So first, here's what CAN'T be found in New Zealand. Believe me, I've tried.
No Cheetos! Pringles are everywhere, and you can find Doritos at certain stores. But my search for Cheetos has been entirely in vain. If you want to send me a care package, you know what to send! For that matter, there aren't any Cheez-Its, Better Cheddars, Goldfish Crackers, or Cheese Nips. I haven't found any string cheese and, now that I think about it, I haven't even seen any fake cheese like Velveeta or EZ Cheese. And no boxed mac-n-cheese. For such a dairy-oriented country, they don't do a lot with their cheese. They don't even put it on hamburgers.
No Heath bars. They have lots of superior candy bars, so the absence of the Heath bar is really only a problem when I try to tell people how to spell my last name. I can't say, "Heath, like the candy bar," anymore, because they've never heard of it! However, I frequently get asked if I'm related to Edward Heath, the former British Prime Minister.
I just haven't been able to find good pizza here. They have chain stores like Pizza Hut and Domino's, but although the name is the same, the pizza is different. The sauce is more like barbecue sauce than marinara sauce, for one thing. Then they use very little cheese, and what they do use doesn't melt. I don't know why--it seems like cheese should melt when it gets hot. And I haven't seen any pepperoni ANYWHERE in this country. So the pizzas here usually consist of a tasteless crust, some chunks of weird, rubbery cheese, and then either salami or ham with chunks of peppers (which they call "capsicums" in NZ). If I ever find some good toppings I can make my own pizza.
(The major pizza place in town is called Hell Pizza, and the website, http://hellpizza.co.nz, is pretty awesome. Their menu includes pizzas called "Lust," "Greed," "Envy," "Wrath," "Brimstone," "Purgatory," and "Mordor," and when you call to place an order, the message system prompts you to "Press One to go straight to Hell." Unfortunately, this is the best part; their pizzas are pretty flavorless.)
And now for the good stuff!!!
Jaffas. They're kind of like M&Ms, chocolate coated with a candy shell. But the candy shell is orange-flavored and thicker, and the chocolate is creamier. I love orange chocolate candies! I can't eat these often because chocolate makes me sick, so that just makes me crave them more!
Whittaker's Peanut Slab. Like Mr. Goodbar only a lot thicker with better-tasting chocolate. Ditto on the chocolate thing though. Sad!
Lolly Cake. This stuff is hard to describe. I think (although I haven't made it myself yet) it's made from crushed cookies (not chocolate, even though it looks that way) mixed with butter, with some fruit-flavored marshmallow-type things mixed in. Then it's shaped into a log and rolled in coconut. It tastes a lot better than I'm making it sound! This would be hard to make in the States because I've never seen those fruity marshmallow things there (they call them Fruit Puffs or Fruity Foamies).
Speaking of coconut, this is Coconut Ice. I think it's just coconut, butter, and powdered sugar. It must be easy to make, because they have it at all the potlucks and get-togethers here. Yummy!
There are a couple of places near work which sell roasted almonds. They just leave them on a roaster, and you can come in and buy a couple of scooops. I love them!
Savoury muffins. I was a bit surprised the first time I bit into a muffin here and it wasn't sweet. But once I got over my shock, I realized it was delicious! Spinach-and-feta muffins are my favorite, closely followed by Sun-Dried-Tomatoes-and-Mozzarella.
The Slice. These slice things are my downfall, and are the reason that, despite going to the gym every day, I don't seem to be losing any weight. There's kind of a crumbly crust, a gooey center, and some sort of icing on top. And they come in so many flavors: caramel slice, lemon slice, Mars Bar slice, toffee slice, peppermint slice, ginger slice...
It's not all unhealthy stuff. I love the produce here. It's fresh and delicious. Eating a banana just about transports me to a higher plane of consciousness, and the pineapple...oh, the pineapple! Pardon me while I go salivate...
And the not-so-good stuff:
New Zealanders love their savoury pies, but I just haven't acquired a taste for them. The crust is usually either puff pastry or that phyllo dough they use for baklava. And then these little pies are filled with mince meat or ham & eggs or eggs & capsicums (peppers). Sometimes they top it with mashed potatoes but usually it's topped with another crust. I like quiche, so I can't decide what I don't like about these little pies--too soggy, maybe?
Sausage rolls. These are like Krispy Kremes to New Zealanders: if someone mentions that they'll be serving sausage rolls at a meeting (or at choir practice) EVERYONE shows up. The basic idea is kind of like a corn dog: there's a sausage wrapped in a roll. Only the roll is made out of that flaky phyllo dough, and the sausage is is squishy and often flavorless. Personally, I find them completely unappetizing. (I didn't like Krispy Kremes either.)
After five years of complaining about a lack of good restaurants in Spokane, I finally get to live in a place where the restaurants are fantastic! But I think I'm going to put restaurants in a separate post.
3 comments:
good to hear from you and about NZ.
I feel bad that there isn't any cheetoes! I love cheetoes!
Those chocolate bars and orange chocolate m&m's look really good!
What a cool post, its carzy how different the culture is there. I will ask my friend from NZ to see if she knows any good pizza spots.
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