It’s been a funny one this week with beautiful spring days, followed by a cold wintry blast! This weather highlights the change in seasons. It also reflects the challenges our growers face, with the winter veges on their last legs, and the spring crops not quite there yet.
This week we have used in-season citrus to inject some freshness into our menu, and help bridge the gap between the seasons. We are very committed to supporting local growers and food producers here at On Your Plate, and this was one of the major reasons why we began this journey. As with all new ventures, you soon learn some important lessons in your first year, and boy, we have learnt plenty! Supporting local means, you must learn what is readily available, and the quantities different growers and producers can supply each week. Hence the need for our Monday ordering cut-off for the Sunday delivery. Supporting local also means you get the freshest and highest quality ingredients, having been grown in Hawkes Bay, it’s usually delivered to us within hours of being picked.
On the flipside, supporting local can create its own set of challenges. One big lesson we have learnt, is the variation in produce we sometimes receive. Our deliveries arrive on Friday and Saturday, (this is when our team assemble your orders and our printed recipes arrive), it leaves little time to arrange extra or alternative produce. This means we must work with what we have, to suit the recipes for the week. This has been one of the biggest learning curves, and one we felt that we should share with you to help you understand the occasional variances. Rest assured we will always make sure the recipes will still be awesome!
Our commitment to local is absolute, from sourcing our produce, to our web design and printing, right through to our packaging, and of course our awesome crew that put all the orders together and get out there and deliver them. Working with Hawkes bay locals has been the most enjoyable part of this adventure so far, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
This week’s menu a beautiful and fresh, with lots of citrus and salads. A welcome change after a heavier winter menu. The pork belly strips with orange salad was amazing and the NZ lamb combined with Origin Earth Halloumi is heavenly.
We hope you enjoy!
- Paul & Kate
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