New Zealand food

Robin Selvet and Rasmus Pertelson

Māori cuisine

Food

• Māori people brought a lotof food plants with them toNew Zealand from tropicalPolynesia

• Māori people grew plantssuch as kūmara, taro, tī and fernroot

• The large flightless moa were soon hunted to extinction

moa

Māori cuisine

Cooking• Like other Polynesian people,

Māori cooked their food in earth ovens

• Other cooking methods included roasting boiling or steaming

• They mostly used natural hot springs and pools to cook theirfood

• Occasionally food would be boiled by putting hot stones into a bowl with water and the food

• some food was also cooked over the open fire

Earth oven

Māori cuisine

Food and religion

• In traditional Māori religion food was non-sacred

• This meant care had to be taken to prevent it coming into contactwith tapu places or objects

• If it did, the tapu of the place or object, and often the people associated with it, would be at risk

Tapu place

Māori cuisine

European influences• When Europeans first arrived in New

Zealand 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 a similar way to kūmara but produced a much higher yield with less effort

• Other European foods such as wheat, pumpkin, mutton, sugar, and many types of fruit became popular

• Alcohol, also became part of Māori life

kūmara

Patterns of eating

• Most New Zealanders eat their main meal 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

• Most families eat takeaways, such as fish and chips, Chinese food, or pizza about once or twice a week

Patterns of eating

Eating in summer

• In the summer, the barbecue is common, generally as a social event

• Guests will usually be invited to bring beer and meat, which the host will cook

• Sometimes guests contribute a salad to the gathering instead

• It is traditional for the men to cook the meat, and for the women to do everything else

barbecue

Patterns of eating

Gatherings

• In many New Zealandgatherings people bring a plate of food to share

• This allows people to host large groups withoutserious expense

• Most New Zealand partiesare BYO (bring your ownalcohol), but drinks are notshared

New Zealand beer

Patterns of eating

Fast food culture

• There is a 'fast food' culture similar to that in the United States

• Many American fast food chains have a presence in New Zealand

• The pie is possibly the nearest thing New Zealand has to street food

• Fish and chips is verypopular in New Zealand

Fish and chips

Patterns of eating

pies

• Pies are the most common take away lunch and is sold everywhere

• Pies can be made with beef, lamb, chicken, pork, apple or custard

Georgie Pie

Contemporary cuisine

• Most of the home cooking is Mediterranean and Asian techniques and ingredients

• Some of the traditional Kiwiana dishes such as pies, Pavlova, fish and chips, custard squares, are still very popular

• Auckland and Wellington food fashions are moving in

• sync with Melbourne and Sydney• There is a major rise in genuine cafes and tearooms• There are very little vegetarians in New Zealand but

there is a rise in Gluten free foods