Happy New Year, everyone! We look forward to your continued support for TCN and the TCN New Zealand office this year as well. To start the new year, let me return to the topic of cod from last time. When preparing cod, I use a cutting board made from the core wood of  a large cypress tree that had died in my garden, which I felled and crafted myself. Synthetic resin cutting boards may be convenient, but  they’re not for me. There’s just no comparison to a natural wood board—the feel when cutting vegetables or meat is entirely different, and  it feels cleaner. While resin boards may appear more hygienic, natural materials, formed from living cells, are superior. When hot water is  poured over the board after cooking, the fragrance of wood fills the air, and there’s a sense of its inherent antibacterial properties. With use,  the board gets knife marks, but these can simply be planed down to renew the surface.

With synthetic boards, you can’t plane them down, and knife marks tend to harbor bacteria. Recently, however, with climate change progressing,  even in New Zealand, there’s a worrying trend of coniferous trees like cedar and cypress suddenly dying due to the warming climate. Returning to the preparation process: once I’ve laid the plump fish on the cutting board and opened it, I generously sprinkle it with rock salt  and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight to draw out moisture. The next morning, I hang it in a well-ventilated, sunny spot. The moisture that  drains from the fish could be fermented into fish sauce, like nam pla, but I discard it since I already have plenty of homemade supply.  After a few days of drying, the flavor becomes richer and slightly fermented, making it delicious. For this dish, though, I wanted to add some wild onions picked at the apiary, so I decided to use whatever vegetables I had on hand in the  refrigerator. I start by thinly slicing potatoes, carrots, and garlic so they cook quickly, and sauté these first. Then I add onions and ginger to the mix.

Onions and garlic are packed with amino acids, so when sautéed together, they impart their flavors well into the potatoes and carrots. I prefer  cooking over high heat, and I use an industrial-sized gas burner that I typically use to sanitize beehives. Cooking outdoors with its intense heat,  I can get this done quickly. Right after that, I toss in the salt-cured cod, wild onions, mushrooms, and zucchini, finishing it off with the garden-grown chervil. It’s a quick, simple dish. The oils I use are a blend of rapeseed and olive oil, with only pepper for seasoning. The cod  provides the saltiness, which can make balancing the flavors a bit tricky. This dish closely resembles the Brazilian-style vegetable sauté with dried meat. To go with it, I prepare a rice dish similar to pilaf. I wash the rice,  drain it, and then add finely chopped onion and garlic to the pot, sautéing it well with oil. I then add rock salt and hot water to cook the rice.  This pairs perfectly with the cod and vegetable sauté, bringing out the best of each flavor.