Adventures in Food: Part 1

Hailing from the Bay Area in California, I am used to having access to many different kinds of foods. In San Francisco I could find anything from Syrian dried-apricot candy and Ethiopian flat bread, to Sardinian bottarga pasta and El Salvadorian pupusas. You would think that I might have been exposed to some of the foods popular in New Zealand. But one step into New World City Center introduces me to a whole "new world" of food.

Some recent discoveries:

1. Chocolate Fish
Believe me, this is not what you think. Chocolate fish are chocolate covered marshmallows in the shape of a fish that are often served with hot chocolate. I'm not sure how this one developed but they're good.

2. Roasted Chickpeas
Just that, roasted garbanzo beans. These yummy little crunchy salty nuggets are addicting! We keep them around to satisfy our salty-tooth. They're good in salads too!

3. Fruit Juice Concentrate
Known in our household as "juice ooze." Kiwis enjoy a huge range of fruit juice concentrate to mix with water. We are obsessed with passionfruit mango. These are great for cocktails too! Unfortunately, they are filled with sugar....

4. Feijoa
This delicious fruit is related to the guava and is originally from South America. It has juicy sweet pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. I grew up eating feijoas that grew at a relative's house in Bonny Doon and was so excited to re-discover them here. For some reason feijoa has become popular in New Zealand and they use it to flavor yogurts, ice cream, smoothies, jam, juice, and candy. I haven't seen the fresh fruit yet, but I'm hoping that feijoa season is coming soon!

5. Kumara
The kumura is a sweet potato brought to New Zealand by early Maori. It is a staple in the Maori diet and there are numerous uses for the kumara. We like it roasted with herbs, creamed in soup, and even had kumara pie for Thanksgiving.

6. Crumpets
I used to get crumpets at Trader Joe's but they were nothing compared to the crumpets here. NZ crumpets are super moist and full of holes. I have to toast them 3 times to get them a bit crispy enough to hold any sort of jam or Nutella.

7. Cheese
With all the dairy farming here it would seem that NZ would produce excellent cheeses. And there are some good cheeses to be had, just not as many as I expected. Most cheese is very expensive, and you can forget any imported cheeses. My boyfriend buys a huge block of cheese called "Tasty" for his daily cheese sandwiches. It's white, but it's not Monterey Jack and definitely not a white cheddar. I like a cheese called "Vintage" that is an aged cheddar with a hard, crumbly texture.

8. Tim Tams
I discovered these amazingly sinful cookies when I was in Australia and managed to bring a few packages home. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate cookie with a chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. YUM. There is a whole line of Tim Tams with double filling and various fillings such as caramel, mint, raspberry, orange, mocha....Maybe I should import them to the U.S., I know my mom would be my first customer!

9. Lollies and Sucks
AKA Candy and Suckers. The candy, er lollie, aisle in the market is filled with all sorts of new things, and of course I need to try them all! Marshmallow bananas, hokey pokey (toffee-like), gummy feijoas, peanut slab, smokers, jaffas, licorice, milk bottles......I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter book.

10. Lamb
OK, I couldn't leave this one out. Lamb is to New Zealand what apple pie is to the U.S. The meat counter at the market contains cuts of lamb I've never heard of. You can find lamb in everything: burgers, pies, curries, stews, even lamb flavored chips (more on this later). We are eating more and more of it and I try not to make the connection from the cute lambs on the hillsides to the meat on my plate.