Raising the bars: criminally good food
STEP into Rimutaka Prison’s kitchen and witness a unique version of My Kitchen Rules.
Hardened criminals hard at work, creating gastronomic masterpieces to ensure their Wellington On a Plate menu blows people away.
The unique chance to dine behind bars and rub shoulders with inmates has become an irresistible annual event, with the prison’s third Gate to Plate sold out this year in an impressive two minutes.
Prisoners held a practice run yesterday for their menu, showcasing their talents to selected guests from Wellington’s restaurant industry.
They were guided by renowned Wellington chef Martin Bosley, who has mentored six inmates for the past three annual food festivals, assisted this year by fellow chefs Laurent Loudeac and Glen Taylor, to help them to develop their menus and skills.
Inspiration for many of their offerings hark from curious origins. One prisoner invented his dainty paua fritter canapes for this year’s event because a lengthy stint behind bars stopped him tasting his favourite seafood delicacy.
‘‘I haven’t had paua fritters for years,’’ he admitted.
The $80 menu, which will be served up to festival guests at the prison on August 19 and 20, is well beyond the usual prison budget, which allows $5.30 to feed each inmate three meals a day.
The chance to taste their wares, such as venison and duck breast, was a definite bonus in a place where mince was the norm, the prisoner said.
But it was also a chance for inmates to learn real skills for the real world.
‘‘I’m trying to better myself for the future, when I get out of here,’’ another inmate said.
The prison’s involvement in Wellington On a Plate began after a casual suggestion at a meeting between prison Public Service about 2012.
Bosley was invited to help out. He freely admits he had negative views about prisons, but his first visit to Rimutaka made him realise he had much to contribute.
Over the past three years, he said he had seen ‘‘extraordinary growth’’ in the inmates who make up the Gate to Plate team.
He hoped it would translate into jobs for the men once they were freed.
‘‘You think of what these men have done and that they’re in jail, and yet they’re doing beautiful precise work that requires extraordinary patience. There is only good that can come from this.’’
It’s hard work for the prisoners. Gate to Plate is on top of their normal duties in the prison kitchen, pumping out meals for their 870 fellow inmates.
But the passion for food has extended into their cells. One inmate said many of those with televisions eagerly watched cooking shows, including this week’s finale of My Kitchen Rules.
‘‘We get lots of tips from them, too.’’ bosses and the Association in