Next up in the Producer to Plate series is the wonderful Genevieve’s Cuisine and a focus at the moment on their parfaits. On their website they are described as “We are a boutique food brand and specialist pâté producer.
We use a French method of making pâté by blending the raw ingredients together, passing then baking at a low temperature until set.

The French method resembles the consistency of mousse due to its fine texture and we have adopted the proper French name for the process: parfait.

Their range stretches from original chicken liver parfait which won the cuisine Artisan award in 2012, to my favourite truffled chicken liver and the unique Peking spiced duck liver parfait. They also do a range of vinaigrettes as well."

1. 1. Can I have a brief description of your business and what you produce?
   Genevieve's Cuisine produces restaurant style recipes to enjoy at home. We currently have 11 products, 3 chicken liver parfait flavours, 3 duck liver parfait flavours, 3 vinaigrettes and 2 mueslis.
   
   2. What motivated you or what reasons were behind you starting this business?
   I was keen to have a day job where I could be creative yet have a regular income. I started selling pate on the weekends as the recipe was really popular with friends and peers. It really just took off from there.
   
   3. What inspires you to continue producing?
   I think when you work in a restaurant as a chef; you continually come up with new ideas. It is the same in manufacturing. You need new challenges and to keep ahead of the competition. New and different products are what keep you current and keep people and media alike talking about your company. It is important to stay interested in what you are doing and the creative side of the business is the most interesting. Introducing those products to current customers is the most exciting.
   
   4. What is the best way to eat your product?
   Smeared onto unflavoured fresh bread or crackers is the best way.
2. 
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   5. In your own kitchen what 5 ingredients can you not do without?
   Flaked sea salt, I have regular white and a black sea salt which has great intensity.
   Coconut cream, in case I get that curry itch.
   Garlic, no explanation needed I am sure.
   I require regular doses of jumbo black olives in order to function properly in day to day life,
   and really good local olive oil for one million reasons.
   
   6. What would be your death row meal?
   If I could have anything it would have to be crayfish, hollandaise and champagne with fresh baguette. Because I am a lush! A close second would be thick salted chips with sour cream cheese and onion dip. What the hell, its death row, all of those things!

Exactly and great choice!! I’ll join you!

7. What separates your product from the other similar ones?
There really are no other similar products. Our raw ingredients are blended together then passed through fine sieves. The mix is poured into the jars and then they are baked. It gives the parfaits a pink centre and silky smooth texture, the same product you would eat in a high end restaurant. Other brands cook the ingredients separately before blending. They then hot fill into (mostly) plastic containers. These products require preservatives to give them a reasonable shelf life. Our jars are cooked with the lid on to create a safe environment inside the jar. No additives are required giving you a completely natural product.

That’s exactly what separates you, proper techniques, no preservatives and a better result in my opinion, it might be just me but no matter what the flavour is in the supermarket they do all taste almost exactly the same.

8. How long did it take to perfect your recipe, the parfait is really restaurant quality and not like the supermarket products?
Yes it is completely different from other store bought products. I developed the recipe over many years working as a chef but it needed more tinkering to meet health department specifications for manufacturing. I worked with Massey University to come up with a technique using different timings and temperatures to give the product a long shelf life, free of preservatives while meeting the required cooking temperatures. It was a hellish task but worked out great in the end. Naturally I am very protective over the techniques as I know it is unique in this country.

Well I for one am glad you went through the hellish task for my benefit along with others!

9. What’s your stance on Foie Gras?
I am an animal lover and glad that force feeding is illegal in New Zealand.

10. With so many interesting flavours what one is your favourite?
I personally enjoy the Peppered Chicken Liver Parfait the best. I have found many others who cook for a living love this one too. I think it is because that is how we used to eat pate as kids. Smothered in pepper!

11. Is there more in the pipeline coming soon or is that top secret?
There is always something in the pipeline! This year though we will focus on getting the vinaigrette range into stores.

Good luck I am sure it will be a success! All you need to do is make bread, grow salad leaves and you could provide a whole meal!

12. What was it like to win the cuisine artisan awards?
It was very exciting and a great experience to meet the other producers from around New Zealand. It also opened up a lot of opportunities to sell into stores.

13. Do you ever get fed up of parfait!!
I think when you cook for a living there isn't an association with eating what you are cooking so no I never tire of cooking any kind of food. I focus instead on making whatever I am working on the best it can be.

Yes totally agree after a busy shift the last thing I want to do is eat after cooking all that food.

Thank you very much for your insight today.

If you would like to check out Genevieve’s cuisine go to http://genevievescuisine.com/index.htm where you will find the product range and where you can get them. Also Like their Facebook page now at http://www.facebook.com/genevieves.cuisine?ref=ts&fref=ts