New Zealand Food

Pacific Rim Fusion Style Cuisine!

New Zealand food is known for it’s fresh, simple flavours. New Zealand cuisine is from a wonderful mix of cultures. We also have our own distinctive Pacific Rim style which is a fusion of European, Asian and Polynesian styles of cooking. With such variety, you can have virtually any ethnic food you want, which makes for great eating.

We are fortunate to have wonderful produce from the sea, and the land.

Dairy products, meat,fish,fruit and vegetables are some of our major export earners, as well as New Zealand's food basket.

Fresh, simple and delicious, is the mantra of many of our best chefs today. You will probably want to try some typical New Zealand foods while you are enjoying your holiday in New Zealand.

Distinctly New Zealand Foods

Meat

New Zealand lamb is of course world reknowned, and many New Zealander’s favourite meat. You may also want to taste cervena or venison(deer), and ostrich. Of course pork, beef and chicken are also very much on our every day menus.

New Zealand Seafood

New Zealand enjoys an abundance of delicious seafood. You will be able to feast on :

• Fresh salmon

• Mussels

• Crayfish ( at a price)

• Bluff oysters - these are seasonal – May/June and are huge and very delicious! Try to go to the Oyster festival in May.

• Pipi’s- an oval shellfish, you can dig for these in the sand, at many beaches.

Tuatua – neither pipi nor tuatua dishes are common in restaurants. Tuatua are rare, and seasonal . They are like a pipi but much larger.

• Scallop’s are on many menus and delicious.

• Whitebait is very popular in the season. This is considered a delicacy and whitebait fritters the popular choice. Look for them at the Wild Food festival in Hokitika .

• Trout – both brown trout and rainbow trout are found in New Zealand.

Vegetables

With such a range of cultures we are not only getting a wide selection of New Zealand vegetables, but many of the Asian greens in particular. Below are some veges you may not know from your country and which gives New Zealand food it's distinctive flavours.

• Kumara – New Zealand sweet potato – has a distinctive purple skin and different flavour to other sweet potato.

• Yams – seasonal – pink or yellow yams are delicious roasted. Usually about the size of your middle finger.

• Maori potato - a purple, nobbly potato

New Zealand has some fruits not often seen elsewhere. While they originate from other countries, they have been cultivated here and become popular fruits people associate with distinctive New Zealand food.

• Kiwifruit – originally Chinese gooseberries and from China – we now have not only the green variety, but a lovely gold one which has a quite different flavour and is very popular.Also a new small,green ,hairless kiwi fruit.

• Tamarillo – originally called tree tomato these are from South America . The only other place I have ever seen them was in Rwanda of all places! These are delicious – a bit tart so need sugar, but great in desserts. Red and yellow varieties.Seasonal.

• Feijoa – another South American fruit – only available April/ May New Zealander’s wait in anticipation for this fruit to come into season.White inside with a dark green skin, and a distinctly floral flavour, it has no other fruit to compare with. Beautiful in fruit desserts or fresh. Feijoa wine or juice has the distinctive flavour.

• New Zealand Navel oranges – I mention because they are particularly delicious. A quite different flavour to Australian or American Navel Oranges. Seasonal

• Tangelo – a hybrid from a mandarin and a tangerine this is a beautiful very juicy fruit with a blotchy orange/yellow skin. Seasonal.

Traditional New Zealand Food and Cooking

• Fish n’ Chips – this is a national favourite takeaway.

• Meat Pies – we have some excellent pies – look for award winners!

• Pavlova – there is some argument between New Zealander’s and Australian’s as to the origination of this dessert. Made from firmly whipped egg whites, with sugar, and teaspoon of vinegar, this is piled onto an oven tray and cooked in a very cool oven for about 1 ½ hours. It should be soft like marshmallow inside and a little crisp on the outside. It is served with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Very sweet!

• Hangi – The Maori traditional meal cooked in a hole in the ground, with hot stones to keep the heat in.

• Whitebait fritters – many restaurants serve these in season. This is a tiny fish caught in the rivers in the season.

• ANZAC Biscuits – these are a delicious crispy biscuit made from rolled oats and golden syrup. Devised as a healthy treat to send to our soldiers in the War, families baked and sent these home baked biscuits.

New Zealand Dairy Foods

Staples such as milk, cream, butter and yoghurt along with a wide range of home grown cheeses are all readily available.However, they are not that cheap! As the price of exports goes up, so does our local price, unfortunately.

New Zealand Ice Cream

A special New Zealand flavour is Hokey Pokey.....with boysenberry the next most popular.But we have many wonderful fruit flavours including some of the New Zealand fruits such as feijoa.

Be sure to sample some New Zealand Ice Cream when you come.

If you are needing a cool snack in Auckland's Queen Street Giapo's Italian Gelato Ice Cream is very popular. Read the reviews here

New Zealand Honey

Our best honey is Manuka - a dark, rich very delicious honey with a distinctive flavour. The Active 30+ is taken for health reasons.

To see the full range of honey you can get in New Zealand, have a look at Honey NZ

New Zealand Restaurants and Reviews

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

As you travel around you will have a great opportunity to sample a variety of New Zealand foods, and different cooking styles.

If you look below, you can click through to view restaurant reviews and my personal restaurant recommendations in Auckland , Christchurch and Queenstown.