Food and Wine Discovery Tours for Foodies

Welcome to Finding Flavour, Auckland's specialist foodie tour company

Come and join us on a food exploration tour in Auckland and beyond.  There are other foodies to meet, delicious cuisines to discover and markets to shop on a Finding Flavour tour.  We take you to meet the people passionate about their cuisine, and to markets and specialty food outlets which will enable you to recreate authentic dishes at home.

Get a behind the scenes look at some of the Auckland region's unique food and wine suppliers. We will enjoy some delicious food tastings and of course, time for shopping!  Pick up useful cooking tips and ideas to take home.  You will be taken on a tour of discovery by experienced guides who are also foodies.

Or learn to cook the freshest produce of the season at one of our seasonal cooking classes.  Savour delicious cuisines at our special themed lunches.  We have a foodie world to discover! 

Join us!

FINDING FLAVOUR will be at the AUCKLAND FOOD SHOW, 29 JULY-1 AUGUST.  Come and visit us on Stand 216A (next to House of Knives) and enter the draw to Win tickets for 2 places on a regular Finding Flavour Foodie Day Tour!



Programme,  June - December, 2010

Join us on one of our exciting upcoming foodie day tours, lunches or cooking classes. 


Sat 26 June          World in a Day Tour: North Shore  Sold Out!


Tues 20 July        Seasonal Flavour Cooking Class:"Midwinter
(evening)            Moroccan"with Chef Sarah La Touche  Only 2 places left!


Thurs, 29 July -    Auckland Food Show -
Sun, 1 August       Visit the Finding Flavour stand 216a!


Sat 21 August      World in a Day Tour: Eastern Suburbs


Late September  Seasonal Flavour Cooking Class:
(evening)           Spring with Chef Sarah La Touche


Sept TBA             French Food Discovery Tour with
                         Chef Sarah La Touche


Sat 16 Oct            New!  World in a Day Tour: South Auckland 


Fri, 12 -                  New!  Inaugural Melbourne Foodie and
Sun, 14 Nov           Shopping Weekend


Sat, 27 Nov         Gardens for Foodies Tour

Sat, 4 Dec          Christmas Baking and Treats Tour
(and subject to demand Sat, 11 Dec)


New Coming in 2011..... Christchurch Foodie Discovery Day Tour and Hawkes Bay Foodie Discovery Day Tour. 

Plus Wellington Foodie Discovery Day Tour and Sydney and Melbourne Foodie Weekends.  Our great Auckland Discovery Tours:  Central, North, South, East and West Suburbs.  Cooking classes to inspire and special events will highlight our upcoming year!  Join us!


All tours/events subject to minimum numbers.  Finding Flavour reserves the right to amend/alter any tour/event if necessary.

Recent Event:  "Mid-Winter Moroccan" Cooking Class with Sarah La Touche, Tuesday evening, 20 July

The heavenly scent of spices greeted the enthusiastic foodies who arrived for this Moroccan-themed cooking class.  We nibbled on a tasting platter of eggplant dip (baba ghanoush), buffalo yogurt with olive oil, za'atar and Sarah's own walnut pesto accompanied with flat breads and sipped Obsidian Chardonnay while everyone arrived.  
          

         
Pre-class nibbles                         Obsidian Wines        

Sarah proceeded to show us the secrets of a flavoursome lamb tagine (the term applies both to the food and to the dish that it cooks in).  While this went into the oven to cook, Sarah served us another one she had prepared earlier that day. 

The tagine, fragrant with an array of spices, was absolutely delicious and we sipped Obsidian's Weeping Sands Montepulciano with the main course.  This was accompanied by two versions of couscous with almonds, mint and coriander and a leafy green salad. 



Sarah with the Lamb Tagine

Medjool Date and Rhubarb Fool was our luscious dessert.  The traditional mint tea completed our meal.

               
      Our luscious dessert

             Yum!



"The tagine was absolutely divine, and the pudding a delightful surprise," praised   class participant, Tamsin.

Thanks to Epicure Trading for giving us access to the Dish taste kitchen, to Obsidian Wines for the accompanying wines and to Dish for magazines for the class.

We were given lots of ideas for our Spring Class to be held at the end of September, so plan to join us then for something completely different!

Recent Event:  World in a Day: North Shore Foodie Discovery Tour, 26 June

"Lynn's relaxed and friendly manner, along with the thoughtful little extras provided enhanced the enjoyment of this foodie discovery tour in our own backyard." Judi     Thank you, Judi!

We held our breathe the day before this tour....the heavens had truly opened up and it absolutely poured with rain.  However, in true Auckland fashion, the weather the next day was totally different.  Fine but with fog in the morning.  It made our travels even more of an adventure!



We headed to the furthest point first, to our favourite maker/supplier of South African foods, located in Albany.  This is truly a family run business, and Fred himself was there to meet with us.  Sisters Alida and Aletta gave us a thorough briefing on their quality products made on the premises, and of course, we just had to taste their biltong, boerwoerst, melktarte and koeksisters.  The takeaway coffee helped to wash it all down.




Next stop: Germany.  We love helping our foodie friends discover this artisan German baker in the heart of industrial Glenfield.  This bakery does a roaring trade with German ex-pats, especially on Saturday, and we were lucky to be invited into the bakery area itself to enjoy our tastings of these delicious baked goods.  The freshly made pretzels were a revelation to many in the group.


    


On to the Middle East.  Once again, the shop exteriors give no clue to the foodie treasures inside.  At the first shop, Mohammed gave us a warm welcome and explained Halal meat to us.  At the second shop, located just to the rear of the first, we entered the wonderful world of Middle Eastern spices, dried fruits and nuts, dates and other delicious ingredients.


On our last tour to the North Shore, we visited a Korean restaurant for lunch, and we enjoyed it so much that we decided to return.  Lunch included bibimbap, stir-fried beef with onions and seafood and vegetable pancake, all accompanied by many side-dishes. We tasted the kim-chi and then visited a Korean supermarket to see where it could be purchased.

    


Our journey continued to a little slice of France in Devonport.  The historic building just adds to the ambience, truly transporting the shopper overseas.  Although we were full (to say the least), we could not resist the sampling of Potage St Germain, accompanied with the lightest bread "puff balls". 

What better way to end our travels than with a tasting of chocolate? Owner of this boutique chocolate-making business, Stephanie Everitt, took us through a tasting of Organic Blend, Togoland and Caribbean sourced chocolate.  We watched truffles being made and chocolates being filled and sealed, then finished our visit with a tasting of two new products from the "Honey Bon Bons" collection: Horopito Truffle with Honey Centre and Freeze-Dried Crushed Raspberry coated Honey Truffle.

    


Thanks to our foodie participants who made the day such fun, and special thanks to the business owners who made us all so welcome.


Our next "World in a Day" tour is to the Eastern Suburbs on 21 August, where we will visit a French artisan bakery, Italian food and wine importer, UK butcher, Middle Eastern spice blend maker, kitchenware shop and a well-known gourmet food supermarket.  Lunch will be at the fantastic Mexican Specialities.  Join Us!

 

Recent Event:  Baking and Afternoon Tea with Alexa Johnston, 8 May

Alexa welcomed the participants to this extremely popular special event into her heritage villa and proceeded to bake and chat away a chilly autumn afternoon.  She prepared a number of dishes from her best-selling cookbooks, including Honeymoon Sandwiches, Savoury Cheese Dreams, Crunchy Apple Slice, French Bonbons and more. Alexa had set her large dining table with embroidered table cloths and bone china teacups and saucers, which we sat around after Alexa's demonstration to enjoy a sumptuous afternoon tea.

Alexa regaled the group with the stories behind the recipes and her cookbooks, as well as giving us great baking tips along the way.  We eagerly await her next publication "What's for Pudding?", being published in 2011.

Recent Event:  Seasonal Flavour Autumn Cooking Class with Sarah La Touche, 29 April

"Very well planned, generous with portions and wine.  Great length of time - very informative.  Loved the class.  Thanks."  Gillian, Class participant


"Loved her (Sarah's) natural style and she is just from the heart which is refreshingly genuine."  Class participant

We were all in a convivial mood as we gathered to enjoy warming autumn foods prepared for us by Sarah La Touche. 

This was the first time that we used the kitchen of Epicure Trading, and it worked a treat.

Participants were offered a glass of wine along with a complimentary bag of hand-made Real Potato Crisps on arrival.  These crisps won a Cuisine Magazine artisan award, and they are a delicious treat.  Our thanks to the tream at Real Potato Crisps for supplying them for our tour and class participants.  A copy of the current Dish magazine was also given to each person.

    
Welcome table                                  Sarah preps for the class

Our entree was a recipe for poached baby leeks with a walnut vinaigrette.  Most of us had not tried cooking or eating baby leeks before, and they were very mild and tender.  Gillian was a willing helper to Sarah as they tied the baby leeks into bundles for serving.

    
Gillian and Sarah tie leek bundles....the finished dish of Baby Leeks with Walnut Vinaigrette

The main dish was risotto, but unusual in that it was a risotto made from pearled barley with cavalo nero.  Again, not a dish that many of us had tried or tasted before, and it was absolutely delicious.  Cavalo nero is a dark leafy green, but chard, kale or spinach can also be used.

After all that healthy food it just had to be time for  - chocolate!  Dessert was the most decadent, rich baked "Creme au Chocolat".  Serving tip:  freshly grated orange zest on the top. 

During the evening we sipped a crisp Pinot Grigio and then sampled a Montepulciano.  Both went very well with the menu.

"Great for all the extra tips and insights to nutrition and international experiences of Sarah."  Class participant

Thanks to our class participants for enjoying the evening with us, and special thanks to Epicure Trading for allowing us to use their test kitchen. 

One suggestion made for our Winter Class was for Moroccan food, and Sarah and I think that would be perfect.  Join us in July for our Seasonal Flavour Winter Cooking Class when Sarah will  prepare a fragrant and warming tagine as part of a Moroccan/Middle Eastern menu.

Recent Inaugural Tour:  World in a Day: Western Suburbs, 24 April

"An informative and wonderful day.  Thank You.  Really enjoyed the ethnic/cultural experience."  Sandy, tour participant


We had a sold out tour for this first foray into Auckland's Western Suburbs. Is it true that people are friendlier in the West? If the hospitality that we enjoyed is anything to go by, then we would absolutely agree! 

    
Our first stop was at an artisan Swiss bakery.  The choice was wonderful...hazelnut filled pastry, sourdough and organic breads, brezels (pretzels), quark cheesecake....and we loved the tastings!

After a reviving coffee, we moved on to an importer of European foods.  The small retail shop located at the warehouse has an excellent supply of smallgoods, cheeses, pasta, tomato products....even dried cod.  This friendly family-run business was one of the first to import such products.  We owe them a big vote of thanks for taking action when they missed the flavours of their heritage.  Our cuisine is all the better for it.

    
We got to see into the warehouse.......and then tasted the delicious products so generously provided by Vlasta.

I discovered an amazing small shop during my explorations, which I just had to share with the group.  So next we took a short break from food shopping and tasting to journey to Italy and shop for ceramics, glass jewellry and Venetian masks. 

    


A short "pit stop" in a South African food importer, then onto an importer of spices and foods for the cuisines of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and Pacific Islands.  We definitely needed more time to explore the shop and learn about how to use these products. 


Spice and food shop Storeowners and Hosts Zia and Huma Quereshi and daughter

Thanks to the recommendation of fellow-foodie Alexia Santamaria, we enjoyed lunch at Auckland's best Malaysian restaurant.  Again, this family-run business gave us a warm welcome and the most delicious food.  Many of the group had not tried Malaysian food before, so this was a new experience for them.  The cuisine is a merging of Malay, Nonya, Chinese, Thai, Chinese and Indian influences.  The hit surprise dish of the lunch was Coffee Pork Chops!

    


A person always has room for ice cream, and no matter how full we all were, we thoroughly enjoyed our tasting experience at this award-winning ice cream maker.

    


Jane came in especially to open up the "factory" and tell us all about this family-owned business.  All the ingredients are natural, and many are organic.  Yes, we did taste all eight flavours on offer!

The finale of our day of foodie discoveries was a tasting of award-winning sherry and port.  Again, a family-owned business with a proud heritage.

Our thanks to all the businesses that we visited for giving us such a warm welcome and sharing their passion for their food products.  We shall return!


"Thank You, was a real treat.  Well Done."  Louise. 
"Well organised, friendly hosts and beautiful food."  Johanna.

 

 

Recent Visit to Melbourne and the Food Festival, 18-21 March

What could be more fun for a foodie than a visit to Melbourne?  A visit to Melbourne during their annual Food Festival!

I spent four glorious days exploring, shopping and eating my way around this cosmopolitan city.  My good friend, chef/caterer Judy Leach from Sydney, joined me in this endeavour, so we were "double trouble".  I did have my fellow Kiwi foodies in mind while I checked out the city - I visited lots of "best of" shops and markets with a view to coming back with a group in (maybe) November.  Anyone interested?  Let me know!

Here is some of my Melbourne weekend in photos....
       
I headed south to South Yarra and Prahan.  First up was a bite of lunch at the very trendy and delicious Oriental Tea Shop.  They are known for their fab decor and innovative yum cha menu.  The front of house is a retail area selling almost every kind of tea you could want.

My next discovery was a shop specialising in olive oils, called "Oliveria".  The oil is stored in metal containers, and you can purchase oil in varying amounts.  I wish I had purchased their truffle oil...it was very well priced.  Next door at "Brioche by Philip" bakery, I picked up a loaf of bread which has a texture and flavour which is a cross between brioche and a croissant.  It was perfect toasted for breakfast.

The highlight of the afternoon was a tour of the Prahan Market.  This is Melbourne's second-oldest market and is less well-known than its famous cousin, the Victoria Markets.  The Prahan Market is much smaller, but has a very quality, specialist produce orientation (as befits the surrounding neighbourhoods!).  I was in good company on the tour - included in our little group was Martin Bosely from Wellington and one of the world's most-read foodie bloggers, Pim Techamuanvivit, who were in town for the Festival.
  
The Prahan Market is home to many specialist stall-holders, including a potato stall owned and operated by the same family for over 130 years!  One stall specialised in nuts and dried fruit, where I saw wild dried figs for the first time.

That evening Judy Leach and I did a tasting tour of several fantastic tapas bars, including "Spice Market" with mezze by Greg Malouf and the wildly popular "MoVida Next Door".

After breakfast at "Cumulus", on Friday we explored the Carlton/Fitzroy areas of Melbourne, with a quick trip through some of the downtown arcades.  Judy had never visited the Queen Victoria Market, so we headed there first...only 5 minutes from the CBD.  It really is impressive and is just huge, covering a whole block.  This market includes non-food items (unlike Prahan which is food only).  We did a quick stop in a cookware shop and then walked to an award-winning Sicilian Bakery, where Marianna di Bartolo creates sweet delicacies from her Sicilian heritage.  Both Judy and I purchased a selection of the biscuits to take home.
          

The perfect "chaser" to the sweets was a coffee at "Seven Seeds", well-known to Melbourne's coffee afficionados.  Next we headed for "Books for Cooks".  How I have missed visiting this shop on previous trips to Melbourne, I will never know!  Room after room of cookbooks, a real delight.  Then back on the trams to our most exciting find of the day - "Casa Iberica".  If you want to walk into a shop that has authentic Spanish ingredients , then this is it!  Hams hanging from the ceiling, lots of chatter, shelves stacked with goodies for the home cook:    
Is it any wonder that after all this exploring and shopping Judy and I needed a restoring glass of bubbles and a bite to eat at the ever-wonderful David Jones Food Hall?


Judy and I had agreed to "push the boat out" for dinner one evening, and tonight was it!  We had a reservation for the "cutting edge" Greek restaurant, "The Press Club", created by George Caloumbaris of Australian Master Chef fame.  We opted for the full degustation menu with matching wines.  What can we say about our meal?  Brilliant?  Delicious?  Challenging?  Filling!!  Eight very ample courses later, Judy and I were begging for mercy.....not a bite more!
        
Here is just one of the dishes....and the Grand Finale Dessert, which came complete with an atomiser spritzing of rose water (on us, not the dessert!).

Come Saturday I was more than happy to have a day's break from our explorations for a day of Food Festival Master Classes.  My selections were Peter Gilmore of Sydney's Quay restaurant, Thomasina Miers of London's Wahaca Mexicana cantina, Massimo Bottura from Modena, Italy and David Chang, a "rock star" Korean-American chef from New York.  All were wonderful.  Thomasina inspired me to explore authentic Mexican cooking and Massimo Bottura presented the most challenging food tastes of the day. 

The absolute tasting highlight of the day (and I have heard of the classes) was his foie gras "ice block".  Think a small block of foie gras, filled with the best aged balsamic, then coated with toasted chopped hazelnuts and almonds from Italy. This was presented on a wooden stick, a la ice block, and eaten in one extremely decadent and delicious bite.  Just astounding!   No wonder his restaurant has two Michelin stars!

      
True to his creative nature, Massimo spontaneously created a risotto dish in honour of his visit to Australia, which resulted in a line up of chefs plating the food for the crowd of 200, and a line of staff waiting to serve it.  No one seemed to mind that our session ran 30 minutes over time!


The evening called for something light but delicious for dinner...and we found the perfect location at "Coda".  Why is it that Melbourne seems to have such successful restaurants located down alleyways and in basements?  It makes going out a real adventure!


Sunday dawned another beautiful day, so I made the most of it exploring and checking out (most of ) all the places that I had missed so far.  Here is a tip for those of you visiting Melbourne on a Sunday:  purchase the all-day transit pass for only AU$3.10 and travel on any tram, train or bus for the whole day.  A real deal and believe me, I made good use of it
!  One of Melbourne's arcades 

Interested in joining me on a weekend exploring Melbourne's foodie delights in November?  Just send me an email, and if we have a minimum of three people booking, we are off!  Email lynn@findingflavour.co.nz

Recent Event:  Wellington and Petone Foodie Discovery Day Tour, Saturday, 6 March

"Fantastic day - experienced wonderful tastes from around the world.  Thank you for a wonderful experience."
Feedback from one of the tour participants....just the experience that I was hoping our group would have, especially since most of them had made the trip especially from Auckland for this tour!

The weather gods were smiling on us at we explored the foodie scene in our capital city.  Forecasts for clouds and winds did not eventuate, and we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in Wellington and the trendy suburb of Petone.

Any foodie tour of Wellington must include a visit to their premier food supplier conveniently located in the central city.  Terry kindly met us and provided a tasting of specialty food products from Wellington and surrounding regions:  Kingsmead Ngawi brie, Linkwater cheddar, Arobake honey and walnut leaf, Wairarapa gold olive oil, Mela apple juice, Ruth Pretty tomato chilli jam, Rutherford and Meyer wafers, Aromatics smoked mushrooms and Harringtons pepperoni salami.  We ate it all!

  

It is so interesting to see products from suppliers not usually seen in Auckland...and great that a large food retailer is supporting the local growers and food makers.  (No prizes if you guessed that our first stop was at the outstanding Moore Wilson's Fresh!)

Time for coffee....at a specialist coffee brew bar featuring nine single origin coffees and four brew methods!  Charlie and Ben guided us through all the choices and made their recommendations.

  
Our coffee "guides"                      This paper cone system looks familiar!

On to Petone....where we started by visiting a Dutch food importer (more tastings!), a spice shop and a cookbook shop on Jackson Street.  Then a little free time to explore some of the other interesting shops.

Gouda cheese tasting

 

Lunch just had to be at a very popular Italian food importer whose restaurant is always full to overflowing.  The philosophy of owner/founder Antonio Cacace is to use the freshest and best of Italian and New Zealand ingredients.  We can attest that it is a delicious philosophy!  Our lunch included linguine with clams, ravioli stuffed with pork and beef (the hit dish of the lunch), grilled vegetables and the most delicious seasonal salad of fresh peaches, tomatoes, walnuts and shredded basil.

 
Buono Appetito!                          Some of our delicious lunch

One last stop....at a treaure chest of a specialist food importer/supplier.  We were given a warm welcome by Stephen and his team, and plied with coffee and tastings of all kinds, including a selection of unusual salamis and sausages.

  
Stephen plying us with more food!  Just some of the salamis and sausages for sale

Fortunately this was our last stop of the day....I don't think many of us had room to taste another thing!

"A thoroughly enjoyable day.  Thank You."   Feedback from tour participant Liz.

Join us next year when we return to Wellington for another delicious foodie tour!  And watch out for possible day tours in Nelson or Napier/Hawkes Bay!