Kiwi food

FISH & CHIPS: Always a local favourite. Very British. And there's no shortage of fish around NZ! I like it with lots of tartare sauce (that's how it's spelled) but the waitress seemed puzzled by my request, so I guess that's not the normal way to eat it. Perhaps they sprinkle it with vinegar instead, like they do in Canada?

PIE: Rick says it's a traditional lunch for thousands of kids growing up in NZ. "Pie" refers to meat pies, not fruit pies. He took us to an award-winning pie cafe for lunch one day. Mmmm. Curt had a Steak & Mushroom pie with big chunks of tender beef in it. Rick and I each had a Potato Topper pie which is mince, topped with mashed potatoes, similar to a shepherd's pie. By the way, "mince" is short for beef mince, known as ground beef in the States. Here's something else: most people feed their dogs raw mince (packaged especially for dogs in big 2Kg tubes), not canned dog food or dry kibble. But I digress.

KUMARA: Sweet potatoes are a traditional Maori food. It's pronounced KOO-mer-uh. We tried the orange and the gold types and as far as I could tell, they were exactly like sweet potatoes and yams in the States. Kumara is also popular made into french fries, a.k.a. chips.

FLAT WHITE: This is what you ask for when you want a latte. But Curt says they're actually better than American lattes because there's more coffee flavour. However, Curt's been trying to start a new habit and make a cuppa tea instead. Here's why: teabags cost 7 cents and coffee at Starbucks costs $5, We're cheap. We're going with the tea idea. We have an electric tea kettle that boils water at warp speed (in less than a minute).

CHEDDAR CHEESE - It isn't dyed orange like in the States; it's white. I always thought the orange color looked slightly radioactive, especially that goopy melted cheese they serve on nachos at movie theaters and convenience stores. Another tidbit: a convenience store is called a "dairy."

TUNA - Besides regular canned tuna, they have it in various flavours. We liked the lemon pepper and tomato basil versions so far. Why hasn't someone in the States thought of this? It's quite tasty.

PAVLOVA - a dessert with layers of meringue, fruit, and cream, somewhat like a trifle. Both pavlova and trifle are commonly prepared for dessert on Christmas or holidays. Bev served it for the family Christmas dinner.

TREACLE - I saw this in the grocery store today and am still trying to figure it out. It looked a lot like syrup. Or maybe molasses. Although both syrup and molasses were right there on the shelf, too. The jury's still out on this one.