southerner

I eat pies, but please don't tell my wife. My favourite is Jimmys mince and cheese, made locally. Never had a gristle pie, well, except once when I bought the cheapest one (Irvines I think) on the supermarket shelf - won't be doing that again.

Divine Comedy

Totally agree with the E number thing, the dilute juice stains everything, not just the childrens mouths , and they are bouncing off the walls minutes later. {when you have 4 of the little darlings its not a good thing!!]
I have a list now that has 'bad' E numbers and i take it with me to the supermarket, certainly cuts down on the overall bill as most of th ailses have it added!! All the big UK supermarkets have gotten really good at displaying what is in your food, NZ certainly needs to catch up.

southerner

Yes - perhaps even more so, because I think a lot of peoples feelings on the subject can be coloured by what they miss, and not necessarily objectively based on the attributes of the food available in the old vs new country.

So somebody who has lived (and presumably eaten) in several countries has a valid opinion.

Taste is a very primal sense, it means a lot to people. For example I do not think I will ever enjoy a curry as much as the ones I used to have just around the corner from our bedsit in North London. When we moved to SW London, we struggled for years to find the best local curry house, and although the one we found was pretty good, it was never going to be good as we remembered our "first favourite".

Edited to add: And probably the worst thing I could do would be go back to that little old restaurant, because almost certainly it will never live up to my memory of it.

teambwr47

Not sure if its been posted before but the following link seems to take of one of the only things i miss food wise about the UK and thats crisps for me

The English Corner Shop

Look on the crisps list and yeeeeehaaaaa 'WALKERS SENSATIONS CHILLI'

Now all i have to find a decent curry house and we're flying.

Had a Taxi with an Indian immigrant the other day who said most curry houses here are rubbish but recommended the Punjabi Dabi in the Botany area, we shall see............

brussels_sprout

As in every town/country, there are good and bad products. In NZ there is some real rubbish food, the standard of much of the NZ bread, yoghurt, lamb, sausages in particular irks me, it is just industrial food. Mass produced does not have to mean tasteless ! In a country where there are X zillion sheep, for example, WHY IS THERE NO Kiwi Sheeps Cheese , Kiwi Rocky-Fort ?
Having said that you get to know the good from the bad, and to say pies here are "gristle", makes me laugh, try Brumby's pies, Steak/Cheese from BP Service stations, Kumara/Chicken , smoked fish , there are Ponsonby's gourmet pies from New World which are great !
In Anglo-Saxon countries (UK&NZ) food is not part of the culture, despite this the quality of food (and interest in food) is getting better all the time, i am not talking about "fancy" foods, just good ingredients and well prepared. The difference is , is that the average French/Belgian Joe, eats well, but the average Brit/Kiwi Joe eats the Lasagne squares/Maccy D's, Jamie's "Tosser" foods !

I just think the quality of the fruit/veg/basic ingredients in NZ is so good as well as the things that i have mentioned before

Poppy, i agree about the range available in the supermarkets for many lines, for some items it is very small, but bacon, try "Kiwi" triple smoked from Pak N Save !

Poppy2

Yes.................get your coat and dont let the door bang you on the arse as you leave!!

I am just messing with you!! I agree, we dont eat those things because they ahve them here, but I am astonished at kiwi friends who do and the culture of trusting that if they sell it and you can buy it, it therefore is ok.

I do however know some stunning Kiwi cooks who shame me by occaissionally inviting us to eat with them............which always means we need to reciprocate another time .

Then there are those friends who make a slow cooker casserole with neck chops (blurg right there) and 3 packets of mint gravy powder..........hmmm.

And what is with evap milk and soup powder for dips?? Cant get my head round it!!

Poppy2

Brusselsprout - will be hunting that bacon down tonight, sounds great. I love bacon, why must the poor piggy be so tasty??

brussels_sprout

What are your favourite "supermarket" items in NZ , Poppy ?

I think that you can get most English items in NZ, i always used to miss Crumpets and Marmite, Fish and Chips, but they are all here in NZ made in NZ !

Poppy2

Do you know, I have just bought the kids edition Donna Hay magazine and have made some fab foods from there - mini meatloafs, with mini jacket potatoes with sour cream, grated cheese and some bacon bits.

What do I love in the supermarket...........my secret delights are frozen eclairs, mock cream buns and chocolate covered anzacs!! And chicken mince, never used it for anything before, never needed it - but it is great for making some lovely honey and mustard flaky pastry rolls!!!!

And Pak and Save is great, I dont know why people are so snobby about it, I like to pay less and that is that!!

brussels_sprout

I will try the frozen eclairs and chicken mince next week.

PnS is even better when you have the self check-out, you avoid the check-out queues at the weekend, and you even get free green bags and special discounts. Yes, we like PnS too, but i agree, you need a change from time to time, the limited variety is a bit dull.
We often go to the local market to buy veggies too (from the Chinese market gardeners ), you have to carry all the bags to your car though . I guess that we would have never done that in England.
Have you tried the PnS SourDough bread too ? Better than Germany even !
The range of supermarket products in England is vastly superior to NZ, i must say, the only decent tea seems to be Russian caravan tea, only in stock from time to time. We like selected Anatoth jams, Arnotts anything, Bundaberg spicey lemon fizzy drinks, those round cheeses with exotic fruit in them, L&P (of course), PnS frankfurters. New World seems to be far better for foreign beers (English and Belgian).

Poppy2

We adore Shop and Go.............couldnt do it any other way now! I have to admit also being addicted to Signature Range choc chip cookies, like the best thing ever! Shortcake texture and just wonderful - means a trip to Woolworths or CountDown once a week for them!!! And those cheeses are good, I had forgotten them!!

Off to scrub around in the kitchen to find something to stop my tummy rumbling now!

brussels_sprout

Choc Chip will be added to the list.

In most countries the addition of the word "Belgian" before a foodstuff signifies "good quality", such as Belgian Waffle, Beer, chocolate
One thing we laugh at in PnS, is the euphemistically named "Belgian Bun", a sort of unappetizing cup cake with a garish pink icing , WTF ?

AnnieNell

I'm going to be jolly English here & say A good cuppa tea is hard to find. I have been to a couple of places that serve it properly (though it's always in teabags), ie. teabag in the pot not in the cup. Our parents send us Assam teabags over periodically as this is my favourite. I have seen it sold at the Brit shop but it's hideously expensive as is their Yorkshire tea.

The coffee is excellent here though I'm not supposed to drink it (medical reasons). I love the choice of muffins too. "The Fishmonger" at Parnell & Remuera do the best fish n chips ever.
I love the beef & fish here, excellent quality. The fruit & veg taste as they should but more so. Have yet to find fresh baby sweetcorn which I adore.

Yep, they are behind the UK in food processing terms but cooking fresh is the better option, just less convenient. I'm amazed at the colour of the custard in the iced custard slices here - nuclear yellow would be my description

whitesand

Re the query from Annie Nell about not having time to make porridge in the morning. You can buy some called Hot Oatmeal which are availabe from the supermarket. You simply empty the packet into a bowl and add hot water. They are organic and taste very good.

donnaf

We go to the local farmers market and get fantastic cheeses (including goats cheese) and proper sausages as well as other bits and pieces. We eat almost no processed / pre packaged convenience food apart from the odd pizza.
I make my own muesli (sometimes) by getting oats, dried fruit, seeds, nuts etc in Pak n Save from the food bins (if you know what I mean - like pic n mix) and then you can make it to the taste you prefer.
I get Bisto from the Brit shop and wagon wheels for a treat.
Like most we buy what's in season - $6.95 for a cucumber last week I don't think so but they were $3 this week.
Now I know my way around the supermarket I find it fine, I miss Asda but only cos we had one of those huge superstores and I used to pick up bits and pieces of clothes for the kids. It's not as cheap as you think when in the UK though.