Eating local food is a great way of discovering the culture of the place you are visiting. One thing I have learnt when I travelled is to find where the locals eat and when going into a restaurant never to look for something on the menu which you recognise.
Contemporary Kiwi food combines its British heritage with a lively exploration of European, Asian and Pacific influences. But in this post I will introduce you to some of the iconic Kiwi food I have discovered.
When we came to live in New Zealand the first thing we noticed, which is hard not to notice as it is in every street corner, is the Pie. A typical New Zealand meet pie is a combination of puff pastry pie, containing largely diced or minced meat with gravy. Steak pie is also a very popular pie. If you want to check your eligibility for NZ’s citizenship – try eating one for morning tea…
A short stroll to the nearest Supermarket introduced us to the Marmite, while browsing to find our favourite jam. Locals say the NZ Marmite is significantly different in taste from the UK one, though some controversy is rising from time to time.
Don’t mistake Marmite with Vegemite.Vegemite is a dark, salty paste made from yeast extract. It is used as base for Vegemite and honey sandwiches, Vegemite and jam sandwiches, Vegemite and cheese sandwiches and basically for any kind of Vegemite and something sandwich you can think of. Though highly popular in New Zealand and Australia, it has never been successfully marketed elsewhere. It is notorious for the dislike it generates amongst some foreigners.
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38074672@N00/53574980
I found it hard to believe an Island nation will not have some kind of seafood culture. On our first trip in the area we were introduced to a unique Kiwi dish made from a tiny fish called Whitebait. Whitebait is a 4-6 inch long fish found mainly in New Zealand’s lowland rivers and streams. It is tender and sweet with a delicate taste. The most popular way of cooking whitebait in New Zealand is the whitebait fritter, which is an omelette containing whitebait.
Kiwifruit.Similar to the Dutch tulips which actually came from Asia, the kiwifruit came from China, and has nothing to do with the Kiwi bird (as my kids like to think…). To help identify the fruit with New Zealand and to disguise it’s Chinese origin the fruit was given the name ‘kiwifruit’. Lately we discovered the winter season Gold Kiwifruit, which is yellow inside and always sweet, unlike it’s green sibling which can be a bit snappy sometimes.
No mention of food in New Zealand is complete without saying a word about the Pavlova and the long hot debate between Australia and New Zealand about it’s origin. Everybody agrees the inspiration for the large cake sized meringue filled with fruit and cream was the Australasian tour of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in 1925. The Australians claim the dessert as theirs, while us Kiwis maintain we created it. It is hard to believe a simple meringue cake is the subject of research among historians and television programmes showcasing the debate.
A homemade pavlova decorated with pomegranate seeds and chantilly cream. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Christmas_pavlova.jpg
What is your experience with New Zealand food? Add your comment below and share your story with us!
[...] on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress PluginAbout two months ago I wrote a post about Iconic Kiwi Food. Jiyeon Juno Kim Author of Runaway Juno was kind enough to be our first guest writer and she also [...]