Fisherman's Wharf Café

Owner and patron of Ohope’s Fisherman’s Wharf Café Tom Maguire is a huge Edmonds baking fan – “I mean how can you not love all those classics? ANZAC cookies and Belgium biscuits, Yoyos…. they are all old-fashioned, but still so good and those Edmonds recipes work!” He even packed his well-used Edmonds Cookery Book when he left NZ in the 1980s, bound for New York City. “You have to…I grew up on Edmonds favourites like ginger Chinese chew, seed cake and coconut rough, and those recipes work and you need it when travelling – I used to dream about getting the icing just right on a neenish tart, they are so good!”

Today that food knowledge, combined with sourcing local product and brainstorming ideas with his talented Head Chef Joel Robertson, produces some stunning results in his café.  After resettling in Ohope to be closer to family, and to enjoy “living in paradise,” Tom opened Fisherman’s Wharf Café, with the approach of keeping it simple – think perfectly fresh fish and local ingredients like fruit, bread, and olive oil.

Tom’s favourite Edmonds recipe

The basic gravy for roast meat “with a few extra additions like my mother always did for our Sunday roast after church at midday.”

Tom's Baking Tips

Tom’s mum’s gravy was “the best ever,” says Tom. Here’s how she did it:

1. Make a ‘mirepoix’ (diced onion, carrot and celery adding a few fresh herbs) as the base for the roast meat. Let the meat sit on top of these chopped vegetables.
2. Add a little vegetable water (leftover from the previous night’s dinner) and a generous spoonful of dripping from the dripping jar (fat leftover from meat cooking) to the roast.
3. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the cooking pan and rest it in a warm place (warming drawer in the stove or covered with loosely with foil). Strain off the residue liquid from the pan to make the gravy, leaving just a little fat to make the gravy.
4. Add 2 Tbsp flour to the residue in the pan, and cook it out, to remove the flour taste. After a few minutes, return the strained liquid to the pan, with constant stirring with a fork.
5. Add extra vegetable water to thin down the gravy, and an optional small spoon of marmite adds extra savoury notes and depth of flavour. You could add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, but also season well.