New Zealand Food

We recently had the opportunity to taste some New Zealand specialties during our travels: Whitebait, savory pies and a Hangi.

Whitebait is a small fish considered a delicacy in New Zealand. It can cost upwards of $100 per kilogram (so roughly $50 per pound). They are caught on the west coast of the South Island (by the glaciers) from September to November when the immature fish swim up the river from the estuaries. The Whitebait that they catch are approximately 1 inch long and translucent.  When cooked, they turn white in color- hence ‘whitebait’.  They are usually consumed as a fritter made of Whitebait, flour, eggs, salt and pepper, served between two slices of white bread. We went in a little different direction and got a Whitebait pizza from Hokitika’s Fat Pipi Pizza.

Fish on pizza doesn’t sound appetizing (anchovies, anyone?), however this was pretty good. The fish have a very mild taste and the pizza had plenty of other flavors with capers and lemon. Overall, the whitebait were fun to try, but I’m not sure we will eat them again.

We also finally sampled some pies- a staple of the NZ diet, but not the fruit pies you’re thinking of. These are savory pies, typically centered on meat.  We stopped at a renowned pie shop outside of Christchurch to see what all the fuss was about.  They had a wide selection of small pies to choose from ranging from ham and cheese, to garlic and vegetable, to classic style beef or chicken.

Very affordable at something like $3 NZ each, these pies didn’t look all that big, but they were very filling. The crust is pretty deep and the interior was like a really thick soup. It was good, however not worth it for all the fat and calories.

A heartwarming local food experience happened on Christmas. One of the nurses found out on Christmas Eve that Dana and I haven’t tried a ‘hangi’, the traditional Maori BBQ-like meal. Even though she wasn’t working, the nurse went out of her way to bring two plates of her family’s meal for Christmas to Dana while she worked her shift in the emergency room. The Hangi usually consists of chicken, pork, stuffing, pumpkin, potato and kumara (like sweet potato) and is steam cooked for several hours over hot coals in a pit dug out of the ground and covered with fresh dirt. As a result, it has a very smoky smell and tastes great!