Parsnip the vege that keeps on giving

There's something very old-fashioned about parsnips. I have great memories of cold winter evenings and warm comforting broths in the home of team Hawkes of Harvey St. Often referred to as white carrots, they are from the same family. They have grown in Europe since Roman times. The word parsnip is from the Latin 'pastus' meaning food and 'sativa' meaning cultivated. Parsnips have a delicate, sweet and slightly nutty flavour. Parsnip varieties have subtle taste variations and slightly different shapes. The sweet flavour comes when the starch is converted to sugar in cold weather. It is said the best parsnips come after the first frost, not too dissimilar to swede. During the Middle Ages parsnips were the main starchy vegetable for ordinary people (potatoes had not yet been introduced). They were easy to grow and were a welcome food to eat during the lean winter months. They were also valued for their sugar content. Sweet parsnip dishes like jam and desserts became a part of traditional English cookery; they were also commonly used for making beer and wine. Parsnip wine has a beautiful golden colour wand a rich sherry-like flavour. Parsnips are a good source of fibre and potassium, and contribute folate, calcium, iron and magnesium. They also contain small amounts of vitamin C and E. Farcarinol, (a natural pesticide) mostly associated with carrots, is found in higher levels in parsnips. You don't need to peel young parsnips. You might like to peel or scrape the older and tougher ones. Parsnips are often thought of as a winter vegetable but pretty much available all year round. Smooth and firm parsnips are the best along with being small to medium sized. They should be stored in plastic bags in the fridge, make sure the bag is not completely sealed to prevent condensation. When I was a lad my grandfather dug a pit in his garden, lined with sacks then filled with the winter vegetables - great for parsnips. Parsnips are useful in many dishes. In salads, cut into chunks, steamed or roasted and bound with your favourite dressing, nuts and salad greens Omelettes and frittatas Soups Peeled into ribbons, and shallow fried to form a crispy snack or garnish Parsnip puree Roasted with peppers, red onion and carrots and drizzled with oil, balsamic and finished with honey Steamed and mashed with carrots and swede to make marble mash, served with plenty of cracked black pepper and butter Ad Feedback This week lets make some tasty croquettes, to be served as is or with a green salad PARSNIP AND CHICKPEA CROQUETTES (makes 12) 450g parsnip, peeled and chopped 115g chickpeas, canned or cooked 25g butter 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander 1 egg, beaten 50g fresh bread crumbs vegetable oil for frying salt and freshly ground pepper Place parsnips in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until completely tender. Drain the chickpeas and roughly mash. Melt the butter in a small pot and cook the garlic for 30 seconds. Drain the parsnips and mash with the garlic butter. Stir in the chickpeas and chopped coriander, then season well. Take about 1 Tbsp of the mixture at a time and for into small croquettes. Dip each croquette into the beaten egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the croquettes for 3 to 4 minutes until golden, turning frequently so the brown evenly. Drain on kitchen paper and then serve at once, garnished with fresh sprigs of coriander. GRAHAM HAWKES Last updated 11:33 05/09/2014 http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/features/10464441/Parsnip-the-vege-that-keeps-on-giving

An unsung musical hero

Johnny Cooper, musician, b 1928, Wairoa; d Septemer 2014, Lower Hutt. Johnny Cooper, who died in Lower Hutt this week, may have not only been one of the most unsung, but also one of the most modest heroes New Zealand popular music has ever had. As a country singer in the early 1950s, billing himself as "The Maori Cowboy" he had big hits, and one, "Look What You've Done", which he wrote himself, became the quintessential Kiwi party song until "Ten Guitars" arrived. It's the song Jake and Beth Heke duet on in the movie "Once Were Warriors." In 1955, with a group of Wellington jazz men, he became the first singer outside the United States to record a rock and roll song, cutting "Rock Around The Clock" in HMV's Lower Hutt studios. His follow-up, "Pie Cart Rock and Roll", wasn't such a big hit, despite the magic chorus "Rockin' to the rhythm of the pea, pie and pud". He turned his hand to promoting talent quests, where his discoveries included the country's first rock and roll idol, Johnny Devlin, Midge Marsden (who played in Bari and The Breakaways as a backing band for contestants) and the Fourmulya, whose song "Nature would be judged the greatest New Zealand rock song of all time. Johnny himself was a friendly, deeply modest man, with a beautiful Billy T James laugh, and a good line in self depreciation. His pie cart song, he'd claim, was written in the hopes of free feeds while he was living in Whanganui. As a promoter, working in a field not famous for people with generous spirits, he was decent and honest. Those of us who had any dealings with him hold fond memories, and mourn his loss. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/10468041/An-unsung-musical-hero PHIL GIFFORD Last updated 10:52 06/09/2014

Te Papa taonga on the move north

Te Papa taonga on the move north NIKKI MACDONALD Last updated 05:00 06/09/2014 Te Papa plans to move up to half its treasures out of Wellington in the long term, according to documents obtained by The Dominion Post. The national museum announced last September that it would move some collections north to reduce earthquake risk, as part of a plan to build a new South Auckland collections and exhibition centre. Te Papa chairman Evan Williams said no decision had yet been made about which collections, or how many, would move. Consultation begins in the next few weeks. However, documents obtained by The Dominion Post show the museum plans to move up to half its treasures out of Wellington, and has considered housing them in Christchurch and Hamilton, as well as Auckland. "Substantial work has been carried out over the last year to better secure buildings and collections for seismic events, but in the longer term the board has determined that the safest course of action is to mitigate some of the risk by relocating up to half of the collections outside of Wellington," a July 2013 ministerial briefing says. The documents also reveal further details about the South Auckland plans. Initial estimates put the capital cost at $30 million, with a $3m annual running cost. The new centre would provide 8000sqm of shared storage and a second venue for major international exhibitions. Visitor numbers are projected at 670,000 a year - about half Te Papa's declining Wellington visitor numbers. The planned collection and exhibition centre's South Auckland location means some of Te Papa's Maori and Pasifika taonga are likely to move north. But scientists are worried the fragile natural history collection will also be shifted, as it is housed in the less earthquake-safe Tory St complex. That collection - which spans century-old insects to giant fish tanks - is used by scientists, university researchers and government agencies for everything from identifying biosecurity invaders to charting sea temperature changes before written records began. Biologist Mike Rudge, who managed the collections from 1994-98, said moving or splitting the natural history collection and its scientists would "cut the guts out of the scientific base in Wellington". Critics have also questioned the wisdom of Te Papa taking on a $30m new venture when visitor numbers are falling and the museum has just made an $8m loss. It is also looking for a new chief executive after the premature departure of Englishman Michael Houlihan. Former Te Papa birds curator Sandy Bartle said New Zealand already had too many "small, underfunded, understaffed, little parochial efforts", and no new museums should be built without a national review. Ad Feedback Williams conceded that the South Auckland project would draw some Te Papa staff north. However, he was adamant it would not weaken the Wellington museum. The board also planned a $12m redevelopment of Cable St and the planned 2015 Anzac Day centenary exhibition being developed with Weta would be a game-changer, he said. - The Dominion Post http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10466643/Te-Papa-taonga-on-the-move-north

Family claims Longden's lane

A descendant of the long-dead owner of a central Christchurch laneway has come forward. Lynette Mary Raymond, who lives in Australia, said she was the great, great granddaughter of Joseph Longden - who remains the registered owner of 151 square metre lane and surrounding land at Kilmore and Colombo streets despite having died in 1865. The mystery of his continued ownership was revealed in The Press last week. Raymond said a great granddaughter may still be alive, in her 90s, in the United States. If that woman has passed, she estimated there were about 50 potential heirs in her generation. Longden bought sections 178 and 180 on the Black Map of Christchurch in March 1856. He subdivided 178 and sold the sections separately while 180 was sold whole. A lane was established between them and for reasons unknown, Longden kept title to it. His name still appears on the land title 149 years after his death, in England, aged 37. The lane, now addressed 125 Kilmore St, is just west of the former Caledonian Hall near the corner of Kilmore and Colombo streets. The Public Trust has applied to "manage" the property and will sell it. The city council valued the land at $16,000 in November. Raymond is a nursing lecturer at an Australian university and a keen genealogist. She visited New Zealand to research her family tree. A distant relative spotted The Press story and alerted her to it. She has approached the Public Trust about claiming the proceeds. Longden arrived in Canterbury before the First Four Ships, set up several businesses in Lyttelton and built a home at 14 Oxford Tce in 1852. It survived the earthquakes and is today the oldest part of the The Pegasus Arms pub. A plaque outside credits Longden. He also owned several sheep stations and sub-divided Easdale Nook Station to create Mt Torlesse Station. Anthony Nixon lived at 802 Colombo St, which backed onto Longden's lane from 1955 to 1959. He recalled men and women taking time out from dancing at the Caledonian for "extra curricular activity" up the lane. He could not remember the date but "my finest hour was calling the fire brigade out to save Chas Luney's woodworking factory from burning down", he wrote in an email this week.Luney's company still owns the section 180 land and alerted the Public Trust to the lane's ownership. Luneys has drawn up concept plans for a new office block that appear to envelop the lane. Ad Feedback Long-dead landowners are found across the land titles records and sections in the Cardrona Valley, Otago, have recently been sold by the Public Trust. Many are clustered about the Cardrona Hotel, which survives from gold rush days. Andrew Tuohy, for example, is the registered owner of 329sqm in the Cardrona Valley. He died in 1923 after fathering 11 children with wife Hannah (Annie) O'Sullivan. One of them, Patrick Tuohy , changed his name to Fintan Patrick Walsh. He became "unquestionably the most important figure in the history of the New Zealand labour movement", according to Te Ara Encyclopedia, being a close ally of Prime Minister Peter Fraser. Walsh never married but had a daughter. Rebecca Bond died in 1904 and is still the registered owner of 556sqm at Cardrona. In 1885, she applied for a publican's licence for the The Prince of Wales Hotel in Queenstown, which she renamed The Mountaineer Hotel. She was later hostess of the Crescent Hotel in Invercargill. Four Chinese nationals are still registered landowners in Cardrona. Little can be found about them. Ah Hin had 1012sqm - a quarter acre. In 1882, a man of the same name was recorded to have taken an oath of allegiance and was said to be a 35-year-old storekeeper at Tuapeka Flat. Ah Lem's written history in New Zealand includes a title deed for 455 sqm at Cardrona, an 1872 application for a water race near Nevis and an 1890 application for residence at Manor Burn Flat. Wong You applied for an agricultural lease at Cardrona in 1878 and had title to 2808sqm in the area in 1877. Wah Leong had two titles at Cardrona of about 1000sqm. In August 1876, the Lake Wakatipu Mail reported that an Ah Leong was found "coiled up in the chimney of his hut, where probably he sought the solace of the warmth, and as the last dying embers ceased their comfort, the cold hand of death stole over him". Are these your ancestors? Contact will.harvie@press.co.nz - The Press WILL HARVIE AND PHILIP CREED Last updated 05:00 06/09/2014 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10466612/Family-claims-Longdens-lane