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Credit: Drina Sisarich
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Monday, 24 August 2009 |
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 The wee shop on the corner of Station Road and Flavell Street has had almost as many lives as a cat. Some of its past uses have been as a general store, a Four Square Grocery, a dairy, and shops selling hardware, sandwiches and pies.
Bits have been added on to its structure and bits taken away but basically it is the same building that has sat and watched several generations of villagers grow up. Today it operates as a tofu factory, ‘Bean Me Up’, run by its owners, Ruth and Bernie McLean, who live conveniently close in the big old brick house behind it.
Bernie and Ruth used to run a health food store in Lyttelton. They supplied food to the locals and also to the provedores whose requests for tofu gradually became more than the McLeans were able to source. Finally, in 1985, they bought the business from the tofu maker who had been supplying them and moved into tofu production rather than just tofu selling.
The premises they used were at the old teacher’s college on the corner of Montreal and Kilmore Streets. At this time they were one of only three manufacturers in New Zealand. After 15 years working in the teachers’ college kitchen they were able to move the business to Heathcote and be closer to home.
Though in some countries tofu is now made by machine, Bernie and Ruth still make it the traditional way by hand. Made from organic soya beans that are soaked, then ground , the pulp is cooked and then strained to produce milk. This milk is then solidified with a coagulant. The resulting tofu is naturally bland and therefore an ideal additive to sweet and savoury dishes.
Tofu has been called the perfect food, being cholesterol free, high in protein, low in saturated fats and a good source of calcium, iron and protein. Not many people realise that the tofu can be bought direct from the factory along with frozen, unpasteurised Tonzu organic tempeh, organic tamari, shoyu and tahini.
Bean Me Up uses the tamari, shoyu and the tahini in some of their products, so if you call in to buy some you will find they are able to sell them at very reasonable prices.
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