A taste of New Zealand

It has been brought to my attention that I am overdue for another blog entry; I often forget to write when we don't have any trips or events to tell about. Well, the other night we had an event that triggered an idea in my mind--the foods we have come to like and dislike in NZ, and the foods we miss most from the US.

There is a great farmer's market in town that runs every Saturday year round, and the produce is half the cost of the produce in the stores. Last week, we decided we should be a bit adventurous and try some new, unknown items, so we picked up passion fruit and tamarillos. We're still waiting to try the passion fruit since it wasn't ripe yet, but we did go for the tamarillos. They are small reddish-orange "fruits" in the tomato, potato, eggplant, and bell pepper family:

When we bit into them we almost spit it back out! I just can't even explain the taste, but it's not one I want to experience again. Maybe it was bad because we expected them to be sweet like fruit! We have learned some new names for some produce as well: zucchini = courgette, bell pepper = capsicum, Swiss chard = silverbeet, sweet potato = kumara. Sometimes I come across US recipes where it's hard (or impossible) to find the equivalent here. Like graham crackers--I have not been able to find them anywhere! I know, this is tragic!

Feijoas are another unique Kiwi fruit. You cut them in half and scoop out the inside, like a kiwifruit. They are like a combination between a kiwifruit, pear, and apple...yet that doesn't quite describe it. I heard someone at church today describe it as "sandy perfume"! Kris likes them, but the jury is still out for me. We did make feijoa poppyseed muffins that were tasty!

Here are some other Kiwi foods that we like:

-Sausages: to be placed diagonally on a slice of white bread with onions and tomato sauce (ketchup); the "sausage sizzle" is the iconic Kiwi fundraiser event

-pavlova: a meringue-like dessert slathered with whipped cream, strawberries, and kiwifruit

-pies: as in meat pies! When you talk about pies here, it's not referring to fruit pies. Rather, it's small meat and veggie filled pastry crust, like mini pot pies

A Kiwi food we don't particularly like:

-Marmite: similar to VegeMite (the Australian version); it's a yeast spread that they put on toast or crackers. Thick, dark, salty, very strong!

What we miss from the US:

-Lucky Charms and Peanut Butter Captain Crunch!

-Cheetos and Fritos

-Rubio's fish tacos

-the bottomless cup of coffee

-flavored coffee creamer (not the powdered kind)

-Jiff peanut butter

-Kraft mac and cheese

-Dairy Queen blizzards

All in all, it has been a good culinary experience so far. One of my first big trips to the grocery store, I was almost in tears--overwhelmed by the different brands and names for things, the prices, learning a new place and new measurements. I have come a long ways! Sometimes I have to improvise, but that's what cooking is all about. Mom bought me my first Kiwi cookbook, and I look forward to trying out some new recipes here, and when we come back for a visit.