Topic: What is popular in NZ?

In San Francisco we eat lots of ethnic food. Sushi is big with the grandkids. Hamburgers are what? American? German? Maybe maybe.

A favorite is a Chinese soup called Yee Woh(sp) Won Ton. It is a soup with Won Ton, Bok Choy, Chicken, ham, beef, bamboo shoots all slow cooked in chicken broth (except the Won Ton). The Won Ton are deep fried in a wok just prior to serving. Excess oil drained and plopped into the soup.

The signature meal in San Francisco is Crab Salad with Sour Dough Bread. If you try this, you can make your own bread. The recipe is on Google with the recipe for the starter.

But I am moving from the topic.

What would be a typical signature meal for NZ?

Well we have the traditional kiwi roast ... chicken, beef or lamb with roasted potatoes, kumara (sweet potato), pumpkin, onion and any other vegetable really that you may like - serve with mass amounts of gravy and some steamed veges with cheese sauce on them.

OR, if you want to get really traditional and need to feed large groups of people you can try a hangi ... this is food cooked in the ground .... a traditional maori meal.

You heat up stones or anything really that will hold the heat, prepare the food, anything goes in a hangi, all the food gets put into baskets; chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and all the veges, cover all with cabbage and tinfoil.

When the stones are red hot, put them in a hole in the ground then put the food on top of them, cover them with damp sheets then fill in the hole in with dirt. After a couple of hours you dig the food out (no dirt gets into it - the sheets and tinfoil prevent this) and BINGO the food is ready to go.

With hangi you either love it or hate it .... I certainly recommend it. My family has a gathering every New Years Day at my Grandmothers farm and we always put down two hangi baskets ... the food is absolutely wonderful all barbequed up the next day too.

Fish and Chips!

As big here as it is in the UK, but with tastier seafood.

Because of NZ's island-status, we tend to have access to a lot of good fish.

In Oklahoma, in my hometown, we have foot long chili dogs.

Hot dog bun, hot dog, chili, and a sweet pickle relish. $1 each.

Good stuff and CHEAP.

Oooh that sounds gooooooood.

Barbeques are pretty big over here in summer too. Sausages, steak, kebabs ... coleslaw, potato salad, garden salad ... garlic bread .... AND Watties tomato sauce.

Elsewhere I posted that for mothers day I would visit my mother in law and clean out the frig.

Well, someone beat me to it

So today we will have KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). It is OK.

My grandkids father (aka gkf) bar b ques. When he and my son are in town. They will first brew up some beer. My son was the cellar man for a brewry(sp). Then a few days later into the bottles and kegs.

Then Brian (gkf) bar b ques. Usually enough for 20. All manner of meat. Th en all manner of veggies.

There is a project. A baste book. All manner - UK, NZ, US and whoever I have missed. Just the one thing. but megs of content. Complete. all ethnics. I am sure I could get a few Cherokee bastes. Brian has Hawaiian (his fathers family from Mongolia moved to the islands about 150 years ago.

Oh, oh, oh, mince and cheese pie HAS to be a signature meal!

mmmmm mince....

and cheeese....