Auckland food is fantastic.
Auckland has a million cafes and they always are crowded. It’s been difficult finding food that is authentically Kiwi and like Canada they don’t really have their own cuisine. It seems like ages ago that I had that terrible sandwich in Fiji.
However, they do wonderful fresh cafe food with gourmet organic ingredients. It’s difficult to choose fast food when you can find a cafe next to it with fresh sandwiches, quiches and salads.
I brought a lot of food when I arrived in New Zealand and except for the pickles it all survived but I had no intention to eat Canadian food.
I’ve gotten into the habit of photographing my meal before I eat it, and I’m so happy I got the photo of the samosa in Fiji even if the depth of field was a bit off. Today an elderly couple stopped me at lunch and asked if I was writing for a magazine – which is peculiar because I doubt a magazine would write about a food court lunch.
However, when I explained I was travelling they told me they did the same thing when they were in France. I think I would take a lot of photos in France as well. I took a French farmhouse cooking class a while back and learned to make a lot of classic French food and even cooked a rabbit. That was when I realized that rabbit isn’t really that great a meat and perhaps I won’t look to make it again. I wasn’t a fan of the farmhouse method of cooking, it felt like they dumped a lot of creamy sauces on top of meat to make it taste better. Here in Auckland they let the fresh ingredients shine and really have a respect for fresh, local food.
They also take their coffee seriously and think that Starbucks is terrible, cheap coffee. Imagine that. They told me that they burn the coffee beans to mask the fact that they are cheap and that they should be making more of an effort to buy either organic fair trade beans or ones that are part of a good organization that aims to help farmers like the Rainforest Alliance.
I’ll try to get a picture of the next flat white I get, which I believe is a frothed regular coffee. But everyone has an espresso machine, even McDonalds and I don’t think they would dare just pour the coffee straight from a jug like we do in Canada. You would not believe this but I also saw someone with an espresso machine in the back of their van and they were selling coffee to people on the side of the road. This is the first time I have seen something like this.
I could tell Auckland would be a special place the day I had one of my first lunches with K near her office, y sandwich was smoked turkey with pesto and brie. It wasn’t a fancy place at all but where all the workers just went to lunch and that day I knew I would enjoy my time in Auckland.
Auckland food is not the only thing that shines, J and I tried the local artisan beer after Zorbing in Rotorua and it was pretty good. Although you know I’m not picky when it comes to beer or any other alcohol for that matter.
I also ate delicious seafood. We went to the waterfront and I had mixed grilled seafood that came out on this hot stone and continued to grill.
But I will always remember the vegetarian lasagna that I was photographing today when the couple stopped me.
The most interesting thing I’ve eaten so far is raw fish marinated in coconut milk with fresh vegetables. Jacob brought it from his cafeteria and I’ve also had it elsewhere. I’ve been trying to find the recipe but everyone just calls it raw fish.
I really need to find that recipe somewhere.
