WHEN I read there was a television program called The Food Truck, my first thought was that it was a reality series tracking the ever popular Beatbox Kitchen and Taco Truck as they hurtle through Melbourne’s inner north ensuring no hipster goes hungry.
Unfortunately, The Food Truck isn’t as local – but it’s by no means less interesting. The New Zealand series, hosted by acclaimed chef Michael Van de Elzen (owner of Auckland’s Molten Restaurant), is all about healthy fast food. And yes, you read that correctly.
Each week, the chef chooses a different type of fast food – such as pies, pizza, Chinese or southern fried chicken – and whips up an artery-friendly incarnation.
Van de Elzen then jumps in his brightly emblazoned food truck and travels to various corners of the country, attempting to sell his creations and pick up feedback from the locals.
It helps that Van de Elzen – in his first TV role – is good in front of the camera, and that the shots of the New Zealand countryside are truly stunning (Tourism NZ, here’s your next advertisement, gratis).
This week, the humble serve of fish and chips is under fire. ‘‘There’re five tablespoons of fat in just two bits of fish and [a serve of] chips,’’ explains Van de Elzen, who is not afraid to dig into a pile of greasy food himself.
The chef drives to the picturesque Mangawhai Heads to set up shop in a caravan park, where he devises a healthy and restaurant-quality menu of baked snapper with homemade tartare sauce, kumara (sweet potato) chips and what he calls ‘‘curly wurlys’’ – bits of baked fish wrapped in shredded potato. It all looks very appetising, and the initially apprehensive locals end up lapping it up.
Where some cooking shows can feel contrived, The Food Truck doesn’t shy away from some of Van de Elzen’s failures. A couple of later episodes showcase unsuccessful ventures – you try selling pieces of organic chicken ($11.50 for two) to boozed-up Aucklanders at 11pm on a Friday when there’s KFC down the road.
But, as the chef earnestly explains, if only a couple of people modify their fast food habits, his efforts are worth it.
7Two, Sunday, 7.30pm.
