Wednesday, 09 July
6.30pm

In tonight's episode of The Cook and The Chef, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant continue their food odyssey in New Zealand. On the North Island Maggie discovers a microclimate responsible for some wonderful produce, while Simon travels to the beautiful, pristine waters of Marlborough Sound in search of the green-lipped mussel.

Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island is one of the sunniest regions of New Zealand. The area is renowned for the range and quality of its food produce, including gourmet snails. Maggie decides to visit a snail farm run by Raewynne Achten. From snails Maggie moves to olives, visiting Rose Gresson at her beautiful olive grove overlooking the bay. Rose has almost 3000 trees, which she described as growing like mushrooms.

The idyllic and pristine waters of the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island are perfect for aquaculture. Simon meets Mark Hones who has offered to show him this unique environment of sheltered bays where green-lipped mussels are farmed. The spat (babies) are harvested by hand from the beaches near Kaitai at the top of the North Island and then sent south in refrigerated trucks where they are seeded. Mark cooks up a mussel feast for Simon onboard his boat which is anchored in one of Marlborough Sounds' beautiful bays.

In the kitchen, Maggie takes her inspiration from the New Zealand olives and fills a delicious puff pastry with a combination of Kalamata olives, olive oil and sweet roasted garlic topped with goat's cheese and oregano. Simon steams open green-lipped mussels, smothering each one with a tasty cooked mix of tomatoes, onion, garlic and toasted bread crumbs before putting them under the grill. Simon has some great tips for not overcooking the mussel and his result is a plump, tasty mussel with a highly flavoured and highly textured stuffing.

The Cook And The Chef will be repeated on ABC2 - Thursday, July 10 at 5:00pm