Dan and Jacqui Cottrell in their 10 hectares of quinoa near Taihape.

A Taihape sheep and beef farm is the last place you'd expect to see the new-age grain quinoa being grown but Jacqui and Dan Cottrell have invested in 10 hectares of the crop.



Although most people think it is a hot country grain, it grows well on the family farm on the Napier-Taupo Road, at 700 metres above sea level.



"We did a lot of travel, and spent quite a bit of time in South America. I was hit with how like the Desert Road places were. They were growing quinoa at 3000 metres," says Dan.



"It was like a light bulb went on. I saw it in Peru and was fascinated by quinoa. I wondered if it could work in New Zealand. It kind of looked like here [the family farm]. There were big hills and big ranges."

READ MORE:

* All you need to know about quinoa

* Secret ingredient: Quinoa

Most of New Zealand's quinoa, pronounced ken-wa, is imported from Bolivia with some seed also coming from Peru and Chile.

MURRAY WILSON/FAIRFAX NZ The grain is good protein for vegetarians and is gluten free too.

Grown at altitude where often the land is steep, fields are terraced to grow the grain.

A mainstay of the Inca, quinoa has been a vital part of the Andean diet.

Originating in South America, it was domesticated 3000 to 4000 years ago for human consumption though archaeological evidence shows a wild quinoa association with pastoral herding 5200 to 7000 years ago.

MURRAY WILSON/FAIRFAX NZ Quinoa is closely related to species such as beetroot, spinach and amaranthus.

About 90 per cent of the world's quinoa comes from South America.

The Cottrells call their company Kiwi Quinoa and are the only producers of quinoa in New Zealand.

"Our quinoa stands out from imported quinoa: It is grown using sustainable farming methods and is not processed or polished or heated as imported sees often are. Ours does not contain bitter saponins found in many other quinoa varieties," says Jacqui.

She says the end result is a whole, unadulterated grain which has a rich and nutty flavour and is ready to cook with minimal rinsing.

Chenopodium quinoa was known as the "Mother Grain" by the Incas and is technically not a grain but a pseudo-cereal as it is not a grass.

Once a staple food for the Andean people, it has lately exploded in world-wide popularity on the back of its rich nutritional profile, says Dan.

"It is a plant which likes cool weather, so Manawatu and Rangitikei are perfect. It likes 20 degrees C, so Hawke's Bay would be too hot for the crop," he says.

But it hates frost. Sown in October, it is harvested when the plants go to seed and then leaves die off in about February.

Dan takes the attitude that "if you can grow grain, then you can grow quinoa".

Wikipedia says the plant is undemanding and altitude-hardy.

It is grown from coastal regions to over 4000 metres in the Andes near the equator, with most of the cultivars grown between 2500 m and 4000 m.

Rainfall conditions are highly variable between the different cultivars, ranging from 300-1000 millilitres during growing season. The plant grows best when in its early growth during well-distributed rainfall and in dry conditions during seed maturation and harvesting.

This season might not be ideal given the summer rain.

Quinoa has been cultivated in the United States, where it was introduced in 1983 and European countries including France, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Spain, have successfully grown quinoa on a commercial scale.

In New Zealand Dan's father, Mark Cottrell, started quinoa growing with four varieties. Dan and Jacqui were in New South Wales, Australia, and had time to consider quinoa growing in their country of birth.

"I was driving a tractor and had time to think,"says Dan.

His father cultivated some land and of the four varieties he trialled tried, two showed promise. The quinoa seeds were from France as Europe has quinoa without bitter saponins.

One variety was planted the following year on 3ha. This is their second season growing commercially and they now have 10ha planted in quinoa.

Once harvested, the crop is sent to Valhalla Seeds in Longburn near Palmerston North, where the seed is cleaned and put into sacks.

"It goes to Auckland for distribution in smaller packages. They specialise in retail size packs," Jacqui says.

Restaurants have taken a liking to the crop as it is New Zealand-grown and doesn't have saponins, so is neither washed or polished.

Jacqui says 400 gram bags will be made available to consumers in April.

At the moment, most of the New Zealand-grown quinoa is in bulk bins in the supermarket.

Quinoa is closely related to species such as beetroot, spinach and amaranthus and looks like the weed fat-hen.

Because it is a broadleaf crop, rather than a grass, it can't be sprayed to take out weeds. As a result, some fathen weed can be expected to grow among the crop.

The fathen seeds are taken out by Valhalla Seeds.

"They clean the seed, dry it and bag it for sale, and [return] some sowing seed for us," Dan says.

Jacqui says the grain is good protein for vegetarians and is gluten free too.

"It is one of several plants in the whole world with all nine amino acids. So quinoa is a good all rounder," she says.

"You can use it as a crumb, turn it into flour, put in in quiches and of course use it in salads. We have it at most meals many people use it as a rice alternative."

She says the favourite recipe of the family is coated chicken tenderloins.

Growing quinoa is a family affair and Dan's father has been supportive of them after trialling the first seeds.

Dan's sister, Georgia, designed the website and the family has championed the idea of growing quinoa at the farm, selling it commercially and helped within their specialist knowledge.

"The seed companies are looking at it as a possibility of others growing this. It could get sheep cockies ahead of the big growers in Canterbury," says Dan. "Growing quinoa is exciting. We are a sheep farm out in the wops."

The farm, about half an hour from Taihape, near Moawhango, is on 550 hectares and runs 3600 breeding ewes and 120 breeding cows.

The Cottrells favourite quinoa recipe:

Quinoa fried chicken with coriander salsa.

Ingredients - 12 x organic chicken tenderloins, two cups cooked quinoa, well strained ½ cup breadcrumbs, two eggs, whisked, one teaspoon salt and pepper, ½ cup olive oil, for shallow frying

Coriander salsa

Ingredients - one cup coriander, chopped finely one lime, juiced two teaspoons fish sauce, one teaspoon sweet chilli sauce, one small fresh red chilli, finely chopped.

Method

To make the coriander salsa, combine coriander, lime juice, fish sauce, chilli sauce and chilli in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside. Wipe chicken tenderloins dry with a paper towel. Whisk together the two eggs. Prepare crumbing mixture of quinoa, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper on a flat plate. Dip the chicken tenderloins into the whisked egg and then straight into the crumbing mixture. Flip the tenderloin over so that both sides of the chicken are well coated in quinoa. Set aside on clean plate ready for frying. Continue to crumb the remainder of the tenderloins. Heat ½ cup olive oil in frying pan, once the oil is hot, add four of the crumbed tenderloins and fry for 2 ½ minutes each side. Remove from oil and place on plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately with coriander salsa. Serves four.