Polly Markus started posting her recipes on Instagram during the first lockdown, when the only exciting outings happening in her life were daily trips to the supermarket.
It was a change of pace from her Auckland job in commercial real estate, which went quiet almost overnight.
“Everyone was working from home so I had a lot of spare time. I always wanted to share recipes for family and friends, so I started doing that via Instagram.’’
Her recipes and videos quickly became shared from her account Miss Polly’s Kitchen, and she now has almost 50,000 followers. Now, what started as a lockdown project has sizzled into a cookbook.
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Her success has been partly thanks to social enterprise Everybody Eats, which asked her to share a video and recipe in 2020 – exposure that Markus now credits with helping kick-start her journey to becoming a foodie influencer.
Looking back, there were early signs Markus would make a career out of food.
Growing up, she loved food and flavours, and her parents used to joke that “I was like the labrador. I would eat and eat and eat. Those who know me know that one of my biggest fears is going hungry.’’
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Her father Les was the cook of the house – he died six years ago.
“Dad was really well-travelled and he would cook all these delicious flavours, like Middle Eastern food and curries. My parents were always throwing dinner parties.
“I’ve always associated good food with having people around.’’
Markus left Auckland at 21 and was employed as a chef on a European superyacht for three years, despite her lack of chef training.
Working alongside a head chef, her job was to cook three meals a day for 15 crew – three proteins, a starch, and three salads. She picked up a range of cuisines from her international colleagues, including tuna tonnato – which features in her cookbook.
Markus returned to Aotearoa burnt out from her brief cooking career.
“I was so sick of it. I had completely lost my love of cooking. I knew it would eventually come back but I didn’t think that at the time.’’
She toyed with the idea of opening a cafe in Auckland but her father died not long after she returned home, so she returned to a job in commercial real estate.
But back to Miss Polly’s Kitchen. What is it about her Instagram account that appeals when there are many others?
Markus thinks she connects and relates to people – “I laugh a lot,’’ she says – while her recipes are often simple and straightforward.
“Some recipes you can throw in a blender and make some meat balls and you’ve got a meal.’’
Melanie Jenkins/Flash Studios
Polly Markus says her recipes are simple and straightforward, and she enjoys connecting with people.
Her Instagram profile took off when clothing brands Ruby and Maggie Marilyn got her to create lockdown recipes which they shared on their own sites. Their followers started following, Markus which had a domino effect.
Since then, she has worked with brands like Cloudy Bay, Ecoya and New Zealand Pork, which hire her to create and share recipes on their own sites. She is fussy about who she works with – always New Zealand brands she believes in.
The cookbook came about after a publisher at Allen & Unwin followed her for a few months, and then asked whether she might consider pulling together 70 new recipes from scratch for publication.
Markus laughs that she was relieved when Auckland had another Covid lockdown, which gave her the opportunity to get in the kitchen and meet her deadline.
“I was creating dishes during lockdown and leaving them on my doorstep and friends and family would pick them up and tell me what they honestly thought of them.’’
Markus says she’s drawn to Asian and Middle Eastern dishes, and her cookbook recipes are fresh, flavoursome and health. She pulls back on anything too fried, but isn’t averse to using butter, sugar and salt.
Miss Polly’s Kitchen – the cookbook – is packed with bold and unique flavours and clever spins on classic dishes such as a chicken and rice bake flavoured with miso, and fish bites crumbed in lime and coconut.
She’s inherited her dad’s love of cooking and sharing food, and her gravalax salmon recipe is based on a dish she inherited from him. “I share it with pride,” she writes.
“I’m a people pleaser and a really social person. I love nothing more than preparing food while everyone relaxes, and then we sit down together and enjoy it.”
Melanie Jenkins/Flash Studios
Polly Markus says this ginger hapuka stir-fry has never let her down.
Ginger Hapuka Stir-fry
Everyone needs a good stir-fry recipe and this one has never let me down. It’s quick and simple to make and, in my experience, always a total crowd-pleaser.
Hot tip: always, always start this dish by slicing and dicing your ingredients and prepping your sauces. This will make everything else feel seamless and stress-free.
Serves three.
Stir-fry ingredients
- ¾ cup white rice
- 550 g (1 lb 4 oz) boneless, skinless hapuka
- ¼ cup cornflour
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 5½ tablespoons light cooking oil
- 1 large eggplant – cut into 2 cm (¾ in) dice
- 4 cm (1½ inch) piece fresh ginger – finely diced
- 3 large garlic cloves – finely diced
- Green part of 1 spring onion – thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli – thinly sliced
- A handful of fresh coriander – roughly chopped
Sauce ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Method
- Get the rice cooking as per the packet instructions.
- To make the stir-fry sauce, mix the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cut the fish into 2 cm (¾ in) pieces. Mix the cornflour and white pepper on a plate. Coat the fish pieces with the cornflour. Set aside.
- Heat 2½ tablespoons of the oil in a large non-stick pan over a high heat. Add the eggplant and ginger and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often so the eggplant cooks evenly. It should be slightly coloured but not burned, so adjust the heat accordingly.
- Add a further 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic to the pan. Stir, then continue to fry for about 3 minutes, or until the eggplant is cooked. Be sure to keep an eye on it and keep stirring. Once the eggplant is cooked, tip it onto a plate and set aside.
- Using the same pan, keep the heat on high. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Once you see light wisps of smoke, fry the fish pieces until they are crispy on both sides. This will only take a couple of minutes. Be careful not to overcook the fish.
- Return the eggplant to the pan, add the stir-fry sauce and simmer for 20 seconds. Quickly take the pan off the heat.
- Garnish with the spring onion, chilli and coriander. Serve immediately with the rice.
Miss Polly’s Kitchen by Polly Markus is out now, published by Allen & Unwin NZ. RRP $45.00.
