New Zealand cuisine

New Zealand cuisine derives from various sources, most especially British and Māori. At its best it emphasises the quality and freshness of New Zealand produce from land and sea, which is readily available in an island nation which bases its economy on agriculture.

Owing to its colonial origin (shared with Australia), New Zealand cuisine is traditionally simple fare such as "meat and three veg", espoused by the bestselling Edmonds Cookbook. Dinner is the main meal of the day, when families gather and share their evening together. With the New Zealand penchant for travel, and multicultural social trends, traditional eating habits are changing.

Māori cuisine

When Māori (New Zealand's indigenous people) first arrived in New Zealand from tropical Polynesia, they brought with them a number of food plants, including taro and kumara (sweet potato), and also dogs and rats, which could also be food sources.

The plants did not grow as well in New Zealand's temperate climate as they did in the tropics, and would not grow at all in the colder South Island. Foods such as fernroot became a more important part of the diet than in other Pacific Islands, and some native New Zealand plants were also eaten, along with insects such as the huhu grub.

Problems with horticulture were made up for by an abundance of bird and marine life. Larger species, such as the moa, were quickly hunted to extinction, and so systems of tapu and rahui were developed to ensure the survival of remaining species.

These included forbidding the hunting of certain species in particular places or at certain times of year, so that the species could regenerate. Like other Polynesian peoples, Māori cooked their food in earth ovens, known in New Zealand as hangi.

Other cooking methods included roasting and, in geothermal areas, boiling or steaming using natural hot springs and pools. Some foods were preserved using smoke, air-drying, or layers of fat. Māori were one of the few peoples to have no form of alcoholic beverage.

Pākehā influences

When Europeans (Pākehā) first arrived in New Zealand from the late eighteenth century, they brought their own foods with them. Some of these, especially pork and potatoes, were quickly adopted by Māori. Potatoes were particularly popular as they were grown in the same way as kumara but produced a much higher yield with less effort.

Other European foods such as wheat, pumpkin, mutton, sugar and many types of fruit also became a common part of the Māori diet. American sailors brought new varieties of sweet potato to New Zealand, and these high-yield varieties quickly superseded the original varieties of kumara. Alcohol, while initially rejected as 'wai piro' (stinking water), also became part of Māori life.

Most Māori tribes grew surpluses of food for trade with other tribes and with European visitors and settlers. Some tribes grew wealthy from this trade, although the Māori food industry declined in the mid nineteenth century due to land loss and competition from Pākehā farmers.

Many traditional food sources, such as the kererū (wood pigeon) and other birds, as well as some types of fish and plants, became scarce as forests were destroyed and species were over-hunted by Pākehā.

Māori cuisine today

Present day Māori cuisine is a mixture of Māori tradition, old fashioned English cookery, and contemporary dishes. Most large Māori gatherings will feature a hangi, which is likely to contain foods brought to New Zealand by Māori and by Pākehā.

There will probably also be a wide selection of cakes and other sweet foods of the kind beloved by ninteenth century English people. In less formal occasions, distinctively Māori dishes include the boil-up, which is also similar to traditional British cooking methods, and pork and puha, which combines an introduced meat with an indigenous vegetable.

In recent decades there has been some concern that Māori have picked up the worst of European eating habits and as a result are disproportionately likely to suffer from obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Other cuisines in New Zealand

New Zealanders come from many ethnic backgrounds, and most immigrants to New Zealand have tried to reproduce their native cuisines or national dishes in New Zealand.

As with early Pākehā settlers, this often proved difficult. Larger ethnic groups, such as the Chinese, were able to import some ingredients, but often dishes had to be modified to use local ingredients.

Ethnic restaurants have served as community meeting places and have also given other New Zealanders a chance to try different cuisines. However for many years there were few ethnic restaurants in New Zealand other than inauthentic Chinese, Indian and Italian eateries.

In the last few decades, however, New Zealand has become more ethnicly diverse and New Zealanders' tastes have become more adventurous, so that most New Zealand cities have a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, and foods such as kebabs and sushi are found virtually everywhere.

Ingredients for many ethnic dishes are also easy to find in major cities, mostly through speciality or ethnic food stores, but in some cases also through supermarkets.

Patterns of eating

Most New Zealanders eat their main meal (dinner) in the evening. Most families living in one household try to eat dinner together several times a week. The formality and structure of these meals varies from family to family.

Some families sit at a dining table, say grace, ensure children use cutlery correctly and generally obey strict table manners; others will be more informal but still sit around a table; and others will sit on couches and armchairs with their plates on their laps, watching television.

Typically the food is cooked by the mother of the family, with or without assistance from other family members, but in some cases other family members will cook. Although a few New Zealanders cook most things 'from scratch', most New Zealand home cooks are dependent to some extent on pre-made ingredients.

Most families eat takeaways (take-out) such as fish and chips, Chinese takeaways, or pizza about once a week. In flats (households shared by a group of unrelated young people), flatmates will generally either take turns cooking or each cook and eat individually.

In the summer barbecues are common, generally as a social event. Guests will usually be invited to bring beer and sometimes meat, which the host will cook. Similar Maori gatherings will often feature a hangi (pronounced hung-ee), a pit in which meats or fish are cooked with vegetables.

A deep hole is dug in the ground, lined with red-hot stones and covered with vegetation. The food is then placed on top. The whole oven is sprinkled with water and sealed with more vegetation. The hole is then filled with earth and left to steam for several hours. Traditionally, men dig and prepare the hole, and women prepare the food to go in it.

All members of an extended family (whanau) help out for such a feast. The occasion is relaxed, friendly and fun, with people often eating the meal under a marquee.

New Zealand's restaurant culture has developed strongly over the past three decades, thanks partially to the liberalisation of liquor licensing laws. However a visit to a restaurant is still not a regular activity for most New Zealanders, although many regularly visit cafes for lunch.

With the exception of relatively wealthy people and those who are particularly interested in food, a restaurant meal is usually something only experienced on a special occasion.

There is no real 'street food' culture in New Zealand, but there is a 'fast food' culture similar to that in the United States, Australia and Britain. Many American fast food chains have a presence in New Zealand.

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