Food and Drink Musings

I'm writing this with a Sassy Red in front of me, no it's not the latest woman I've picked up but Mac's Best Bitter. It's a good drink with "five different malts forming a rich base for gratuitously generous hopping". From this you might gather it is not generic lager. In fact all the pubs  and bars we've been in sell a range of beers much wider than I expected. Although some are well known international brands most are home grown. As you would expect the beer is served cold and gassy but is fine nonetheless. Price is another matter, typically a "pint" is $7-$8 and a "glass" (just over half the metric pint) $6. Divide by two for sterling equivalents.

I've already commented that wine is by no means cheap, one Kiwi I was talking to bemoaned the fact that when he is in the UK on business he can get NZ wine cheaper than at home. All that we have had is palatable, mainly sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. The Renwick vineyard we visited was unusual in specialising in Pinot Gris.

Coffee has been the big revelation, it is uniformly excellent. All places, even the smallest, have proper espresso machines and produce really good drinks for reasonable prices ($3-$4). For those who like such things there is always a range of tea (including yucky herbal ones) on offer. All of our accomodation has had coffee facilities and a range of teas.

There is a huge range of food available. There are the usual food chains, especially McDonalds, Burger King and Subway, and a few KFCs, but most  food is provided in local restaurants, bars and bakeries. This is certainly Pacific Rim territory, the range of choice is ecletic and has absorbed many influences - some better than others. The Asian influence is strong, with all towns having Chinese, Thai and Japanese restaurants (we also ate in an Indonesian restaurant). European influence is still very visible, especially Italian and British. The latter is especially strong in pub food and fish and chip shops. Sometimes the influences are not always well assimilated, yesterday Sue had a warm Salade Nicoise with a seared tuna steak on top. If you're not careful your fish and chips will come complete with fried egg!

I can't leave the subject without mentioning pies. There seems to be a national obsession with the things. All bakeries have an enormous selection, including traditional mince, steak and onion and chicken and mushroom. There is no end, though, to the fillings available. Butter chicken ( a mild curry chicken) is a favourite, and many others with oriental influences are available.

To give some idea of the scale of the obsession you may remember that our ferry crossing was very rough. The captain told everyone to sit down as it was dangerous to move around and everyone remained seated. Until, that is, the announcement that hot pies were being served in the cafe!

One final thing, portion sizes are generous. We have not managed three courses anywhere and usually are sticking to one!