New Zealand

1. New Zealand food
Robin Selvet and Rasmus Pertelson

2. Māori cuisine
Food
• Māori people brought a lot
of food plants with them to
New Zealand from tropical
Polynesia
• Māori people grew plants
such as kūmara, taro, tī and
fernroot
• The large
flightless moa were soon
hunted to extinction
moa

3. Māori cuisine
Cooking
• Like other Polynesian people,
Māori cooked their food in earth
ovens
• Other cooking methods included
roasting boiling or steaming
• They mostly used natural hot
springs and pools to cook their
food
• Occasionally food would be
boiled by putting hot stones into
a bowl with water and the food
• some food was also cooked over
the open fire
Earth oven

4. Māori cuisine
Food and religion
• In traditional Māori
religion food was non-sacred
• This meant care had to be
taken to prevent it coming
into contact
with tapu places or objects
• If it did, the tapu of the
place or object, and often
the people associated with
it, would be at risk
Tapu place

5. Māori cuisine
European influences
• When Europeans first arrived in New
Zealand they brought their own foods
with them
• Some of these,
especially pork and potatoes, were
quickly adopted by Māori
• Potatoes were particularly popular as
they were grown in a similar way
to kūmara but produced a much higher
yield with less effort
• Other European foods such
as wheat, pumpkin, mutton, sugar, and
many types of fruit became popular
• Alcohol, also became part of Māori life
kūmara

6. Patterns of eating
• Most New Zealanders eat their
main meal in the evening
• Most families living in one
household try to eat dinner
together several times a week
• The formality and structure of
these meals varies from family
to family
• Most families eat takeaways,
such as fish and chips, Chinese
food, or pizza about once or
twice a week

7. Patterns of eating
Eating in summer
• In the summer,
the barbecue is common,
generally as a social event
• Guests will usually be invited
to bring beer and meat, which
the host will cook
• Sometimes guests contribute a
salad to the gathering instead
• It is traditional for the men to
cook the meat, and for the
women to do everything else
barbecue

8. Patterns of eating
Gatherings
• In many New Zealand
gatherings people bring a
plate of food to share
• This allows people to host
large groups without
serious expense
• Most New Zealand parties
are BYO (bring your own
alcohol), but drinks are not
shared
New Zealand beer

9. Patterns of eating
Fast food culture
• There is a 'fast food' culture
similar to that in the United
States
• Many American fast food
chains have a presence in
New Zealand
• The pie is possibly the
nearest thing New Zealand
has to street food
• Fish and chips is very
popular in New Zealand
Fish and chips

10. Patterns of eating
pies
• Pies are the most common
take away lunch and is sold
everywhere
• Pies can be made with beef,
lamb, chicken, pork, apple
or custard
Georgie Pie

11. Contemporary cuisine
• Most of the home cooking is Mediterranean and
Asian techniques and ingredients
• Some of the traditional Kiwiana dishes such as pies,
Pavlova, fish and chips, custard squares, are still very
popular
• Auckland and Wellington food fashions are moving
in
• sync with Melbourne and Sydney
• There is a major rise in genuine cafes and tearooms
• There are very little vegetarians in New Zealand but
there is a rise in Gluten free foods