Matakana Markets

Last weekend Hannah and I ventured north to Matakana, where every Saturday the entire town turns into a bustling marketplace.

We moseyed around, eating, snacking, and nibbling our way through breakfast and lunch.

You can drop your dogs off while you shop (aren't they adorable). If you've taken a dog to a busy market before you'll appreciate what a lifesaver this little service is.

We loved the Vietnamese stall with the delicious pork and prawn rice paper rolls.

Live music is the perfect accompaniment to the food and drink and offer. 

My favourite dish was the Tarakihi ceviche (no surprises there). It was incredibly fresh, and with parsley, capers, and a bed of lettuce, it was completely different to any other versions I have tried.

We then wandered over to the vintage and craft markets where we found a gorgeous little cafe, a whole lot of amazing antiques and an awesome chair (that I may have accidentally purchased...).

The Matakana markets run every Saturday from about 8am 'till midday. While you do have to battle a bit of traffic, a few prams, and some nasty ATM lines (take cash!), the markets are so much fun, such good value, and definitely worth a visit.

An Early Summer + Ceviche

When the sun makes an appearance on those rare October summer days, you know you're in for a treat (and usually some sunburn).

Wanting to make the most of it, the girls and I decided at the last minute to head out to Tauwharanui Peninsula for the day. So, with a picnic packed, and with our towels and books in tow, we made our way up North to the beautiful beach.

After a gorgeous day of sunbathing, swimming, reading, and being attacked by seagulls, we were absolutely shattered. The sun had beaten us. It was time to head home for a drink, but more importantly something to eat.

Keeping on theme with our beach day, we decided to have seafood for dinner, so first stop on the way home was the Matakana Coast Oyster Company where we grabbed two dozen oysters to take home (this is The Oyster Weekend after all).

Second stop was Farro, where we picked up the ingredients for one of my all time favourite dishes, ceviche. Ceviche is a raw fish salad, WAIT- before you turn you nose up at this let me tell you; the lime in the salad acts as an agent that kind of cooks the fish, making this raw fish salad not very raw at all, but incredibly, amazingly delicious.

Ceviche (serves 4)

• 400-500 grams fish fillets. Ask your fishmonger what fish would be best suited to a raw salad (I usually use Tarakihi), and ensure the fish is very fresh.
• Juice of 3 limes
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 2 fresh chillis, diced
• 1 avocado, cut into cubes
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• handful of coriander, roughly chopped

Slice the fish into small slivers or cubes, and stir through with lime juice. Leave this mixture in the fridge for 5 minutes or so while you chop up the rest of your ingredients.

By the time you've chopped everything else up, your fish should be looking slightly opaque, that's the lime doing it's thing!

The next bit is easy, throw all of the remaining ingredients into the bowl, stir through, have a taste test, and when you're happy with it, put it back in the fridge until you're ready to serve (it is best chilled). 

Once we had showered off the sand and the salt, and the ceviche and oysters were safely in the fridge, Alice whipped us all up some cocktails with gin, soda, sugar syrup, lime and mint, to go with our seafood feast. She may not like cooking, but she makes a good drink! 

With the cocktails in hand, we popped a bag of corn chips (the best way to eat ceviche), and started tucking into our seafood feast. The perfect way to end a beautiful pre-summer's day.