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An ever-growing enthusiasm for Matakana has prompted Mahurangi Matters cuisine columnist Lauraine Jacobs to write a second book on the subject.
It Takes a Village – a guide to Matakana and its surrounding districts takes a look at the food, wine, outdoor activities, accommodation, attractions and colourful personalities that make Matakana such a great place to live and visit.
Lauraine says the place has only blossomed still more since she wrote her earlier book, Matakana, 13 years ago, and she wanted to highlight many of the creative people who have eschewed living in a big city in favour of a semi-rural lifestyle, where they have established fascinating businesses.
Among Lauraine’s local heroes are coffee roasters Lindesay Smith and Angela Stechman, fish smokers Michael and Sophie Isbey, chocolatiers Nicolas and Emily Bonnaud, restaurateurs Farida and Clyde Cooper, kombucha makers Delwyn and Brad Gwynne, brewers Kirsty McKay and Mike Sutherland, and sculpture collectors Anthony and Sandra Grant.
As one of New Zealand’s best known food writers, Lauraine has included a dozen recipes inspired by the fresh produce available in Matakana, and she has a special section on Mahurangi oysters, which she notes are now eagerly sought by top restaurants and oyster bars throughout New Zealand.
Other chapters cover Matakana’s walks, parks, beaches, art, sports, fishing, health and beauty.
Lauraine says she started writing the book during the first Covid-19 lockdown period, realising that with overseas travel out of the question for the foreseeable future, an up-to-date, definitive guide to Matakana would be a boon for domestic tourists.
But she feels Matakana has so much to offer that even locals would be oblivious to much of it.
“I would hope that people of, say, Warkworth would get hold of a copy and say, ‘Look, I have got all this on my doorstep, and I didn’t even know about it – here’s a walk I can do on the weekend and here’s an activity I wasn’t aware of’,” she says.
The book is extensively illustrated with colour photographs by North Shore photographer Ken Downie, who illustrated Lauraine’s earlier book on Matakana.
Lauraine says Ken has done an amazing job “capturing personalities with his camera”.
It Takes a Village is available in bookshops from September 9.
Book Giveaway
Mahurangi Matters has one copy of It Takes a Village to give away. Email your contact details to editor@localmatters.co.nz and put “It takes a village” in the subject line. Competition closes on August 30.
