Food and Drinks

New Zealand’s Cuisine

It isn’t easy to explain what New Zealand’s cuisine is like. In the older days New Zealanders used to copy the English traditional kitchen. Besides that they had their own dish: lamb, potatoes and vegetables. While time passed changes in the kitchen occurred.

An Own Cuisine

It all started in the 1980’s; the time of the deregulation. At this time the amount of sheep in New Zealand dropped from 60 to 40 million. Due to the new arising business opportunities farmers started in kiwi fruits, olive trees and grape vines. The change in the products produced in New Zealand together with an increasing need of creating an own New Zealand’s cuisine were the driving forces for New Zealand’s current global cuisine with its own flavor.

Free Spirit in the Kitchen

Probably the cultural freedom of today’s Society is the reason for the free sprit in New Zealand’s kitchen. A free spirit can be found considering both new foods and new cooking styles. New Zealand’s cuisine is inspired by the European, Asian and Polynesian kitchens. Besides the “old fashioned” barbeque you can find a wok in a Kiwi’s house.

Fusion Cuisine

At the moment fusion cuisine is on the rise in New Zealand. This cooking style is a mixture of all the flavors (in cooking styles) around the Pacific Rim. Its characteristic is fresh and vibrant. Because New Zealand has many fresh products at hand, this style suits the country very well. Examples of fresh New Zealand products are: oysters, mussels, sweet potato, lamb and other meat and kiwis.

Relaxed Dining

Whether it comes to cooking styles or to dining the keyword is relaxing; they both have little protocols. In conclusion: New Zealand is an excellent place to have a relaxed dinner consisting of very fresh and high quality ingredients.

Drinking

Besides eating New Zealanders like drinking, it is part of their social lives. It varies from having a pint with some friends in the pub from enjoying an excellent wine while having a five course diner.

New Zealand’s Wines

New Zealand produces wine since the colonization period. Since recently New Zealand’s wine industry is internationally rewarded. The wines produced in New Zealand are of premium quality and tend to be very competitive in that category.

Because of the differences within New Zealand’s Climate, the country produces many different types of wine. New Zealand has a wide variety of dishes and also wines to drink while having the dish. There are ten main wine growing areas, spread around both the islands. Marlborough region, the northeast of the southern island, is the capital of the New Zealand wine industry.

Coffee

When New Zealanders start something they will do it in style. This line is applicable to New Zealand’s coffee industry as well. Around 15 years ago New Zealand knew “perked” coffee only. Nowadays New Zealand’s coffee is said to be even better than the Italian.

External Resources

For additional information on the topic food and drinks you can visit the following websites: http://www.cuisine.co.nz; http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz.