# Left my home town of Huntly, # headin' out in the cold. From the sunny north to the wild south, NZ is overflowing with breathtaking backdrops, heavenly harvests and a whole lot of fabulous foodies. So jump on board with us as we hang out with the locals, wrangle some wildlife and feast our way around this magnificent country. Come on, Toppy. We got people to meet and food to eat. Yee-hah! # Nga iwi e. # The sea serves up a whole lot of adventure and decadence this week, and we get to feed and be fed on the shores of Gisborne's Tatapouri Bay. And then we put our heart into chocolate. Sweet, silky smooth Swiss chocolate. It's the best in the world. But right now, we're sniffing around for the greatest decadence known to man. And woman, Toppy. (CHUCKLES) There's a lot of love going down here at the Oakland Truffiere in Gisborne. Alan and Lynley Hall are pretty keen on each other, and they also adore their animals. But the love doesn't stop there. The Halls have lovingly planted these oak and hazelnut trees and were the first to grow truffles in NZ. They are true blue Kiwi truffle pioneers! This might seem like a stupid question, but what is a truffle? It's a fungus that grows on the roots of trees, so you need a dog or pig to find them. We've got two dogs. (LAUGHS) A good dog and a so-so dog. It's Lynley's dog. Look at it. It's a designer dog. TWINS LAUGH He's a Lagotto, so he's bred to find truffles. Mine's a real dog. Mine's a pound dog. A mongrel. So I've decided I'm going with Lynda with my dog. OK. It's a bit of a competition. Oh, it's a competition? Yeah. OK. And apparently I've got the shit dog, have I? No, no. ALL LAUGH TRANQUIL MUSIC Right, we're going to head out here. And how come I've got a little pink pig here? OK, that's Marco's reward. So when he finds a truffle, we reward him by throwing the ball. We're gonna find a truffle. We're gonna have one in five` five to 10 seconds. Five to 10 seconds? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We are quietly confident over here. All right! Let the games begin! All right! Go! Come on, Marco! Let's get a truffle! We're gonna win this, aren't we? Oh, we are. Yeah. Oh, look. He's gone over there. Look at that! Oh. Stop, Marco. Marco, sit! Now, let's see if he just wants his toy. Can you find it? Marco. Oh! He's got another one. Oh, Marco. I think you're fooling me. There's nothing there. Nothing there? No, there's nothing there. A little bit of a disappointing start to the Olympic Games of truffle finding. (LAUGHS) We've somehow got to win this. And did they take a long time before truffles can, you know, be produced? Well, we got truffles in the fifth year. We were the first to produce truffles in the Southern Hemisphere. So there` there's history in here? There's history! Find it, Marco! Where is it? He's got one! Ooh! It could be one there. Where is it, Marco? Exciting. He's so focused. Nah, nothing there. So, Marco, you've gotta get your shit together, buddy. You've gotta find us a truffle. We can't got home empty-handed. Well, there we go. See? Has he got one? Yeah, I think so. Look at that. He's marked already there, eh? Yeah. Oh, yep. Yep. What are you doing? Yeah. I'm just having a sniff of the ground. Got a nice, sweet smell. Mm. Smells like dirt to me. BOTH LAUGH We're just gonna have a bit of a scratch around in here somewhere and see what we can find. Are they soft or hard? There it is! Is that it? Yep. I would've completely missed that. It looks like a piece of dirt. One of the delicacies of the world ` a truffle! What do you think something like that would be worth? Probably 'round the hundred dollar mark. Hundred bucks? The biggest one we got was just under a kilo. I think we sold that for $4000. $4000?! Yeah. Yeah, yeah. (LAUGHS) That is crazy. Yeah, it's a good earner when you get a day like that, when you get a big one. Yeah. Hey, we're winning. Yes, we are! (LAUGHS) So, uh, Marco is French, is he? Italian. Italian? Yes. So, uh, do the Italians have truffles too? The Italians have the best white truffle, but our Perigord black truffle is French. Marco, find it. Find it, Marco. Ooh! It could be one there. Let's see. Exciting. Here it is! Here it is! here it is! Yes! Whoo-hoo-hoo! Good boy, Marco! Good boy! Aw, look at that! Beautiful little round black truffle. So there you go. That's probably worth ` I dunno ` a couple of grand? (LAUGHS) Whoo! Oh, we found another one right there. Good boy! Look at that! We hit the jackpot, buddy. We've got two beautiful truffles. Righty-oh, there's work to be done in the hazelnut nursery. OK, Alan, we're obviously gonna cut something, are we? I'm gonna teach you how to be a good tree butcher. Yeah. (LAUGHS) And, um, hopefully the tree will survive your attack on it, and we'll get more truffles next year. OK. Now, are the truffles already down there? The truffle fungus is on the root of the tree, and under the` And how did it get there? We put it on there. We inoculate a tree, and about three or four months later, I have a look to see if there's an infection, if the truffle has taken. OK. And so this one here, you can see that the root tips are bigger and bulgier. Yeah. And then there's lots of these hair-like things, and they're hyphae. And that is the truffle infected into the` into the root. And that's the truffle. Yeah. Do you like being a truffle farmer? Oh, I enjoy this, you know? If I have a bad day at work, I can always take it out on a tree. (LAUGHS) So you're the brains behind this little`? Well, I like to think I am. So, we met by` I worked for Crop & Food, and I toured around the country looking at other people's root samples. I wanted to get into tree production, and I needed the technology, so, uh, I married her! (LAUGHS) Cos he needed some brains here? That's right. He needed some brains. (LAUGHS) This is a family favourite of ours. Is it? Yeah, we quite often have this in winter when we've got truffle. OK. We wrap it in bacon like this. Yummy. Yeah. So if you wanna chop up a bit of that truffle over there and sprinkle it over. Is it sort of like the caviar of the dirt? It is. Wow. And what's the qualities of a truffle? Um, well, they're supposedly an aphrodisiac. They're supposed to increase... They're better than sex, eh? Yeah, supposedly. Yeah. (LAUGHS) So easy. Straight on the barbecue. Delicious. Righty-ho. Are we done on that tree? Yeah, let's get outta here. Yeah, sounds good to me. Yeah, I'm blown. I'm not doing another 300 trees today. (LAUGHS) QUIRKY COUNTRY MUSIC Well, Jools, there it is ` our beautiful truffle. That's what you got, is it? Yes. Go on, show us. (LAUGHS) There's our lovely truffle. It's a lot bigger. As well as that, we got another one. We won! Whoo-hoo! We won! No, cos` Was it 87.4 seconds we got ours in? Yep. Yeah, record time. I think it's probably a world record. Slow and steady wins the race, buddy. Oh, slow and steady. I'll tell you what, though ` slow and steady is what we did with these. Lynda, in this` It's gonna blow your mind. That is chicken breast... Yep. ...infused with truffle. This is a very first for us. This is my first truffle ever. Wow! Not bad, eh? > Beautiful! That's incredible. Yeah, gorgeous. That is really incredible. How much truffle have I got on there, in dollars worth? 300 bucks. 300 bucks worth of truffles? Yeah. So watch this! Ka-ching! ALL LAUGH And one other thing, Lynda. Lynley told me that that thing there is better than sex. ALL LAUGH Welcome back to Topp Country with Lorna and Mavis in the kitchen. Have we got a decadent treat for you today! Yes, the golden jubilee ginger log. Take your ginger nut and dunk it in your brandy and orange cocktail. Apply cream... and voila! Double-decker decadence! Let's decorate. WHIMSICAL MUSIC CREAM SLOSHES Oh! It looks magic. The humble ginger nut ` it's what you do with it. Cream, Mavis? Arrr! A rage-y easterly is blowin' into Tatapouri Dive School just north of Gisborne. But, hey, that's not stopping Chris and Dean Savage from playing in the paradise they've created here. Whoo-hoo! Wipeout! There's lots of things on the adventure menu here, but we're gonna feed the stingray and get a mouthful of that most decadent delight ` crayfish. What's your business here? What do you do? Uh, it's ecotourism, uh, activities. So we wanna get people out and get them close and intimate with our animals. We have the big, uh, short-tail rays. Sean's out there working the berley at the moment. You got the big short-tail here ` right in the shallows over there. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I can see him. That's one of the bigger girls. Whoo-hoo! (LAUGHS) I think that might be Amanda, that one. Amanda?! Yeah. TWINS LAUGH So, we've got, um, a crayfish pot out here, so that's` Yeah. We gonna haul one up? That's our job ` to catch lunch. That sounds exciting to me. Yeah. I'm gonna take Jools out to pat some stingrays. Oh. That sounds scary. (LAUGHS) You` You'll have waders on. Your legs will be covered. OK. What` I don't know about your butt, though. TWINS LAUGH Reckon they bite your butt? They do sometimes. They do bite your butt? Oh, sometimes. Sometimes. Yes, we have had it on one occasion. ALL LAUGH OK, see you later. ALL LAUGH COUNTRY MUSIC And this used to be` actually be the old highway, so all of the stagecoaches traversed the coast on the beach here. So, they'd have teams of horses staged along the coast so they` We're` We're following the path of history. Yeah. Probably an old wagon wheel under here somewhere. (LAUGHS) Are you from this area? No, no, I'm actually` all my` most of my whanau are around the Eastern Bay of Plenty, but we do whakapapa to the coast. Chris actually is a born and bred East Coast farm girl. I met her, actually, at the old staging post at Tatapouri Hotel. Looked across the room, and there was this hot blondie, and of course, I gave her a wink and a nod. Yeah? So I put that bait out there. I got a little bit of a nibble. (LAUGHS) You never give up after that first cast, so I had to go back and have another cast. I gave her that Clark Gable look that you` that us Maori boys can give,... (LAUGHS) ...and the rest is history. OK, guys, we're gonna be going out and feeding two different species of stingray today. The first species is the smaller of the two. It's got a square head, pointed wings and a long skinny tail. So the tail on these guys is perfectly harmless. The only dangerous part is just at the base of the tail. So those are the eagle rays. And then the bigger of the two species we get, these guys can get up to 350kg... Wow! ...and about, sort of, 3m wingspan. They've got quite a thick, muscular tail, OK? Yeah. And they can have up to three barbs on the tail, ranging from 8 inches to 18 inches long. Uh, so with these short-tail stingrays, at the moment, a lot of them are pregnant, and so if you're touching in that area, you've got to be really gentle, OK? So when you go to feed them, you've got to reach down as far as you can, because their mouths are underneath. You gotta get right under. You've`You've fed horses? Yeah. Yeah, so we're gonna` nice flat hand, but we've gotta put our finger on the bait. Is that drawn true to scale? Pretty much, but this will be small compared to one of the big ones we've got out there, yeah. There's actually a big one out there you can sit on, and she's strong enough to push you into the beach. Wow. Yeah. (LAUGHS) I ain't sittin' on anything. ALL LAUGH And we have to carry these poles out, do we? Yeah, these are like our first line of defence. This will give the short-tails something to climb up on. So the bigger short-tails will climb right up, OK? OK. And if you didn't have those there, they'll bit holes in your pants. (LAUGHS) Cool? Or go between your legs. I don't want no holes in my pants. ALL LAUGH So here's our pot we baited up. We'll have a look, eh? We've got a feed. Oh, yeah! Whoo-hoo! Two crays in there! The most decadent thing you can get in the ocean. Right here. So there you go. They're both male crayfish. That's all right. We don't mind eating boys. BOTH LAUGH Oh, here's Amanda! This is one of our resident` resident big, uh, short-tails. Oh my God! Oh my God, that is enormous! Yeah. She` She's bumping us under the water. It's quite amazing. Will he be after our crays? She's smelt the bait. The animals you have to watch out with your crays are the octopus. A octie will get in there, and all you're left with is a shell. Shall we get out of here before Amanda does decide that crayfish are good? So I'm gonna go and get some stingrays, OK? So when they come up, just make sure not to step back. Yeah. OK. Sweet. You'll be fine. Yeah. (LAUGHS) These are amazing creatures. They're really beautiful, they're graceful. Yeah? So they're not gonna hurt you. Look who Sean's found. Oh! She's gonna push up hard. And she's gonna push hard, so... Hello, darling. Hello. Hello, baby, how are you? There's another one coming up. So this is Amanda. Hello, darling. Oh my God! Look at her! Hello, darling! Oh, she's amazing. Wow! (LAUGHS) She's really pushing on me. Hello, darling. I love you. Ooh! So a lot of people have got a really bad perception of stingrays. Like, as you can see, they're quite` you know, quite a friendly creature. (LAUGHS) She's right up hard against me. Here, I can` you can see her. Look at her beautiful wings and everything. (LAUGHS) I think she likes you, Jools. Hello, darling. See the lower back? Remember how we were saying they're pregnant? Yeah, it's really fat on either side there. Yeah, really fat. I'm gonna try and feed her. Right down, right down, right down! Go right down. Right underneath. Oh, baby! (LAUGHS) Whoo-hoo! Wow! So, she's had a feed from my hand. Here comes a kingie, guys. Fish? Yeah, we got the big kingfish here. He's quite a big fish, eh? They come right in like this guy. They'll take food out of your hand. You can hand feed them. Watch your fingers! (LAUGHS) Yeah, I will. This plant down here, the seaweed, is` This one here? Yeah, that's Ecklonia radiata. Say that again. BOTH LAUGH It's part of the Macrocystis family. It's a fast-growing seaweed, and that could be one of the solutions to the problems we're having with nitrates on our farms. Yeah. So you know the explosion of dairy farming? It releases nitrates, and you get all these algal blooms that affects us in the ocean. Oh, OK. And this stuff here provides all the sustenance for the soil without all the nitrate problems. There you go. There's the future of fertiliser in this country, right here on the beach. Are you a East Coast girl? Yes, a country girl. Just like me. Yeah. But Dean is not really a country boy, is he? No. He was cool when you first met him? Oh yeah, you know. Little local farmy girl, you know, seeing this guy on a Harley Davidson. It spells trouble to me. Yeah, yeah! Well, I think that's what my mum` well, my mum and dad thought. (LAUGHS) They've come round, obviously. Uh, yes. Well, we've been together, what, 20-odd years or so, so, yeah, um, definitely. Whoo-hoo! I love the fact that he's, sort of, uh` I'm the` I'm the bit of the rock on the ground. I keep it stable, and he's the one that'll go off and, you know` That's the farm girl in you. Yeah, yeah, probably. Between us, you know, we come together, and` You're the land and he's the sea? Yeah. If we were having you for dinner it would be surf and turf. (LAUGHS) Yeah. (GROWLS ENTHUSIASTICALLY) Oh yeah, look at it! Yee-hee-hee! Perfection. Hey, this is just so simple. Fresh out of the sea, chuck a bit of salt on, drizzle some lime oil, boom! Hey, you guys! Howdy doody. Whoo-hoo! Hey! Yeah, gotta go in. Oh, no. ALL: Ohh! Look at that juicy, beautiful, big white flesh of crayfish. Oh! That is the most beautiful thing that you can get out of the ocean ` Mm. fresh, decadent crayfish. Cooked in seawater. Mm. A toast to Dive Tatapouri and your beautiful hospitality and the gift from the sea and our beautiful friend Amanda, who's swimming out there somewhere. And it's been a pleasure to have you guys here. Yeah. An absolute pleasure. (STRUMS AND HUMS) You keep going, Jools. I'm eating my crayfish. CHRIS AND DEAN LAUGH Whoo! (STOPS STRUMMING) Right, get outta my way. I'm hungry! ALL LAUGH RELAXING ACCORDION MUSIC Edith Mueller and Pascal Sigrist met on a Latino dance floor in Switzerland. 20 years later and they're still dancing, in the tiny village of Waitoki, just north of Auckland. Their business, Swiss Bliss, could not be more decadent or appropriately named. Edith's handmade chocolates are out of this world. Can you remember the first time you ever tasted chocolate? In Switzerland, you get chocolate, you know, like, almost before you're born. (LAUGHS) ALL LAUGH This is incredible. Look at the work in there. It's like a beautiful vase. Do you think Jools and I will be able to make one of these? Oh, I'm sure I can teach you how to make one of those baskets, yes. Well, I'm gonna try just a couple of little... (LAUGHS) Yeah, no, that was good. I have to wash that down with a little more hot chocolate. ALL LAUGH So, we're gonna make a chocolate basket, but we're gonna make a two-coloured one. Two-coloured? Yes. Black and white. Whoo-hoo! So we're gonna take some of this beautiful dark chocolate, pour it in the middle,... Mmm! ...take the spatula and spread it, but not all the way out to the edge. Then we're gonna have some of the white chocolate, and you can get real creative here. We're just gonna make some kind of wild pattern. Oh, that looks really pretty. So, we'll pick this foil up and wrap it over the glass jar. and then we can shape the basket a bit while it's still liquid. Gotta work fairly quickly. Wow, that's amazing! (LAUGHS) And then we just let it sit here. That looks really easy. Well, it's easy, I'll leave you to it. Uh-oh! We're on our own in a chocolate factory. Aargh! (LAUGHS) That's too much, Jools. No, I'm good. It's gonna go everywhere. Get out of the way, Jools! Yeah? Get out of the way yourself! Going over there. It's setting on the outside. I'm going in. (GASPS) Oh my God! Aargh! Something terrible happened! (CHUCKLES) Wow! Fantastic! (CHUCKLES) Mine had a little bit of a flip-out. I think I went a bit too early with mine. (LAUGHS) Um, however, I feel like, uh, mine might hold more. ALL LAUGH OK. Well, I failed, so, um, apparently I have to go and do some packaging now. Yes, you're on packaging, and I'm still in the kitchen. (CHUCKLES) OK, Pascal, what have we got here? Um, we call them Swiss Kisses. I already see we have some with some cracks. We can't pack them, of course. This is way better than making chocolate baskets. Mmm. OK, so we're making truffles? Yes, uh, rosemary and orange truffle actually. Fresh rosemary from the garden, which I have infused into a classic chocolate ganache. And here we've just made a simple mud chocolate ganache with fresh orange peel. So this is precision work. (LAUGHS) Now I'm really in chocolate Mecca. The pressure's on now. (GASPS) I've stopped breathing! (LAUGHS) What's your main job here, Pascal? I do a little bit of everything. The most important one is quality control, of course. (LAUGHS) The other part of the job I do here ` um, because we are so small, all the packaging we designed by ourselves. There's my first batch of handmade vanilla and raspberry Swiss Kisses. This is our beautiful orange and dark chocolate. And this is also a bit more liquid, so it's more difficult. (SIGHS) I'm sweating. BOTH LAUGH It's sort of like a little bulge, isn't it? Just a` Yeah! Exactly. That's good. That's it? Yeah, perfect. I'm gonna hand back to you now, because I... (CHUCKLES) I need to breathe. BOTH LAUGH OK, now this is the tricky bit. How do we get the lid on? (LAUGHS) Very quickly take this lid part and flick it... and press it on. Lynda, you want to do the other part? Oh, wow! OK. (CHUCKLES) I s'pose I'll have to finish my apprenticeship. And you have to get this perfectly lined up, do you? Yep, that's right. Otherwise it won't work. (EXHALES) Breathing. (CHUCKLES) Whoo-hoo! Perfect. Is it hard to become a chocolatier? It takes quite a bit of time to get a feeling for the chocolate. It's a real hands-on job. Yeah. And I really like how it feels to touch chocolate in each form, whether it's liquid or hard. So we've covered those in chocolate, with a little bit of zest in it. Is there anything else to do? Um, yes, now the decoration goes on, and that will be white chocolate and some orange peel I've prepared here. OK. They're just tiny little truffles, but it's never-ending. (LAUGHS) It's never-ending! We're just gonna add chocolate ` more chocolate! Where did you meet Edith? I meet her on a dancing course. Took one look and her and said, 'I wanna dance with her'? (LAUGHS) Exactly. That happened. And did you give her a Swiss kiss? Uh, not` not at the beginning. It took a while. BOTH LAUGH It sounds like a beautiful love story. Yes, and it still continues. 20 years going on. The world needs more love, huh? Definitely. Love and chocolate. Yeah. When we met you this morning, um, it's, kind of, obvious to us that, you know, Pascal is in a wheelchair. About 10 years ago from now, he drove home in the` one evening. There were some black cows on the road, and just hit them straight. I thought, 'Something is wrong, better get out of the car.' And then, 'Oh, I can't move.' And then I knew I'm in serious trouble. Oh, OK. It takes, um, quite some time, you know, for it to sink in. I'm really lucky, I know, cos the first few weeks in hospital, I couldn't move at all. Yeah. Not the shoulder, nothing. Oh, maybe a flicker on the shoulder, but nothing else, and... Yeah, so, from that point of view, I have quite a good recovery, you know? He didn't let himself be stopped by his injury, which is amazing. He still, like` For example, he still crawls under the car and fixes things. He does oil change and all sorts of. BOTH LAUGH For sure. Mountain biking I can't do any more, and` and it hurts when I see those nice dirty mountain bikes sometimes of the rooftop of cars. (LAUGHS) But, um, sailing, I still can do. Hey! They're so good. Oh! (LAUGHS) OK, put that away, Jools. That is our day's work right there. Whoo-hoo! Now you need a Swiss kiss as well. ALL LAUGH OK, Jools, do you know which one's yours? I'm thinking that one might be a little bit of a comedy one there. ALL LAUGH But we're gonna get you to try, Jools, our beautiful truffle. Well, I've been having kisses with Pascal, but... LAUGHTER ...I'll have some chocolate with you fullas. Mmm. It's two-tone. Whoo-hoo! Here's to chocolate It was a lot of fun to have you here. Thank you. Cheers! Decadence. The way of the future, Jools. Mmm. I could get used to it. Hang on. You've missed a bit. Lay back in your velvet chair with your slippers and your pipe. The port has been decanted, and the cheese is perfectly ripe. We'll stoke up the fire, Ken, on a winter's night. We'll have a little smidge of caviar ` just a tiny bite. While you're at it, pass the olives and the chocolates, if you please, and we'll top it off with brandy and a plate of blue-vein cheese. Is there any crayfish mornay? Perhaps a manly stout? I'll tell you what, Ken ` we'll finish up with a little touch of gout.