Food

Since I've had four months to adjust to any major differences and sample some of the local fare, I thought I'd should some thoughts on what there is to eat in this lovely place. There aren't tons of differences and it is quite possible to find most "American" food. There is also plenty of Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indian food. Unfortunately there isn't much Mexican food, but if you are willing to pay $4 for a very small jar of salsa and $5 for 6 tortillas, you can create your own Mexican feast :) There are some local yummies though, and I've found a few things which I quite enjoy.

Meat pies, yum yum yum. As an American, I think of pie in terms of apples, chocolate, lemon meringue, coconut cream, cherry, etc. etc. etc. and the occasioanal Shepherd's pie. In New Zealand, there is a much wider range of options. You can find yummy meat pies at supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores and bakeries. They are usually mini-pies, probably about four inches in diameter. There is black pepper steak, steak and cheese, mince and cheese, steak and mushroom, mince and onion, and other yummy options. The potato-top pies have a ground beef mixture with mashed potatoes on top. You can buy them already warm for about $3 and it's a perfect afternoon snack :) You can also buy them in bulk, frozen, to keep at home if you can't be bothered to go the store!

Potato Top Pie

Mince Pie

"Friendly Helpful Employee: 'Welcome to Burger Fuel, what can I get for you today?'      
Hungry Customer: 'Hi, I would like kumara chips please'."
Burger Fuel seems to have the most legit burgers in town, and kumara chips are their tasty sweet potato fries. A common topping for your burger, along with gerkens (pickles), tomaaaatoes (NOT toe-mate-oes), lettuce and cheese, is beetroot. I have tried a burger that had beets on it and it was surprisingly yummy. While beets aren't my favorite food, I have nothing against eating them, but I must confess it never occurred to me to put it on a burger. I think I'll stick to beetroot-less burgers from now on, but I did give it a go :)

Steak pie for lunch, burger with beetroot and kumara chips for supper. What about breakfast? How about crumpets? Best description I can give is that crumpets are an English muffin pancake. The bottom looks like a pancake, the texture is fairly similar to a pancake, but the top looks like an English muffin. Pop it in the toaster and when it comes out put some butter and syrup on it and there you go. They're pretty tasty :) If you prefer normal toast, a topping option is Marmite or Vegemite. I've been told you like either one or the other but not both. So far I have tried Vegemite and once was enough. I haven't tried Marmite yet but have been told it's milder. Vegemite looks deceptively yummy, it looks like chocolate peanut butter. But oh it's not. It's a bit bitter, and to me was very salty. So not really what I want on my toast :) If you go out for breakfast, a common item on the menu is sauteed mushrooms. Not sure how they make them but they are very yummy with some sausage and fried eggs.

Crumpets

One thing that is disappointing to my taste buds is tomato sauce. If you're out and order french fries (I mean chips) then you'll get tomato sauce with it. It looks like ketchup so you happily dunk your fry, anticipating the flavor combination of ketchup and french fry and then BAM! You're eating tomato sauce with your fries. You'd think I'd have learned after the first couple times but I still get fooled nearly every time. I guess I just always hold onto a little bit of hope that somebody somewhere will have the sense to serve ketchup and not tomato sauce :)

If you'd like a tasty local beverage, try some L&P, Lemon and Paeroa. It's soda made in NZ, rather similar to sprite. You can even find white chocolate with L&P in it. It's like eating chocolate, but also eating pop rocks at the same time, crazy :)

One item you will not find here is biscuits and gravy. You will get an amusing reaction if you ask a kiwi whether they like biscuits and gravy. Biscuits here are actually cookies. And it seems they normally only use brown gravy, so you can see the train of thoughts going "wait...biscuits and gravy...a cookie with gravy on it??? Yuck!!!" I've done my best to describe it but since they don't really have biscuits (the American kind I mean), it's somewhat hard to accurately communicate. I reckon I'll have to make some up at some point and see how they like it.

There is a traditional Maori dinner called a Hangi, which I have not had an opportunity to try yet. But whenever I do I'll be sure to share :)

Final thought. When in NZ, don't say "I cut up a kiwi to go with lunch." If you do it means you are a cannibal. Say kiwifruit, it makes those around you much happier!

Green kiwi fruit

Golden kiwi fruit