New Zealand cuisine

The cuisine of New Zealand is shaped by its history and rich cultural mix, drawing from British cuisine and Māori culture. As an island nation, New Zealand grows and harvests many foods from both the land and the sea.

Like the cuisine of Australia, New Zealand's food is based on British traditions but also includes flavors from around the world. Over time, the country has welcomed new tastes from Mediterranean and Pacific Rim regions.

Since the 1970s, many more foods from places such as New American, Southeast Asian, East Asian, and South Asian cultures have become popular, making New Zealand’s food even more varied and exciting.

Māori cuisine

Main article: Agriculture in New Zealand § History

When the Māori people arrived in New Zealand from tropical Polynesia, they brought many food plants with them, such as kūmara, taro, and uwhi. These plants grew well in the north of the North Island. Kūmara was important because it could be stored through the winter and was eaten often. Local plants like fernroot and insects such as the huhu grub were also part of their diet. They also ate earthworms, called noke, and many birds and sea creatures. One large bird, the moa, was hunted for food until it disappeared. To protect their food supply, the Māori sometimes stopped hunting certain animals or fishing in certain places for a while. Seafood included kōura (freshwater crayfish), pāua (abalone), and bluff oysters. They also made a special bread called pungapunga from a plant called Typha orientalis.

The Māori cooked their food in special earth ovens called hāngī. They heated stones in a fire, placed food in leaves on top of the stones, and covered everything with leaves, cloth, or wet sacks, and then earth. Other ways to cook food included roasting, stone-boiling, or steaming. Some foods were preserved by smoking, drying in the air, fermenting, or wrapping in layers of fat—especially muttonbirds.

The Māori did not have any kind of alcoholic beverage.

When Europeans, called Pākehā, arrived in New Zealand, they brought their own foods, such as pork and potatoes. These were quickly adopted by the Māori. Potatoes were especially popular because they grew easily and produced more food. Other European foods like wheat, pumpkin, mutton, sugar, and many fruits became part of the Māori diet too. New kinds of kūmara were brought by American sailors and became the main types grown today. Maize was also introduced, leading to a special dish called kōpiro, made by fermenting corn cobs under running water. In 1890, a European merchant named David Strang invented instant coffee in Invercargill, which became popular worldwide.

Alcohol was at first not accepted, but later became part of Māori life. Many Māori tribes grew extra food to trade with other tribes and with Europeans. However, the Māori food industry declined in the mid-nineteenth century due to loss of land and competition from European farmers. Some traditional foods like the kererū (wood pigeon) became rare as forests were cut down and animals were hunted too much.

Today, Māori cuisine mixes traditional Māori foods, old English recipes, and new dishes. Some Māori food names, like pāua, are now commonly used in New Zealand. Large Māori gatherings often include a hāngī with foods brought by both Māori and Europeans. Two special Māori dishes are the boil-up—made with pork, potatoes, kūmara, and dumplings—and pork with pūhā (sow thistle), which combines foods from both Māori and Europeans. Another special food is rēwena, a bread made from fermented potatoes. A modern cookbook called Hiakai by chef Monique Fiso, academic Tracy Berno, and food writer Lucy Corry tells the story of today’s Māori food.

During special celebrations like Matariki or at feasts called hākari, people enjoy parāoa parai, a type of fry bread that is crispy and golden on the outside and soft inside.

New Zealand European cuisine

Most people in New Zealand have British roots, so British food has had a big influence on what they eat. In the past, British settlers tried to cook the same foods they knew from home, even though many ingredients were hard to find. They used local foods like birds and fish instead and made tea and beer with different plants. Over time, more familiar foods became available, and one special dish, colonial goose, made from lamb, was popular until the mid-1980s.

Unlike in Britain, meat was easier to get in New Zealand, so people ate it more often. Dishes like fish and chips and meat pies are still liked today. New Zealanders also enjoy sweet foods, especially cakes, scones, and muffins, often celebrated in their famous recipe book, the Edmonds Cookery Book.

From the 1960s onward, travel and new influences changed New Zealand food. People brought back ideas from France, Italy, and other places, and began to explore local foods like hāngī. The 1970s saw new fast-food restaurants like KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's arrive. Economic changes in the 1980s allowed more foreign foods, such as serrano ham, extra virgin olive oil, and mango, to become common. These changes helped New Zealand develop its own unique food culture.

Other cuisines in New Zealand

People from many different places have moved to New Zealand, bringing their own foods with them. At first, it was hard to make their traditional dishes because some ingredients weren’t available. But over time, larger groups like the Chinese managed to bring in some of their ingredients and adapt their recipes.

Since 1986, many more people from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia have come to live in New Zealand. They opened restaurants and small eateries, letting New Zealanders try real versions of Japanese, Thai, Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other Asian cuisines food. Today, cities in New Zealand have many different kinds of ethnic restaurants. Foods like kebabs, couscous, and sushi are now common everywhere.

Ingredients for these dishes are easier to find now, thanks to special food stores and bigger supermarkets. This has helped people cook more authentic versions of these foods, and some ingredients like extra virgin olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes are now everyday items in many kitchens.

Contemporary cuisine

Today, New Zealand’s food is always changing. You’ll find dishes from many places, like the Pacific Rim, mixed with older, traditional foods. In big cities, people enjoy many different kinds of food, while in smaller places, older styles are still popular. Many homes mix old recipes with new ideas from places like the Mediterranean, China, and India.

Some classic New Zealand dishes, like fish and chips, meat pies, custard squares, and pavlova, are still loved by many. People also enjoy baking at home, which keeps these traditions alive. In recent years, cafes have become very popular, replacing older spots called tearooms. While vegetarian eating has become more common, many New Zealanders still enjoy meat, especially chicken and fish.

New Zealand cuisine in other countries

New Zealand cuisine has not had a big impact globally, but it does influence its neighbor, Australia. One famous food item, the pavlova, has been debated between the two countries about who created it first. The Oxford English Dictionary says it was invented in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s cuisine also mixes with other food styles from around the world. Chefs from New Zealand learn about new trends and share their ideas. Famous chefs and food experts from New Zealand have helped shape new food combinations. Cuisine magazine, started in 1986, is well-known and respected by food lovers everywhere.

Further information: pavlova, Oxford English Dictionary, Fusion cuisine

Alcoholic beverages

Main articles: Alcohol in New Zealand, Beer in New Zealand, and New Zealand wine

New Zealand has a growing wine industry. People have been making wine there since the early 1800s, and today, New Zealand wines are famous around the world. Different areas in New Zealand are known for different kinds of wine.

Beer is the most common drink with alcohol in New Zealand. Most of the beer is a type called lager, and there are also many small breweries making many kinds of beer. New Zealand is also good at growing hops, which are important for making beer.

Patterns of eating

In New Zealand, most families have their main meal, called 'dinner' or sometimes 'tea', in the evening. This changed from midday dinners in the early 1900s. By 1962, 75% of families ate dinner in the evening, and by 1982, this rose to 83%.

During summer, barbecues are popular social events. Guests often bring drinks or food, and the host cooks. Sometimes, people bring salads instead of meat. Traditionally, men cooked the meat, but this is changing. Some gardens even have special areas for barbecues. Māori families may hold a special feast called a hāngī, where food is cooked in a deep pit with hot stones and covered with leaves and earth to steam.

Many gatherings in New Zealand follow a 'bring a plate' custom, where each guest brings a dish to share. This makes hosting big groups easier and more affordable. Most parties are 'BYO', meaning guests bring their own drinks, though these aren't usually shared.

Eating out became more common in the 1960s, especially with cafés. Today, people often go to cafés for lunch or snacks, while restaurants are seen as special treats. Fish and chips are a popular takeaway meal. Fast food, like in the United States, has grown since the 1970s, with both American chains and local options like Burger Fuel and Hell Pizza. Meat pies are a common snack sold in many places, including schools. Food courts in malls, especially in Auckland, offer many choices, including Asian cuisines like Thai, Indian, Turkish, Malaysian, Japanese, and Chinese, as well as traditional New Zealand meals.

New Zealand foods

See also: New Zealand dishes

New Zealand has many special foods that people love to eat. Some of these foods were created in New Zealand, like Afghan biscuits, Anzac biscuits, and Hāngī, which is a special way of cooking food over hot stones. Other favorite foods in New Zealand came from other places but are now very popular there, such as Fish and chips, Lamingtons, and Roast lamb.

Here are some of the foods that started in New Zealand:

• Afghan biscuits
• Anzac biscuits
• Boil up
• Colonial goose
• Cheese roll
• Chocolate fish
• Hāngī
• Hokey pokey ice cream
• Kānga pirau
• Kiwi onion dip
• Lolly cake
• Louise cake
• Marmite (New Zealand variety)
• Parāoa parai
• Pineapple lumps
• Rēwena bread
• Toroī

And here are some foods that came from other places but are now a big part of New Zealand eating:

• Fish and chips
• Lamingtons
• Pikelets, derived from the Scotch pancake
• Roast lamb and mutton
• Sausage rolls
• Sausage sizzle
• Savoury pies, commonly filled with meat, fish or bacon and egg
• Scones
• Shortbread
• Vegemite
• Weet-Bix