Hilton White Restaurant - HOMEGROWN Partner

Te Arai’s extra virgin olive oil Motutira is used in our roast Hawke's Bay lamb loin. ‘We use the oil instead of a heavy sauce, creating a lighter dish with full flavours,’ says Cristiano. ‘We chose Te Arai because it is a single estate, which means a clearly defined source and handlers – very similar to EVO in Italy.’

Raylee and Colin Campbell, owners of the Northland grove, agree with Cristiano. ‘All our decisions begin with “what will it make the oil taste like?”’ says Colin. ‘Because we are a single estate, rather than a co-operative or a packager, we can rigorously stick to retaining the highest quality possible. This has been our philosophy from inception, with selection of the land, preparation and cultivars, right through to harvest timing, fruit handling, processing, blending, storage and packaging.’

Motutira is the company’s flagship blend, recognised internationally by experts and listed by Marco Oreggia in his Guide to the World’s Best Oils. Like all great extra virgin olive oils, it balances fruit, bitterness and pungency in a complex way. ‘We set out to create a fruit-driven oil with a long length of complex flavours, great aroma and a peppery aftertaste, after being impressed by Tuscan oils’ says Raylee. ‘We chose Northland because the oils up here are generally more fruit-driven as the fruit ripens earlier, when it’s still relatively warm.’

Supplying around half their oil to customers and the rest to select restaurant clients, Te Arai is still very much a family operation. ’Ma, Pa and three kids are all out there helping on harvest and market days,’ laughs Raylee. ‘We’re proud of our oils, and we only supply a select number of top restaurants. We believe our partnership with White will flourish, because we share a mutual benchmark for delivering excellence.’

www.tearaiolives.co.nz

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