The perfect egg

I spent this morning at a cooking class Wellington's City Market learning about "The Perfect Egg" with Kelda from Nikau Cafe. It truly was a fabulous way to spend a Sunday morning.

Kelda started off by discussing the importance of fresh eggs and demonstrating the difference between fresh and older eggs comparing an egg she'd had in her fridge for a couple of weeks and one laid two hours earlier (!) by Nikau co-owner Paul's chickens. The egg from Paul's chicken had a firm jelly-like white that held together beautifully.

For me, this confirmed that I want my own chickens! I would feed them up on all sorts of delicious scraps so they would lay me amazing fresh eggs. But until I have a backyard (rather than a handkerchief-sized courtyard) this will remain a dream.

Anyway, more about the class... Kelda talked about the temperature different parts of the egg firm up at - nothing too scientific and all stuff that made good sense - but it made me realise I have done some terrible things to eggs in the past.

First up was scrambled eggs: gently-cooked and custard-y. It might seem incredibly basic to start by demonstrating scrambled eggs but I doubt there would have been a single person in the class who didn't learn a thing or two. From now on, my scrambled eggs are going to be gently-cooked and custard-y too. We were each served a spoonful of the eggs in a little pastry tart case topped with broad beans and smoked salmon...

...next up was Nikau's famed sage eggs. Sage was gently fried in a generous amount of butter, then a couple of eggs were slid into the pan to "poached" in the butter. After a little oven time to firm up they were served on one of Spring's greatest pleasures... asparagus and a little shaving of pecorino. This was one of those dishes that make you want to lick the plate... of course you don't because you're in the company of a dozen or so strangers. Luckily, there were generous slices of Moulin Bakery's delicious baguette to soak up the last of the egg and butter in a slightly more lady-like manner.

The last dish of the morning was floating islands: softly poached meringue in creme anglaise with the most amazing strawberry, rhubarb and rosewater compote. Beautiful and delicious.

The City Market classes have been popular and there are still a few to run before Christmas though most have sold out. You can read more about what you're missing out on here. After this morning's class, I can completely understand why they're so popular.

The "tastes" of each dish were generous as was Kelda in the knowledge she imparted throughout the 90 minute class. Extras touches like Supreme Chemex-extracted coffee at the start of the class, and sparkling water and lovely Mahi gewurztraminer on the tables (nevermind it was only 10am) made it feel like excellent value. The best $50 I've spent in a long time.

A very delicious day in Wellington

Becs came up to Wellington for a quick mid-week visit and no opportunity to eat was wasted. We had a carefully itinerary planned which included some of our old favourites and a couple of new places Becs had yet to try.

We started the day at Nikau at the City Art Gallery. We love this place. The food is always outstanding - simple but delicious, and the service so welcoming. On this occasion we both ordered the porridge with tea-soaked prunes and toasted hazelnuts. How could we not?! I adore prunes and Becs always orders porridge in the name of "research" for her Posh Porridge stall at the Christchurch Farmers Market.

Some may scoff at ordering porridge when out for breakfast but Nikau's porridge is nothing like the porridge you eat at home (unless you're Becs). The porridge was perfect in every way. The oats were lovely and creamy, and the prunes plump and delicious from soaking in tea. We enjoyed our porridge with the lightest drizzle of cream. I also added a spoonful of brown sugar from the sweet little jar you help yourself to, though I probably didn't need to as the prunes offered enough sweetness. I just couldn't help myself as I just love the way brown sugar turns into instant caramel sauce on hot porridge.

We went to Nikau hoping to take away one of their delicious bombolone and we weren't the only ones: while we were at Nikau two other customers had asked after them. We must have let our disappointment show as we were kindly given a coconut bun by co-owner Paul when we paid the bill. Such a nice touch. And such a delicious wee bun! A light brioche-like dough rolled with orange zest and coconut milk. Highly recommended for days when bombolone aren't available.

After doing a round of Moore Wilsons we headed out to Cafe Polo in Miramar for lunch. Cafe Polo is participating in Wellington on a Plate and offering both a set menu and an entry in the Burger Wellington competition. I went with the burger and Becs the set menu. The burger was enormous filled with hummus, beetroot, toasted walnuts, two delicious Zany Zeus goats cheese patties and salad. It was served with the most amazing truffled fries - these fries alone are worth the trip out to Miramar.

For more on Cafe Polo's burger, keep an eye on Delaney's 17 days 17 dates: we spotted her dining with the charming James Nesbitt. Lucky girl!

Becs went with the fork tender beef shin from the Wellington on a plate set menu...

... followed by the apple tart - a beautiful tart tartin with translucent caramelised apples atop flaky pastry. The tart was served with a delicious pohutukawa honey ice cream. Such a lovely finish to our meal - it worked out at three perfect mouthfuls each.

We popped back into town for a look in the shops and while up the Cuba Street end we stopped off at Floriditas for coffee and shared this delightful Portuguese custard tart... don't you love how the plate matches the tart?!

Last stop for the day was La Boca Loca in Miramar. The place was just bustling - we arrived early at around 6.30pm to secure a spot as we hadn't booked and shortly after it was packed. Fantastic to see places so busy on a Tuesday night in winter. La Boca Loca take bookings for tables but leave the bar and window spots free for walk-ins. Such a great strategy. Should you arrive and there's no space they'll kindly take your number so you can pop down to the lovely bar at the Roxy cinema a few doors down and call you when a space becomes available. Love that kind of service.

We ordered corn chips with housemade salsa ranchera, guacamole and chipotle mayo; refired beans with chorizo, enchiladas de pollo and tacos de puerco. Our favourite was the taco de puerco - soft corn tacos filled with pulled pork shoulder with a pineapple and salsa.

A pre-airport glass of wine at Coco at the Roxy was also on the list but we had to reconsider this dinner as we simply didn't have room! Instead we admired the beautifully refurbished cinema and perused Coco's menu for future visits.

A lovely wee day indeed.

A few of our favourite things...

Becs: I have long enjoyed Moutere Gold's preserves - they truly seem homemade. Theirs are contemporary but delicious fruit combinations, rather than the wacky flavours that some preserve makers seem set on. Until recently I have only seen their products in specialty stores, but was pleasantly surprised to see this divine blackcurrant and vanilla bean jam at Merivale Fresh Choice supermarket for around $7. The only occasion I eat jam is when it is on a freshly baked scone with cream, and this one did an admirable job - I just loved it.

Libby: Mum came up to Wellington for a short visit last week so I took an afternoon off work and we went to one of my favourite cafes for lunch: Nikau. It has a short, simple menu and everything on it sounds delicious. A lady at the next table had the sage eggs I'd watched the chef Kelda make with Julie Le Clerc on Cafe Secrets. They looked ever better than on television so I went with those. I always like to have a good nosy at what other diners have in front of them to help me decide what to order!