Detour in the storm

Today I was driving home from Carterton...usually a 6-7 minute drive. Carterton is another small Wairarapa town - bigger than my Greytown, but still in the scheme of things - very little. I was about 3-4 minutes from home when the traffic on State Highway 2 stopped...with a diagonally parked police car up ahead. Eventually I got to the police woman...to be told that I would need to detour via Martinborough - a good 30-40 minute drive away, through the countryside, in a storm.

Never one to shy from adventure, I headed off. My sense of direction is appalling at the best of times..but when under stress, well...it might as well not exist. Because we had to twist and turn through the countryside, I had no idea which direction I was travelling - tho' I was following a car that seemed to know where it was going.

I thought we were going north - wrong way. I couldn't find any landmarks I recognised...but suddenly, out of the gloom, the sun shone and thanks to my girl guide days, I worked out that the sun was on my right...which meant I was travelling south (normally for me, whichever way I'm going is north)...so at least I knew I was headed towards Martinborough.

This was huge diversion - I should have asked if I could wait for the road to open BUT, on the journey, I was once again reminded about how beautiful and unique our country is. I drove through farmland rich in cows and sheep, through trees just turning into autumn colours and through fields where hay bales are waiting in readiness for winter feed.

Eventually I arrived in the outskirts of Martinborough - and was reminded of a wonderful day at Taste Martinborough last November - a celebration of the area's wine and food. My favourite dish of the day was a whitebait fritter..delicious in it's simplicity and divine flavour. I love fritters in any way shape or form, but struggle to make them taste like anything other than a hot blob of flour and egg...do you have a favourite fritter recipe...maybe sweet or savory?

Whitebait Fritter Ingredients

Makes 2 fritters NZ Whitebait 200g 3 large eggs Salt, pepper Italian parsley chopped 1 Tablespoon olive oil Knob of butter 1 Lemon

Recipe Method

Drain excess water off whitebait and pat dry on a paper towel. In a bowl add the eggs and whisk with parsley and seasoning, then add the whitebait. Take well proven iron skillet or non-stick fry pan, add the oil and heat. Add butter and once foaming add the fritter mixture. Quickly move the mixture in the pan with a fork till lightly set. Turn over with a fish slice, the whitebait should have just turned white and take off heat, being careful not to overcook. Transfer to serving dish, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and serve immediately

My sister Tammy makes awesome corn fritters and hopefully she will share them on here with us.

Tammy's Corn Fritters
310 gram can corn (Tammy uses cream corn)
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 cup self raising flour

Mix first 3 ingredients thoroughly. Add small amounts of ham, bacon, chopped onion (I'd cook it first), finely chopped herbs such as chives, parsley, coriander or any leftovers that sound exciting. Add flour gradually until a thick consistency. Drop dessertspoonfuls into hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Enjoy!

Arohanui.