Sachie gets bird’s eye view of sustainability at Waitoa Farms

Tuesday, 9 July 2024

Sachie Nomura travels the world in search of new ingredients and flavours, but the first authentic Jordanian meal she ate was at a free-range chicken farm in the Waikato.

The celebrated chef heads to Matamata in this week's episode of Sachie's Kitchen to meet Ibreham Break, a Chicken farmer who loves sharing recipes from his native Jordan as much as taking care of his feathery flock.

Sachie’s on a culinary tour around New Zealand, inspired by local produce from the regions.

Each Tuesday, a new episode of her foodie road trip series is released here on Stuff Travel, showcasing the best food and drink of each NZ region.

You can also find her recipes online inspired by the series published each week.

This episode explores Waitoa Free Range chickens and how they live and eat in the rolling green hills made famous by Sir Peter Jackon’s Lord of the Rings, while enjoying a traditional meal from farmer Ibreham's childhood.

“It’s not every day I get to eat a Jordanian meal in the New Zealand countryside,” says Sachie about the episode.

The bird whisperer

Ibreham has farmed chicken since he arrived in New Zealand from Jordan 14 years ago. Waitoa Free Range, SPCA-certified chickens are raised hormone free, eat a nutritious diet of cereal and grain and are free to roam 24/7, as Sachie sees firsthand.

“And as for Ibreham himself, well he's a bit of a bird whisperer,” Sachie says.

Ibreham takes Sachie to meet the chickens, who enjoy their days outside scratching and pecking in lush green pastures and basking in the sun.

“It's great they have so much freedom here that they can go anywhere that they like,” says Sachie.

“They can run outside picking the grass picking the insects’ worms,” Ibreham tells her. “Our chickens have good nutrients, a good environment and are healthy.”

“Honestly, I didn't think that a chicken [would be] this beautiful,” says Sachie, who tells Ibreham his flock looks “happy and chilled”.

Sachie asks Ibreham if his chickens can understand Jordanian or English more, and the farmer replies that his way of understanding them and knowing they are happy runs deeper than any language he can speak.

“We can spiritually understand what they say,” he says.

A taste of home

Ibreham explains to Sachie that he’s a long way from home, and when he misses home he cooks Jordanian food just as his mum would have made for him and his brothers and sisters.

He then takes Sachie to his home and cooks her a traditional Jordanian chicken dish, while teaching Sachie about his culture and in turn learning about hers.

Japanese-born Sachie tells Ibreham she likes to cook Japanese food when she misses her own mum, before being put to work by Ibreham to recreate his mother’s “magical” blend of traditional herbs and spices.

Sachie then takes inspiration from her visit and creates a delicious meal using Waitoa Free Range Chicken Thigh.

Happy, healthy and packed full of protein

For more than 15 years, Waitoa have been raising free-range chickens, in the rolling, green valleys of the Waikato. From sunrise to sunset, their farmers care for their animals and that’s why every Waitoa chicken carries the trusted SPCA blue badge of certification.

Not only is the meat itself delicious because the chickens are raised happy and healthy and hormone-free, it’s also the most sustainable land-based source of protein for the whole family, says Sachie.

“It’s so important to me to know that the food that we eat has been looked after,” she says.

Waitoa Free Range Chicken is the only chicken brand to be certified net carbon zero. Waitoa’s Toitū certification means they are net carbon zero at every stage, from growing feed, transport and production, right through to the energy used for you to cook your Waitoa chicken and do the dishes after.

“Waitoa is good for the environment and good for the chickens,” says Ibreham.

To learn more about Waitoa Free Range Chicken and their commitment to sustainability and animal welfare please visit www.waitoafreerange.co.nz

To learn all about Sachie and get some of her tasty recipes that are easy to create from produce found in New Zealand, check out Series 2 of Sachie’s Kitchen on Stuff at www.stuff.co.nz/sachies-kitchen