Lex: Coffee Cowboy

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013

For almost two decades Lex has been making strong, hot coffee at the University of Otago, currently in the East Lane of the Information Services building. Ines Shennan had a yarn with the man himself and extracted a goldmine of opinions, ranging from the political to the unusual personalities of his Read more...

What We Really Mean

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013

With a critical and cynical eye, Ines Shennan elaborates on her deeply-held concern that media campaigns rely on and exploit social norms in order to achieve their corporate agendas. The ability of broad media campaigns to reinforce cultural hegemony is enormous and we must scrutinise the Read more...

Tex Mex Beef

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012

Let me tell you about a dessert-related revelation I had some years ago. You take an overflowing handful of fresh strawberries, hull them, halve them, and place them into a bowl. Next, grab your nearby spice grinder, conveniently filled with black peppercorns. Crack the pepper over the strawberries. Read more...

Mini Raspberry Citrus Cheesecakes

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012

I’ve got something to share with you. I haven’t been entirely honest this year. From the recipes featured, my tastebuds would appear to lean towards the savoury; clearly I am a carb-consuming, meat-eating, spice-loving, caramelised-onion-obsessed lunatic. What have failed to grace these pages are Read more...

Prawn, Spinach and Lemon Spaghetti

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012

This simple pasta dish marries prawns with smoked paprika and tart lemon, wrapping the lot up in a rich cream sauce. If you’re a seafood fan but can’t get down to your nearest waterway armed with fishing artillery or face the price that blue cod and salmon fetch at the supermarket, then stock up Read more...

Pancetta Macaroni Cups

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012

This week we pay homage to my lifelong friend, cheese. When I was a young, spritely thing, Saturday lunchtime saw a steady stream of cheese melts flow from oven to table (not literally, mind you). I stuck with the classic cheese and oregano combination, while my mother would get all inventive with Read more...

Coconut Chicken

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012

My mother would often quip that “necessity is the mother of invention”. I vehemently hated this phrase when I was younger, mostly because it meant things weren’t going my way and a novel solution was needed. That old idiom came to mind one evening when my pantry was bereft of spices and I was Read more...

Braised Leeks with Sweet Lentils and Gravy

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012

Leeks are phenomenally cheap at the moment, and are a great flavour base for meals. Typically I would slice the whites into rounds and add them to risotto or pasta. This recipe, from spectacular food blog Sprouted Kitchen, honours the otherwise humble vegetable and makes them the protagonist of the Read more...

Whole Mushroom and Ham Tart

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012

The inspiration for this savoury tart came from a gorgeous Auckland café called Little and Friday, which sadly is no more than a welcome daydream when I’m in Dunedin. So when I venture to the humid north a trip to Little and Friday is always on the cards. My first true love was the dizzyingly cheesy Read more...

Soy and Ginger Dumplings

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012

When eating at Dunedin’s Japanese restaurants, dumplings are a favourite choice of mine. The art of balancing them between chopsticks while dunking them in the provided dipping sauce is comparable to the art of making them yourself – seemingly daunting, but remarkably easy after you’ve done it once. Read more...