HE ORIGINAL SMOKE AND SPICE COMPANY
is proud to present two of the finest culinary products in the land.

 

SMOKING GUNS

A Christchurch couple bring a whole new character to garlic and sea salt.

(Article: Taste Magazine October 2005)
 

Owners of the Original Smoke and Spice Company Marcus Peters and Rowan Jones certainly practise what they preach. Between them they consume up to three bulbs of smoked garlic a week and they rarely suffer from colds. Marcus also jokes their house is a vampire-free zone.

 

As well as using their smoked garlic in everything from pumpkin soup to hummus, they eat it raw as a snack. Marcus says some of their bolder customers enjoy chewing on whole cloves too. "People buy it and stand there eating It in front of me, especially the big fellas down at Riccarton market, although I think it's a bit of a bravado thing."

 

The couple set up the Christchurch-based company after returning from 10 years in the UK. Reluctant to go back to running a restaurant or catering business, Marcus looked around for niche food products he could make

 

"I like smoked food generally and in the early 1990s I started experimenting with garlic. On a scientific level it's a similar process to when you roast garlic and the starches convert to sugar.

 

"Ultimately it's a lot milder. People think the smoking process makes the bulb quite pungent and overpowering, but it reduces the volatile oils and I feel it has a wider variety of applications than normal garlic."

 

 

 

In his early experiments, Marcus used tea leaves and did his smoking in the oven or on the stove top. Now he smokes 100kg batches of Marlborough garlic over an aromatic blend of manuka chips, bay leaves and rosemary. He designed the smoker unit himself and his smokehouse is in Lincoln, just out of Christchurch.

 

Although he now has the process down to a fine art, it wasn't always that way.

 

"Of course, there were some terrible disasters. Initially I overcooked the bulbs and found a smouldering mass. It's easy to smoke the bulb too much so it goes all mushy. It may be marvellous to eat then and there, but it would have no shelf-life and, of course, if people were to buy it, they would think it's rotten when it's not.

 

"Now I smoke it to a level where it's still firm but fully Infused with smoke."

 

Rowan reckons the sweet, nutty taste of [smoked garlic has won plenty of converts. "Once people try it, they're hooked."

 

Another major selling point is that with smoked garlic, next day 'garlic breath' is less of a problem.

 

Marcus is also fiercely proud of their smoked roasted sea salt. The salt crystals, from Lake Grassmere near Blenheim, are spread on gauze for smoking. They are then tumble roasted (in a device not unlike a coffee roaster) with garlic, shallots, coriander, mustard seeds and chilli and sold as Original Smoke and Spice Seasoning.

 

"It has an amazing complexity of flavour and there's nothing like it," Marcus says.

 

He and Rowan, who works part time as a nurse, sell their smoked products at farmers' markets all over the country, and through their website.

 

While working as a chef in a London pub, Marcus shopped for produce in the Portobello Road Market. He enjoyed the barrow boys' patter and employs their vocal sales technique himself to attract customers at markets here.

 

"People love it because it involves them and I really love that direct interaction with the public. I don't want these to be haute cuisine products. I want the salt to be on every table in New Zealand.

 

"It can make even the most mundane food taste great. It even makes mince on toast taste good."

 

Chicken fettucine with smoked garlic & oven roasted vegetables

READY IN; 50 MINUTES

SERVES: 4-      

 

  • 4 Tbsp olive oil

  • 1 head smoked garlic

  • 1 tsp Original Smoke & Spice Seasoning

  • 2 red peppers

  • 4 small zucchini

  • 1 red onion

  • 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

  • 500g fresh fettucine

  • 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped

  • 'A cup chopped flat leaf parsley

  • Parmesan cheese shavings

             

(1) In a bowl, mix olive oil, chopped smoked garlic and seasoning. Chop peppers into quarters, removing seeds and stalk. Slice zucchini in half and quarter onion. Mix chicken and prepared vegetables with olive oil mixture and place in a roasting dish. Bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes, until the chicken is golden.

 

(2) Remove from oven and roughly chop chicken into large pieces. Cook pasta in boiling salted water, drain and mix chicken and roast vegetables through it. Garnish with finely chopped chilli, chopped parsley and large shavings of Parmesan.