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-   -   NZ "cuisine" (https://britishexpats.com/forum/new-zealand-83/nz-cuisine-780723/)

Catchafire Dec 16th 2012 5:13 am

NZ "cuisine"
 
Things I like

Pies - Love em! Great selection of bakeries here in Marlborough
Seafood - Fantastic
Sushi - Ok, not exactly Kiwi, but yum!
Fruits - Feijoas, tangelos, kiwifruit, boysenberries
Kumra - Roasted in a salad!

Things that make me go...meh

Sausages - Miss a good English banger
Potatoes - Strange one this, but why don't they have King Edwards?
Sweet/Savour combinations - Smoked chicken and apricot jus (aka jam)??
Curries - Don't get me started!
Whitebait - Don't understand what the fuss is about
NZ Salmon - Way to fatty/oily, nice smoked or raw, hard to cook without going mushy.

Things that I wish I have never tried

Smoked eel - *gags*
Kina (raw sea urchin) - Think cold raw monkey brains
Watties Ketchup - Bet it does not even contain tomatoes

Sherlock Holmes Dec 16th 2012 5:14 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
Anything that used to eat grass is always welcome on the menu for me.

Bo-Jangles Dec 16th 2012 7:47 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
Things I like:

Strawberries - not exactly Kiwi either but still can't get enough of them
Pavlova with strawberries and cream
Olives
Olive oil
Mandarins
Kumara or pumpkin - with the Sunday roast

Things that make me go...ewwww!

Sausages - miss a good English chipolata
Potatoes - pretty poor choice and why don't they have King Edwards or other types of potatoes?
Baked Beans - except for Heinz English Recipe
Gravy - of any kind except homemade or good old Bisto
Curries - best I don't go there either.
Whitebait - why would you, unless absolutely desperate?

Things that I wish I have never tried:

Watties baked beans - *gags*
Feijoas
Watties Ketchup

Things I will never try because the very sight and faintest whiff from a mile off makes me want to puke:

Pre-cooked sausages in white bread with Watties Tomato Sauce. :blink:

bakedbean Dec 16th 2012 12:30 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
You miss bakedbeans? But I am here :D

I've never been to NZ (yet) but I'm a bit surprised about lack of decent sausages. I'm living in old ex-colonial Penang and can get authentic old-style (none of this bloody EU rules) Lincolnshire sausages, all homemade by old Chinese guy (who undoubtedly got rcipe from the Brits).

Talking of Watties...... we get frozen Watties peas here....very nice... keep pinging them over please :)

bakedbean Dec 16th 2012 12:43 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
Bo-J you mention olives and olive oil, is that produced in NZ? I always think kiwis (obviously), wine, lamb, that sort of thing.

We are in wine wilderness here and today someone brought round a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, which is like heaven landed (i really don't have the appropriate dribbly smilie) I will save for Christmas Day :)

Caz8NZ Dec 16th 2012 8:53 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
Hmmm have to say there isn't too much I miss from home.

Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps are a starter
Curry thing goes without saying really.

Squasages...ahh yes how I miss a decent one! Just before I left the UK I lived round the corner from an award winning royal appointed butchers in Fulham.....the sausages they did were amazing - 1 was the equivalent of 3 normal ones.

I discovered the other week Mr Beaks Sausages in Countdown - a woman was doing a demo and i was brought over by the smell wafting through the store so i followed my nose...they were marketed as gluten free - but it means that they something like 90% meat!!!!

Bacon - WELL - if anyone is going to start on that - i had another find in countdown the other week

Hendersons Middle Bacon Dry Cured - its about $7 a pack so yeah - expensive of course - but it was really rather nice - had that lovely meaty flavour.

I sampled all of them - just to make sure you know! Quite tasty indeed - not too fatty. Shame they don't do a pork one.

I love the cafe culture here - good coffee and good food all generally homemade rather than cheapo ingredients fried to within an inch of their life.

I also love the selection of dips and relishes available which aren't all mayonnaise based.

I'm with ya on the feijoa thing - urgh.

Greenlip Mussels available freely and cheaply on a regular basis - yum!

I quite like the Sweet/Savoury combo! Although there is one local irish pub that does really nice food but the chef seems to want to put that jam like stuff with everything! Thankfully served in a little shot glass so you can just ignore it.

Sushi shops everywhere - yum yum yum!

BEVS Dec 16th 2012 9:07 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by bakedbean (Post 10436173)
Bo-J you mention olives and olive oil, is that produced in NZ? I always think kiwis (obviously), wine, lamb, that sort of thing.

We are in wine wilderness here and today someone brought round a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, which is like heaven landed (i really don't have the appropriate dribbly smilie) I will save for Christmas Day :)

'Allo you. :p

Yes. Olive groves and vineyards abound & surround us here in the Nelson & TasmanBay area. If I think, I'll take some photos for you.

Some folks have their homes set among vineyards and olive groves. Friends of ours have a wee syndicate going. They planted their sections ( think large gardens) with olives and now get the resulting olives pressed.

Some of the vineyards and wineries around us . Map here
Buying a decent quality bottle of wine here is quite expensive, remembering we are earning Kiwi $$. So just like you, I squirrel away anything good for a special occasion.

Forget the lamb thing. It's rubbishy here & the best is exported.

The kiwi fruit farming is currently under much strain due to a vine disease. I have a couple of vines in my garden which are doing well. I've also a grape vine. Most of us here have these.



:focus:

bakedbean Dec 19th 2012 8:48 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by Catchafire (Post 10435694)
Things I like

Seafood - Fantastic

What exactly? C'mon.... make me jealous.

lardyl Dec 20th 2012 2:08 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
Things I like:
Curry - all sorts now that I've got over the "it should be just like UK"
Ethnic food (as above) - inc Korean, which I'd never eaten before
Fruits/veges - Kiwis, blueberries, strawbs (so long in season here and really in season), Tangelos (albeit you need to peel them in the nude), water melons in huge amounts, sweetcorn when cheap as chips, etc
Biscuits and Ice Cream - kiwis know how to do these, even the budget stuff
Kumara - roasted, mashed or fried in recipies
Pies - love bacon and egg ones
Stuff from the garden - feijoas, which I like most of the time, silverbeet that lives forever

Things that make me go...ewwww!
Sausages - not great although have had to survive on lamb ones on occasion
Cheese - cheddar cheese is way too expensive and the stuff most kiwis eat is crud
Processed/Pre-prepared food - seems to be piled full of salt and sugar, where are the low salt/low sugar choices? I know I should be cooking from scratch, but I don't have the time!
Sausage sizzles - although I often grab one if it's for a good cause/sports club

Things that I wish I have never tried:
Pre-cooked sausages - totally disgusting
Sushi - now that I know how much sugar, etc is used to prepare some of it, not the "healthy choice" it's cracked up to be - and that is because I may be addicted..... :p

Sherlock Holmes Dec 20th 2012 9:18 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
I think you have Bunnnings in NZ?

The sausage sizzle. I mean really. It could at least be a burger. And the smell!! Yuck.

Mind you, I have some NZ blue cheese that is to die for. More like Stilton than Danish Blue.

Bo-Jangles Dec 20th 2012 10:36 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by Sherlock Holmes (Post 10443352)
I think you have Bunnnings in NZ?

The sausage sizzle. I mean really. It could at least be a burger. And the smell!! Yuck.


Yes indeed yuck, I have to have a peg for my nose if we go to Bunnings. That smell clings to your clothes and gets under your skin, it gets into the car and follows you home.:blink:


Originally Posted by Sherlock Holmes (Post 10443352)
Mind you, I have some NZ blue cheese that is to die for. More like Stilton than Danish Blue.

Which cheese is it?

Sherlock Holmes Dec 20th 2012 10:43 am

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles (Post 10443438)
Yes indeed yuck, I have to have a peg for my nose if we go to Bunnings. That smell clings to your clothes and gets under your skin, it gets into the car and follows you home.:blink:

Disgusting isn't it.



Which cheese is it?
Believe it or not, it's from Aldi in Australia. I lobbed the packing in the bin earlier! I'll find it in the morning and let you know. :)

BEVS Dec 20th 2012 8:08 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles (Post 10443438)
Yes indeed yuck, I have to have a peg for my nose if we go to Bunnings.

You're just trying to be posh. You're at the Warehouse really. :sneaky:

Caz8NZ Dec 20th 2012 10:02 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 
edited.....


Originally Posted by lardyl (Post 10443007)

Things that make me go...ewwww!
Processed/Pre-prepared food - seems to be piled full of salt and sugar, where are the low salt/low sugar choices?

Things that I wish I have never tried:
Sushi - now that I know how much sugar, etc is used to prepare some of it, not the "healthy choice" it's cracked up to be - and that is because I may be addicted..... :p

pre-prepared food I am not a fan of and have spent much time on here spouting my cooking from scratch mantra however i have fallen off my perch recently......have put on too much weight from cooking from scratch indulgently and can't seem to focus myself on planning healthy meals.......started to follow Weightwatchers again and cause i'm being lazy im relying on the ready meals.

Low in fat and supposedly balanced. Some are better than others, but all are low fat. Some portions aren't too great but you can load em up with some fresh veggies on the side. Also some of the watties stuff is also low fat - 97% fat free are the ones you want to look at - quite similar in make up to the WW ones.

As for the sushi - i know!!! i found that out when a friend back home did a sushi course and she told me how much sugar is put in to it. However - when you look at what nutritionists say - its still considered healthy due to the nutritional make up and low fat nature (provided you avoid tempura battered and cream cheese fillings!

Sherlock Holmes Dec 20th 2012 11:21 pm

Re: NZ "cuisine"
 

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles (Post 10443438)
Which cheese is it?

Unfortunately, the packaging, having been retrieved, is not full of information.

It is labelled: Emporium Selection, product of NZ. It contains:

A Blue

Creamy Havarti

Vintage Cheddar

The above are all V.G.

There is a fourth, an NZ soft cheddar which is a bit indifferent and is nearly as bad as all the Aussie cheddar which has no flavour.

Cheese in Aus has to be made by law from pasturised milk. Cheese in the UK, France etc is made from non-pasturised milk. It is this apparantly that causes the lack of "bite" in a lot of cheese in Oz. Maybe NZ is the same?


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