# Left my home town of Huntly, # gettin' 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've got people to meet and food to eat! Yeehah! # Ngai iwi ae. # I'm just a local farmhand... # One pot, one love ` we meet a Jamaican couple sharing their love of goat on the streets of Wellington; and then, in the hill country of Gisborne, we meet some farming folk whose love affair with goat is just beginning. But first up, we meet the goats that will never be eaten. This beautiful herd are being raised by a beautiful family in the hills of Kaikoura. Daniel and Sarah Jenkins and their daughters Pipi and Coya are just mad about goats. And after only three years in the making, their Kaikoura Cheese Company is makin' a biiig name for itself. And are you from a goat farming background? No background at all. No farming background whatsoever. No farming. Townies. OK. You fellas are in the shit. ALL LAUGH Up, up. So, have you guys ever milked a goat before? Uh, no. No, we haven't. No, we haven't. We've milked cows and sheep. Yep. And, uh, we've milked a tuatara once. That was quite pitiful. LAUGHTER Just kidding. So, um, yeah, we better have a lesson. So, pretty much, you want to be able to lock off and then close each finger as it` No pull? No pull. No pull. Otherwise, Mum will kick you from here till kingdom come. Yeah. Let the competition begin! (YODELS) Yeehah! (CHUCKLES) Check it out! Milk is coming out. I'm milkin' a goat. You guys are awesome. Naturals. Yeah, you lock that teat off. See how it's filled up with milk there? And you just squeeze it real soft, and out she comes. Jools, you're as slow as a wet week. So, have you got any names up your sleeve? We've got about 17 goats to name down the other paddock. Do they all get named? They all get named, and, um, apparently, it helps with their production. You get about 12% more milk. Hey, Daniel, how much milk do you get from each goat? Well, cos of the drought this year, we're getting down below a litre. 10 litres to make 1kg, 1� kg, so yeah, do need a lot of milk. Finished. OK, the competition is not how quick you do it. It's how much milk you get, you idiot. Well, Jools, I think you'll find that I actually was faster and have actually more milk. I don't care. I think I might be the winner. < Shut your face. (LAUGHS) UPBEAT MUSIC Come on, babies! Here you go, girls. Come on. Hey, come here. Give us a kiss. You sneakin' a kiss? (LAUGHS) They are quite beautiful to cuddle, aren't they? Oh, they're lovely. They like this tucker. The girls` The girls just love it. And it's willow, isn't it? Yeah. So, it's sort of like an aspirin which thins their blood out, helps them relax. It's like going to the pub, really, after all that hard work milking. Here we are. We're at the goat pub. BOTH LAUGH Here you go, Rosie. Nice. Good girl. In you go. Come on. Good girl. Now that Lynda's gone, we've got the milkin' machine out. Now I'm the bloody winner. (LAUGHS) So, Dan, this is the Kaikoura Cheese Shop. It is. What a beautiful thing. Who did the floor? Sarah. We had a little stencil, like, this big, and she just went with a roller, and, uh, spent all night painting the floor. Beautiful. What are those things up there? The light shades? So I pulled the copper out of the old dips and buffed them up and gave them a spray and made them into lamp shades. You've got a goat herd, you make cheese, and you're interior designers. (CHUCKLES) That's right. Unbelievable. Lead the way, young man. Let's make some cheese. Cool. Let's go. Where did you meet Daniel? Uh, we met in Queenstown at a climbing competition. A climbing competition? Yeah. You were already mountain goats before you got the milking going. Something like that, yeah. Was all this goat stuff Daniel's idea? No. It was actually, um` our neighbour in Christchurch suggested it. We were looking for the next best thing, and there's definitely a lack of goats cheeses in the country, so, um, Daniel did a little bit of the research and thought we'd go with that. This little goat loves me,... (SMOOCHES) and I love it. And I see that she's just got a number on her. Yeah. Time to name her. What do you reckon? Yeah. I'm wondering if you would, uh` would offer the privilege to me to name it Jools. I'd love it. She's really sweet. When we were little kids, Lynda and me once got a raisin packet, and we emptied it all out, and then we put goat's poo in the raisin packet and gave it to one of the other kids at school. You ever tried that? No. BOTH LAUGH I think that's where the comedy started. BOTH LAUGH OK. Me and Dan are in the make room, which is where we make the cheese. Uh, we've added some culture and rennet so it's, uh, set. We're gonna drain all the whey off by tipping it into the bag. Here it is. It smells incredible. Sort of half-sour, half-sweet yoghurt. UPBEAT MUSIC So there is our pillowcase full of curd, and we're gonna let all that whey come out of there. And how long will that take? Two days lying there. The acid builds up, the whey drains off. What's the next process? Hooping. Hooping. Cheers. Have you lived in this house, all four of you? We did a year and a half in here. Absolutely loved it. It was, um, switching off from technology. There was no phone, no power, no internet; really lovely, peaceful and quiet. Well, I love being here, because I live in a small house. Do you? Yep. I think there's a really big movement happening in the world that says, 'We don't have to make big houses.' Yes, yes. And I think that if we really got that whole thing going, the world would be a better place, because it's about sharing all our resources, to some degree. And a big house ` some people get lost; they have to ring each to find them up in` find each other up in Auckland. BOTH LAUGH Oh yeah. That looks pretty good. That's our curd, is it? All` With all the whey taken out. Am I allowed to touch that now? Yep, you can go for it. Have a feel. Have a feel. So we're feeling for moisture, um, and consistency. There we go. If you're making you're cheese at home, you've gotta cop a feel. (CHUCKLES) How the hell did you get into cheesemaking? I always like to be creative, and to be creative with a medium that's also resourceful and good for people,... Yeah. ...um, that's sort of the main drive. So, you think your cheese is pretty good? Well, just recently, we picked up the Champion Cheese Award for the Tenara that we're making today, and three golds and a couple of silvers, so... Oh! Big fancy boy... in big white gumboots wins big award, eh? Yeah. That` That` That's a beautiful thing that you can, um` you have a partnership and a business and everything altogether too, isn't it, eh? Yeah, it is. Sarah's incredible. You just get that combination, um, between` You meet the right person and you become one, don't you? Yeah. And then you feed off each other. It's lovely. OK. The French think that they're best at everything, don't they? They think they make the best cheese, they're the best lovers. Yeah. Are cheesemakers the best lovers? Oh, they are. They're very good with their hands. (LAUGHS) Righty-ho, Sarah. I don't know what I'm doing. So, we're gonna heat some butter, make a nice butter and Cointreau drizzle. Oh, we're gettin' a bit of alcohol in it, are we? Yeah. I'm going in, all right? You tell me when to stop the Cointreau. Oh, big glugs. We're gonna be absolutely legless at the end of this cheese. BOTH LAUGH That's a mighty fine lookin' cheese there, isn't it? Yeah, it's fantastic. So that's our goats cheese, the Tenara, named after Mt Tenara. That lovely little... Oh, OK. ...mountain there. Whoo-hoo! Is this the way you guys love to have cheese? With fruit? Yep. Best way to have your goats cheese. Absolutely. These are amazing, these peaches. Yeah. What are they called? Blackboy peaches. Blackboy peaches. Look at those colours. They're lovely, aren't they? Yeah, well, that is` We've made a little landscape there, with our little mountain in the middle of our fruit in a valley. Is that right? Perfect. What the hell are you doing, Dan? You're putting black stuff all over it. What is that? So we've got a bit of ash. Uh, the ash is made out of grapevine,... Yeah. ...which helps control its environment when it's matured. It does add to the flavour a little bit. Yeah. And you're gonna eat that? We're gonna eat the ash and everything? We're gonna eat the whole thing ` the rind and everything. So there it is. That's the award-winning cheese here in Kaikoura. ACOUSTIC COUNTRY MUSIC Oh wow! Look at that! DAN: Look at that. Oh my God. That is just... Righty-ho. ALL: Cheers! To the award-winning Tenara soft goats cheese. Beautiful. And a hairy old udder of the Saanen milking goat. ALL LAUGH Beautiful. Welcome back to Topp Country with Lorna and Mavis in the kitchen. Have we got a treat for you? Yes ` decorated grapefruit. I'm just going to put the last little bit of gherkin in there for a cute and cheeky little face. And I've got my skewers. I'm gonna add some tasty goats cheese. Just pop it on there and whack it in the old grapefruit. Go silly, go wild with your colour. And to finish it off, a little bit of parsley and some plastic apples. Look at that. A lovely centrepiece. Splendid. REGGAE MUSIC From Kingston, Jamaica to Petone, Wellington, Simon and Alicia Cole-Bowen are a long way from their friends and family. But they're keeping the taste of home close with their famous curry goat. Goat is the king of meat in Jamaica, and these two are so passionate about sharing this delicacy, they can be found every Friday at the Cuba St night markets. Their jerk chicken and pork might be popular, but it's their curry goat that's the star of the show. We do the Wellington Friday night markets, uh, Three Little Birds Catering. And` Three Little Birds? Yes. Is that like the Bob Marley song? Yes, it is. And reason for the name is that we stopped over in three different countries, then we made NZ our home, so it's` it reflects the three different places that we've been and we've flown around the world. Now you've got your little nest here in NZ. Yes, we do. We do. And` And` Jamaican food at the markets, has that taken off? Yes, it did` it is. People are always asking us when are we opening a restaurant, so we'll see how that goes in the next couple of months. And it makes us really feel at home. It's best to get the meat with the bone in,... Yeah. ...because within that marrow lies part of the secret to the flavour that bursts in the meat. You've gotta leave that fat on? You've gotta leave that`? Oh, yeah, that's the thing. That's the tasty bit? Yeah, don't take off` don't strip off all that stuff. It creates that natural gravy. Our gravy comes from the pot itself, not a packet where we have to pull and make something different. No, no, no. Yeah. So, um, is there anything I can do for you? You want me to`? Oh, yeah. Throw some knife on that and do some dicing. Righty-ho. I'll do it on an angle. Yeah. Nice. And so, you went to America because you had a scholarship for` was it for running, was it? Yeah, um, that's right, in 1990. I'm one of the top 800m runners for my country. Um, during my time, I ran for six years, and I completed 12,000 miles. Lynda ran 800m when we were growing up. My sister. Oh! That's interesting. She's` You're probably a bit faster than her, but... BOTH LAUGH Is there lots of Jamaicans in NZ now? There are around 20 of us in` in Wellington, and half of them will be coming for dinner tonight. (LAUGHS) So, here is a bit of Jamaica in Petone. So, this is, uh, ackee, which is our national dish. That's a fruit in there? It's a fruit in there. It has a pretty silky, buttery feel to it, and, um, we make this with salted codfish for breakfast. Salted codfish and ackee for breakfast? Yes. For breakfast. Yeah, it is a little different, isn't it? With fried dumpling. It's perfect. Fried dumplings? BOTH LAUGH This is jerk seasoning. Um, we use this for Three Little Birds on our jerk pork and chicken. We marinade our meats maybe two to three days in advance, and then we fire it up on the grill, which infuses all the spices in it. Is it important to you that you still maintain your Jamaican roots in NZ? Yes. It's really important, and for our boys to grow up and maintain the culture at the same time but take in the good parts of NZ. And there are lots of foods here that we utilise anyway, so it's, um... it wasn't hard or anything. Jamaican-NZ fusion. Yes. There's a fusion. Yeah. BOTH LAUGH We don't like to waste seasoning. We take off, like, that part and that part. We grab our bottle,... Yeah. ...and we` we smash it up. Wow. And you see, a lot of the process, it's all about grindin' and puttin' everything together. And you're putting a lot of feeling in` in the food. Oh yeah. We cook with a lot of passion. Onion, fresh ginger, scallion. You put your thyme in also. Add your turmeric. Look at that colour. It's amazing. Yeah. All right? Scotch bonnet pepper. Scotch bonnet pepper? Yeah, this is a special type of pepper with very good flavours. OK. So it's a real Jamaican flavour we're putting in here? That's right. All these different flavours are literally seeped in. Is that gonna be our gravy at the end of it all? Well, that same juice is gonna form the gravy in the end. You have to be patient. So anywhere, a good three, three and a half hours, it's ready, it's good. So if you're impatient, the meat won't taste any good? Nah. You think that, uh, you're changing the way Wellington eats? If all I could say if I got a chance to cut a commercial ` 'Authenticity, authenticity, authenticity!' BOTH LAUGH Yes. Well, this looks really authentic, and I can't wait to taste it, buddy. Yeah, there's a lot of passion in that pot. Yeah, sure is. I've brought Alecia to a little cafe in Petone, and we're gonna have a little NZ moment ` Devonshire tea. So, this is a first for you. Yep. Basically, jam on the scone, a bit of whipped cream, and Bob's your uncle. BOTH LAUGH CHUCKLES: It's a staple diet in NZ. CHUCKLES: Really? My mother would just say they'd be useless for banana cake. You'd have to wait months for them to ripen up. And I would say, 'Give it to me. I want to boil it to eat it with some curry goat.' OK. (LAUGHS) And this is where it gets interesting now, because we have to peg it. You have to what? Peg it. P-E-G. Jamaicans say peg. I'm peggin'. I'm peggin' bananas. I knew I was a good cook, but Alecia made me the better cook I am today. Where`? Where did you meet your beautiful wife? I met her in Spanish Town, uh, St Catherine, Jamaica, um, at a bus station. We're from the same community, but` I knew of his family, but I didn't know him. And I` And I say, 'Hi, I'm Simon Bowing. Don't you know me?' She says, 'No.' He thought I should know him, but I didn't. (LAUGHS) CHUCKLES: I really didn't care. (LAUGHS) Um, I've never been stood up by a woman before in my life, and Alecia was the first person who did that. What`? What changed your mind? Oh, cos he was different from the typical Jamaican guy, and, um, he was intelligent, he was funny. Simon is pretty optimistic. He'll tell you you can walk on water, which is great. Um.... (LAUGHS) I think that the passion for me and cooking, it's because of Alecia. Those Sunday dishes that she do, I join her cos I wanna show her that I can do what she has taught me. (LAUGHS) (PLAYS COUNTRY TUNE ON GUITAR) BOTH: # They got a long distance love. # They got a long distance love. # They got a long, long love. Me and Simon, we put a lot of love into that. That's the most beautiful goat dish you've ever had in your life. JOOLS LAUGHS Oh my God. It's just absolutely incredible. Out of my way, buddy. I'm comin' in. Thanks for makin' such a great curried goat for us and bringin' us a little taste of Jamaica. (CHUCKLES) No worries. What do you think, everybody? ALL: Yeah! Whoo-hoo! (LAUGHS) COUNTRY MUSIC Hey, this is sheep country, but you've gotta have the agility of a billy goat to farm it. Feral goats wreck havoc on many NZ farms, and Pam and Darcy Hamilton can have up to 300 of the little buggers on their farm at any one time. One goat eats the same amount of grass as one sheep, so it's round-up time. (WHISTLES) They're a pest, basically. Eat all the roses and... ALL LAUGH Are they hard to muster? Dreadful. The blood pressure rises every time we go out in the paddock with them, and` that's the way. Do you like cooking goat? Have you cooked goat before? Oh, this might be one of my first times. A goat-cooking virgin, are ya? ALL CHORTLE How long have you lived here, Pam? Well, I was actually born in Gisborne, and then I was brought back here, so, yeah, I've never been weaned. Still live here. I spent a lot of time looking for a guy that would come and live with me, basically. You know, it took a long time. (LAUGHS) We go back a long way, Pam, and, uh, we love coming down to your event that you organise down here in Gisborne, the Terrier Race Against Time for breast cancer. Yep. How did that all come about? A friend and I were here, and we decided we'd raise money for something. Yeah. And our friend with breast cancer, we thought, um, 'Well, why not do it for her?' because she was struggling getting medication and things. People come from far and wide now with their terriers to race them, don't they? Yeah. We've even had a couple of dogs flown down from Auckland. They weren't very good, Auckland dogs. That'd be right. Righty-ho, you fellas. You've gotta get out of the bin, cos we've gotta put some wood in there. Off you go. (LAUGHS) Reckon the scrim's gonna hold the goats? Oh, it sure will, Lynda. You wait and see. They would jump right out otherwise. Oh, here's Kim, our musterer. How are ya, Darcy, Lynda? How ya going? Are they pretty hard to muster, goats? Yeah. You either get them in the first few minutes, basically, or you don't get them at all, pretty much, so, yeah. Righty-ho. Good luck, buddy. OK. Thank you. We want 300. (LAUGHS) So, you used to eat goat curry outta here, but today is the first time you're gonna cook it yourself. Yes. Yeah, it is. The first time you're cookin' goat. Um, actually, it's` The history of this pot is 60, 70 years ago, there was a lot of scrub out on the farm, and, uh, they used to get, uh, gangs of Fiji-Indians in. Oh, OK. And they used to camp up there, and they used to use these pots for cooking goat curries. And this goat here, this was caught on the farm, right? Yes. It was caught about three days ago. And all these herbs down here, are they all out of your garden? Yes, except the tomatoes. But you can chop the onions. OK. And I'll do some garlic. Righty-ho. We've got two cutting boards, cos you didn't want me to mess that one up. (LAUGHS) Well, that's right. (LAUGHS) And you make these? Yeah, I do. I've, um, just started doing woodwork. Wow. And where do you get your native timber from? Well, driving anywhere and I see a house being ripped down or an old gate somewhere, I stop and ask. Is there anything you can't do, Pam? Oh, yes, there's a lot I can't do. (LAUGHS) BLUES MUSIC Come out of it, Tom. Get him. Go, Tom. Behind, Tom. Behind, Tom. These dogs out here with Kim, they'd have to be fairly handy. They're a special type of dog. You've gotta train them on goats. Uh, because they're so pig-headed and strong, the` the dogs have to learn to turn the lead goat, otherwise you're liable to lose the whole lot. They need to be fit too, and you need to be fit, because you can't chase them on a horse or motorbike, cos you never know where they're gonna go. We'll get some tomatoes, and you can do some figs. Righty-ho. Figs. Now, these come off the tree here, did they? Yes. And we're putting some of your jam in too? Yes, we are. You can rub some jam on top of there if you` And what` what` jam is it? It's crab apple jam. This is real country cookin', isn't it? Yeah, it is. Everything's ready from here. So, the best way to Mr Darcy's, uh, love is through his stomach, is it? Yeah. My mother said to me, she said, 'When you meet a man you want to live with, 'you make sure the kitchen's always got a good smell in it.' Oh, OK. (CHUCKLES) What was the most exciting bit about Mr Darcy? Well, he` he was` Yes, he was quite good-looking. Yeah. And he was a coast boy; he's from Tokomaru Bay, so he was certainly a country outback boy. They say the coast boys are good in bed. Is that right? Um, used to be. Yeah. (LAUGHS) He's an old billy now, is he? Yeah, he is. (LAUGHS) He doesn't piss on his bed or anything, does he? BOTH LAUGH (BARKS) Hey, pal. Hey, pal. Come out of it, pal. Get in, Tom. Get in, Tom. Do you ever go mustering yourself, Darcy? Used to when I had a good team of dogs, when goats were worth $100 each. That was really good. And, um, we were out mustering one day, and we would of had probably 400, 500 goats in a mob, and I told Pam to sit in a certain spot and Sally Bennett, the neighbour, sit in another spot. And you get there and no Pam to be seen. She was, um, gone, and all my goats disappeared down into my neighbour's gorge. (LAUGHS) And I said to Pam, 'Where were you?', and she said, 'Oh, I saw three way up on the ridge. I thought I'd go and get them off the neighbours.' (LAUGHS) Yeah, turned blue. (CHUCKLES) We've gotta have a bit of beer in there, eh? Yeah, we do. Just pour that over the bit of the meat. And how many kids have you got? I've got two girls. Yes. Yep. One's married, and I've got a little grandie, a little grandson. And is Darcy a good granddad? He's the best grandfather. He just wants more grandkids. Oh, OK. Yeah. They've gotta work at that. And Susie's not married yet? No. She's very available. Yeah? (LAUGHS) Susie needs a husband, cos I think she'd like a few more grandkids down the East Coast. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) Righty-ho. Rosemary, this is our last ingredient. Here we go ` MasterChef moment. Ta-da! (LAUGHS) Yeehah! We made goat roast! Yeah, we have. Yeah. DOG BARKS How many you got in there? 20. About another 280 to go out there, Darcy. (LAUGHS) Yeah, I know. What's gonna happen with those goats now? Oh, they'll go the works, and, um, that's exported. It's eaten all around the world, though, isn't it? The most eaten meat in the world. UPBEAT MUSIC It's a beautiful spot you've got here, Darcy. Yeah, it's lovely. It's a nice little valley, Tiniroto. And when did you meet Pam? Well, it was 1980, and, um` at a hunt ball, blind date, and I've been blind ever since. (LAUGHS) What was the first thing when you saw her? What did you think? Well, she was pretty attractive, and, um, she had` back then, she had come-to-bed eyes, but now she's got go-to-bed eyes, so... (CHUCKLES) yeah. (LAUGHS) UPBEAT ACOUSTIC MUSIC Here, Kim, our bloody goat musterer. Thanks, Jools. You need a lot of carbohydrate, don't ya, buddy? Not according to my wife. (LAUGHS) Tender as a lamb, I'd reckon. You've got a whole bloody yard of them now too. You might have to bloody put them in the freezer, Darcy. Might be eating them for a while. You're a millionaire now, Darcy. You've got another 4000 out there somewhere. CHUCKLES: Yeah, I know. Well, here's to the virgin taste. First` First time. Yes. Here's to the virgin taste of goat. Cheers. GLASSES CLINK Beautiful thing. Speaking of virgins, you're lookin' for a bloke, aren't ya? LAUGHTER When folks tell you you're acting like a goat, does this mean you're bunting things? And eatin' Grandma's coat? The billy goat is rugged and a little on the smelly side, but he makes a damn good curry. And you can also tan his hide. The nanny goat is sweet. Her milk and cheese, the wine. But if you turn your back,... ...she'll eat your undies off the line. And the one's you're wearing too. BOTH LAUGH GRUFFLY