Great Kiwi Eats

Great Kiwi Eats

The tastiest and most interesting food: what to look for and where to find it

Synopsis

New Zealand Travel writer Peter Janssen has searched the country from head to tail for a top-notch pavlova - he is yet to find a good serving.  Our national dessert is conspicuous by its absence!

However, Janssen does know where to find some of the best pies, seafood, custard squares, whitebait sandwiches, cheesecake, mussel and kumara chowder, custard squares, cider, baklava and other delicacies that have edged their way into what might now constitute 'Kiwi Food'.

He lets the secret out of the bag with the publication of his new book, Great Kiwi Eats: The tastiest and most interesting food: what to look for and where to find it'.

Janssen has travelled the country over the years as an artificial breeding technician, a sales rep, a publisher, a keen tramper and as an author researching his many popular guidebooks.

With a lifelong enthusiasm for eating well and economically, he knows how to stretch a dollar and make sure you don't go to bed hungry in a strange town.  His criteria for inclusion in Great Kiwi Eats were simple:

Farmers markets and temporary stalls were excluded as they operate just one day a week.  Restaurants and upmarket cafes were too expensive.

In Great Kiwi Eats, Janssen also uncovers many wonderful food bsuinesses, often run by the same family over several generations who are still producing fantastic homemade food to old famiy recipes.  He exposes the new wave of food producers who are picking up on global influences, and the explosion of new food outlets run by new immigrants who often adapt traditional recipes to cater for Kiwi tastes and the evailability of ingredients.  In doing so Janssen says these 'new Kiwis' are developing dishes unique to New Zealand.

Name a town and he'll not only tell you what culinary delights are waiting to be discovered - and where to find them - he'll know who makes them.  As an added bonus he'll amuse and delight you with potted histories, memorable anecdotes and events of culinary note.

Great Kiwi Eats is the perfect book to stow in the car glove box for those long holiday drives.  It is also equally inspirational for a day trip to a small town or region closer to home.

Fun to read, even more fun to follow, try the delicious Kiwi food Janssen's chosen as the best, then make up your own mind about what makes Great Kiwi Eats.

About the Author

Peter Janssen, who lives in Auckland, is an experienced domestic traveller who appreciates a good meal.  He is also the author of a number of practical and informative travel guides, including Vinyard Visits and Pubs with Personality, the latter co-written with Steve Reid.

Review

One of the things I love about traveling is also one of the things I hate the most: finding good food.  It has to be nutricious (well mostly), affordable (so we don't blow the budget on day one and end up living of baked beans on toast for the remainder of our trip), and perhaps most importantly, tasty!!

Unfortunately, finding meals that fulfill the above criteria (as well as our hunger!) is often hit-and-miss and the hungrier and the more tired we feel, the more likely it is that we are left either unsatisfied or out of pocket (if not both).

Here's where Peter Janssen steps in with his guide to the 'tastiest and most interesting food' New Zealand has to offer.  This is a great book to help you find the best places to eat - whether you're traveling out of town or looking to try something new close to home.  Great Kiwi Eats is definitely going on Santa's stocking filler list!

 

 

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