Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside... Mark Twain

If you were to ask me, "What do Kiwis eat," I could no more answer you with accuracy than if a Kiwi were to ask me, "What do Americans eat? 

New Zealand is a nation that is full of immigrants from absolutely everywhere, and the choices of foods available here because of them are reflected in the markets and restaurants and opportunities that abound.  In the past, I have occasionally done posts about cultural foods. In this post though, I am going to try to scratch the surface of the list of some very common things that all Kiwis like to eat.  

Any Kiwi who reads this may shake their head and think that I haven't done a very good job of reporting.  If so, I apologize. I am admittedly only scratching the surface with this effort.  I will continue with food posts and expand the range.

But here is a start.  I  haven't searched out anything special today. I will simply report on those items I've purchased or seen myself as I did our shopping. And to someone who reads this post and who has no knowledge whatsoever of New Zealand, this limited look into its cuisine may be of some interest.  

Fish and chips are available everywhere, and I don't think I've ever had a bad meal.  The picture below shows a plate available in a restaurant. As many times though as we've eaten fish and chips from a plate, with proper use of knife and fork, we've also eaten them with our fingers after unwrapping a large newspaper covered package. 

I've got to tell you, the first time I ordered fish and chips from a tiny takeaway place on Swanson Road, and watched them lay out several sheets of unprinted newspaper onto the counter, and then dump on my pile of still steaming chips (French fries) onto it, followed by a bunch of battered fish fillets, (usually hoki), and wrap the papers around it, sealing it with a piece of tape, I knew that this was my kind of place and my kind of country.  I took it home to my family and as I unwrapped it, plates were rapidly filled, the ketchup bottle was squirted, and happiness reigned.  Talk about finger-licking good.  A little later, I started buying a combination of fish and chips and deep-fried chicken for the crew.  Wrapped the same way. Almost too hot to carry, but so simple and delicious at the end of the day. And I discovered that such places gave huge portions of the chips. We always had some left over.  Jeanne generally used them the next day in a Spanish tortilla.   

I don't know if I'm right about this, but to me, fish and chips says New Zealand.     

New Zealand is an island nation, and seafood is an important part of its cuisine. The most common shellfish is the green-lipped mussel.  

Jeanne has both steamed these and fried them in a batter. They are wonderful however they are prepared.  

 

Oysters are popular.  I much prefer the mussels myself, but I see lot of people grabbing packages like this from our favorite fish market.  

 

I had no idea what silverside was when I arrived here. I found out that this is very similar to our corned beef. With mashed potatoes, it's very good, and the leftovers make great sandwiches. 

How could I not mention lamb?  Back home, lamb is considered by some to taste a bit 'gamy.' I always liked it though, even as a kid (no pun intended), when mom roasted a leg and served it with mint sauce.  Of course, her maiden name was Churchill so I think we were a step ahead of many folks in our appreciation of this meat.  

As you see, this is a butterflied leg of lamb. I like this presentation. I have in the past slapped it onto a very hot grill and results were just short of Heaven on earth.  The high fat content of lamb allows you to really get a nice char on it without drying it in the least.  

Pies are enormously popular here. I wish the names of the pies were a little more prominent but look closely.  These are sold everywhere.  

That's a steak and cheese on the left and a steak and kidney on the right.  There is a generous portion of meat in each and the gravy is thick enough that you rarely lose any of it.  

To someone like me who grew up on pasties, the public's love of these pies makes perfect sense.  

Every bakeshop here sells scones, either plain, or like this one, with dates.  They always warm it for you and add a pat of butter.  Very good, but I like Jeanne's homemade ones with Tasty cheese and a little chili powder even better.  

New Zealand loves sushi. This is a picture of a few of the offerings at Ko & Ki's Sushi on Railside Avenue in Henderson. Jeanne and I often treated the boys to their favorites here when they were little. This was our favorite sushi place. The people here are friendly, helpful and patient. They always made sure the boys were comfortable. The quality is excellent.  Each piece is a miniature work of art, besides being delicious.  There are lots of chain sushi places around town, but none can match the care with which Ko and Ki run their shop.   

We like both these versions of mince (hamburger). The premium topside is very lean. (I think mince is ground slightly finer here than hamburger is ground in the States.)  The steak mince has a higher content of fat, but the flavor is great and I think it has been ground a bit coarser.  

Just to give you an idea of the sizes of packages here, the steak mince package would probably make three good-sized patties.  

Jeanne thought that the gardeners among you might be interested in some of the vegetables that are popular here.  

On the far left are two green bush beans, which New Zealanders call dwarf French beans. Next are yellow bush beans, or dwarf butter beans. Next, we find the hands-down favorite bean here at the village, scarlet runner beans. These are the beans that can climb up to 8 feet, and are popular in the U.S. for making bean teepees. Finally, the climbing butter beans, which are flat and curly. They are also very favored here. The bush beans, not so much. Even though the scarlet runners can get stringy when they get over a foot long, they are still the favorite. "They have more flavor. Those dwarf beans have hardly any flavor at all." I took the initiative of growing the two colors of bush beans, because I like them. But I may hold off doing that in future, because it is back breaking work to bend over and pick them! It is much easier to make a trellis and stand up while picking beans. 

Above are the two most popular tomatoes we grow in the gardens. The Italian or Roma on the left, the beefsteak on the right. They are both low acid, which our elderly population seen to prefer, plus the beefsteaks are really meaty, just like the name implies. (-jmf)

Well, that's it for today's look into the popular foods of New Zealand. This is a picture of a display case at our local Pak 'n Save.  

I hope that you feel slightly more knowledgeable about Kiwi food after digesting my post today.

We've just started on this topic.  I'll be showing you lots more.  Stay tuned.     -djf