Dec. 6, 2012 – May 29, 2013
After six months in New Zealand, I can make some observations about modern New Zealand cuisine. Guidebooks consistently describe it as “Pacific Rim fusion,” combining the flavors of Asia and Polynesia with classic British fare. Well, I’m not sure I ever saw this exactly. What I did see is Kiwis appreciate good food from many cultures; so if you’re in a city you can generally find what you’re in the mood for: Indian, Italian, French, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indonesian, Mexican, Korean, American, and Middle-Eastern, along with basic seafood, steak, sandwiches, salads and burgers. That said, here are some food-related things that stood out to us as distinctly Kiwi.
1. Kiwis love their fish and chips. No matter where you go or how small the town, you can always find a fish and chips “takeaway” (take-out), and most restaurants have fish and chips on the menu.
(Our previous fish and chips post is here.)
2. Kiwis also love their meat pies, and these can always be found in the glass cases of cafes, bakeries and many gas stations. It took me a long time to not to feel let down when I realized a sign saying “fresh pies” didn’t refer to warm fruit pie with ice cream. Basically meat pies have a meat and gravy filling completely encased by crust and meant to be eaten out of hand. Fancier versions have vegetables–picture a small handheld chicken pot pie–and might require cutlery.
3. New Zealand has a wide variety of shellfish and seafood, and seafood chowder is a staple here. Surprisingly, I don’t think I ever saw clam chowder even though they have an abundance of clams. Chowder is usually a mixture of seafood.
4. Kiwis have a unique way of making their burgers, adding a slice or two of beet and an egg. (Our post about it here.) The combination is really delicious, but I wish they’d make their beef patties thinner. Restaurant burgers are so thick that it’s a challenge to figure out how you’re going to eat it. The beef often has a meat-loafy quality to it, too. I don’t know if it’s the way they grind it or if they mix things in, but it took us a long time to find a good burger place that, along with the thick patties, serves a thinner patty, too. (Thank you Burger Fuel!)
5. Kiwis love pizza and it’s easy to find here, along with some very good Italian food. We were thrilled and very surprised to even find a chain (Sal’s) that sells authentic New York pizza (we’ve eaten lots of pizza in New York so we know). Now, if only someone would do Chicago-style pizza.
6. There’s an abundance of Asian food here, but it’s a little different in some ways from the US. While there’s plenty of Chinese restaurants, there’s a surprising lack of takeout Chinese food. Instead, the take-out Asian food places tend to be Thai. It’s high time someone introduced New Zealand to Panda Express! I have no doubt it would be a huge hit here.
Conversely, someone needs to introduce more Indonesian and Malaysian food to the US. It’s much more common in New Zealand and really good.
7. Thankfully, Kiwis are embracing Mexican food. The good news is there are some fabulous Mexican restaurants with the type of food you’d find in Mexico City. The bad news is they tend to be expensive by the time you add up the main dishes, chips and guacamole, margaritas, etc. There’s one restaurant in Auckland much like the casual and cheap American chain Chipotle, and it seems to be expanding.
We haven’t yet seen anything like El Torito, which I’d definitely call American Mexican food, but we have seen Tex-Mex.
8. The pub is alive and well here. There were British pubs and Irish pubs, but the best pubs were the Belgian ones. There are a lot of great beers in the world, but the Belgians, without a doubt, make the best. No contest. Their food is very good, too.
9. New Zealand has all the fruits and veggies we have in the US, but what’s interesting is what they favor. While American salads are based on iceberg or green leafy lettuces, the Kiwis prefer rocket (aka arugula). I never thought I cared for arugula much, but maybe I didn’t give it a fair chance because here I love it. You’ll also see a lot of pumpkin in both salads and cooked dishes. It’s not the same as our American pumpkin but more like a large squash. Other favorites include beet, which shows up on burgers, sandwiches and salads, and kumara (sweet potato) which is in many cooked dishes. Of course the regular potato is widely used, too.
10. Aioli, basically garlic mayonnaise, is the condiment of choice in New Zealand. Of course there’s generally tomato sauce (ketchup in the US) on the table. And they have mustard. But aioli is generally the condiment for burgers, sandwiches, etc. Another frequently seen condiment is peri-peri sauce, a spicy Portuguese chili sauce that’s very tasty.
11. The farmer’s market is very popular here, just like in America. And there’s always an artisan bread maker at any given market where you can buy some fabulous bread. Overall in America we have a greater variety and quality of bread in our supermarkets. If you want the best bread in New Zealand, you need to go to a farmer’s market or a bakery.
12. As far as bakery goods, the British heritage really shows in the scones that are abundant here. Some are savory, and some are sweet, and you can sometimes find a place that serves them with jam and Devonshire cream (a thick buttery whipped cream meant to be served with scones).
Muffins are also very popular, as are croissants. Afghan cookies usually sit in a jar on the counter. (Afgahns post) And the cronut (croissant and donut combined) craze has spread to New Zealand. Not many bakeries make them, and when they do they sell out early. Like in America, I think that their periodic unavailability makes people want them more.
13. The breakfasts here are excellent, particularly if you like poached eggs. Kiwis seem to specialize in making poached eggs–they are consistently perfect. What seems to be a bit of an art in America seems effortless for Kiwis as it’s their basic egg preparation. I don’t know what their secret is, maybe it’s something about the chickens that makes them lay these wonderfully poachable eggs.
A frequent breakfast side dish here is creamed mushrooms, which are fabulous. My favorite breakfast here is poached eggs on toast with a side of creamed mushrooms.
And let’s not forget the coffee, which I’ve already done a post about here.
14. Finally, for dessert, there’s generally cake, bread pudding, ice cream, brownies and the like. While there are fruit crumbles and crisps and deep-dish fruit desserts, the classic American wedge of fruit pie seems rare. Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough–I’ll have to investigate this further next season. Early in the summer pavlova is abundant as it’s the classic Christmas and summer dessert.
15. Of course I should mention Maori food, the cuisine of the native Polynesian New Zealanders. Their big feasts are cooked in an earth oven, and Maori hangi are popular tourist happenings in places like Rotorua. I’d compare them to a Hawaiian luau as they often include a cultural dance show. I have not yet dragged Rich to one of these, but I went years ago and very much enjoyed it.
16. I’ll mention here something unique about the typical cafe layout: they always have a big glass case filled with various dishes like salads, casseroles, sandwiches, baked goods, etc.
Generally you go to the counter and get a menu, and it’s a good idea to take a look in the glass case as those items are generally not included on the menu. (I’ve more than once had the annoying experience of finishing a meal and going to pay afterwards only to spot something I would have preferred sitting in the glass case.)
After you have a seat, a wait person will bring your water glasses and a big glass bottle of cold water for the table. If you drink it all during your meal, they’ll refill it. I love this tradition as it saves having to frantically wave at the staff for another glass of water, which so often happens in water-stingy California.
Also unique is you go to the counter to pay after your meal. This is also nice in that you aren’t stuck waiting for someone to pick up your check or bring back your change. These little traditions make life so much nicer for both the customer and the wait staff.
In all, there’s lots of great food in New Zealand, but there are a few things we really miss from America. Here’s our list:
a. Cheeseburgers. Not just any cheeseburgers–after all, we can get pretty good ones in New Zealand–but a top-notch burger from a place like Five Guys, Hodad’s (in San Diego), Burger City Grill (in Los Angeles), or Rainbow Oaks (a restaurant just outside of Fallbrook). For that matter, a burger from In-n-Out would be pretty good, too.
b. Southern California Mexican Food, the cheap but delicious kind. Things like a carne asada burrito from Loma Bonita, beans and rice from Las Quatro Milpas, tacos from Tito’s, and green chili quesadillas from El Taco come to mind. We also wouldn’t mind a Rubio’s fish taco.
c. Good Sub Sandwiches. Not the kind from Subway, but the kind that come from a good deli. Like Sorrento’s in San Pedro, or any deli in New York. For that matter, we’d love a great cheesesteak, too. You can get steak and cheese sandwiches in New Zealand, but they tend to be restaurant items to be eaten with a knife and fork. It’s not the same.
d. A Good Milkshake. Again milkshakes are easy to find in New Zealand but are most often like flavored milk – unless you order a thickshake, but even then it’s usually not much thicker. A top-notch, really ice-creamy milkshake from a place like Burger City Grill is unmatched here. Oddly the best shake we’ve had in the South Pacific is the coffee frappuccino at The Aquarium restaurant in Vava’u, Tonga. It’s thick, ice-creamy, and delicious.
e. Panda Express. Half rice, half chow mein, and two main dishes in a Styrofoam container. Add hot sauce and a large iced tea. Damn that was good.
f. Iced Tea. I always assumed that was everywhere in the world. I was wrong. It seems to be an American thing. (I’m not counting that god-awful, overly-sweetened stuff sold in bottles.)
g. Good Brie or Camembert. New Zealand makes a lot of adequate hard cheese and excellent goat cheese, but unless you go to the weekly French market in Auckland (where they sell cheese actually made in France), you cannot find good runny cheese. It’s not that brie and camembert aren’t widely available–they are. The problem is that while they’re soft, they’re not spreadable. Somehow Australia has mastered decent brie and camembert; so I don’t know what the issue is with New Zealand. If you’re a cheesemaker and happen to read this, please consider practicing your craft in New Zealand. They have the cows/goats/sheep, and they have the sweet grass. They need you.
Excuse me while I go book a ticket back to the US. Just kidding, but I will say when we do go back to visit the US, we will be eating. A lot.–Cyndi
