Fresh mint leaves
Method
1. Measure out approx 1 litre of vegetable stock and keep it warm in a small pot. Finely chop the onion, garlic and celery and put into another pot with olive oil and 30g butter.
Saute at low heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are tender and clear.
2. Turn up the heat and add in rice and saute for 2 minutes or until the butter has been absorbed. Add white wine and let it reduce.
3. Lower the heat and slowly add the hot stock one ladle at time, letting it absorb the stock completely, each time before adding more.
Continue adding vegetable stock, until the rice is tender but still has a bit of bite.
4. Remove the pot from the heat and add in grated parmesan and butter. Put a lid on the pot and let the rice sit for a couple of minutes.
5. Blend the fresh spinach with 100ml of vegetable stock, then reheat the puree before turning it into the risotto together with the fresh peas. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar to taste.
6. Serve the risotto with more grated parmesan and fresh mint leaves.
