I have had a few requests to talk about classic, well known “kiwi” (New Zealander) dishes I have had so far while in New Zealand. The food here is not so different from the US, but there are plenty of differences in what certain foods are called:
·
Fish & “chips” – fish & potato fries
·
Chocolate chip “biscuits” – chocolate chip
cookies
·
Chocolate mint “slice” – chocolate mint bars
·
“Lolly” – any sort of hard candy
·
“Muesli” – any type of granola, pronounced “mewsli”
·
“porridge” – oatmeal
·
Getting “pissed” – getting drunk (oh and it is
NOT illegal to drive with an open bottle of beer in the vehicle)
Becs is a really good cook and has made everything from fish
& chips to hot dishes and baked goods like gingerbread and cookies. So far,
my favorite “kiwi” dishes are the classic fish & chips, lamb, and pavlova.
I have had lamb quite a few times since I arrived and really like it,
especially with mint jelly, a kiwi favorite. I have also had kumara (similar to
a sweet potato) that Becs cooks with potatoes and squash in the oven and then
mixes with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and feta cheese. This dish
has become a favorite of mine, along with lamb, since my arrival.
Classic pavlova recipe
Ingredients:
-6 egg whites, room temperature
-1/4 tsp cream of tartar
-1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
-1 tsp corn flour
-2 tsp vinegar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
To make:
1) Place oven rack in middle of oven. Preheat to 220C. Line a baking tray with baking powder and mark out an 18-cm circle.
2) Place egg whites & cream of tartar into a clean bowl and beat until they form a dense white foam and stiff peaks but the whites are not dry.
3) Sift the sugar and cornflour on top of the egg whites and pour vinegar and vanilla down the side of the bowl. Use a slow speed to incorporate the ingredients together. Do not overmix.
4) spoon the mixture into the prepared tray, spreading it level with a spatula. The mixture will look very high, which is okay as the pavlova expands when cooking
5) Place into the preheated oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 120C.
6) Bake for 1.5 hours and then turn off the oven. Do not open the oven door. Allow pavlova to cool thoroughly before removing.
7) The center will crack and drop, leaving a perfect hollow for filling with whipped cream and topping with seasonal fruits
*To bake in a tin: pile the mixture into a well-greased and baking paper-lined 23cm spring-form cake tin. Bake as above.
A big change for me is that most people drink instant
coffee…and not very strong, either. I am so glad I brought an emergency stash
of instant Starbucks coffee and enjoyed the freshly brewed Starbucks coffee I
bought last week while shopping in Wellington. I have also been drinking tea with
honey (which is really nice on cold nights) and the honey here in New Zealand
is amazing!
Last weekend in Wellington I bought a classic kiwi cookbook
– The Country Calendar Cookbook by Allison Grofton. It contains recipes
for well-known New Zealand dishes by season, from appetizers to main dishes to
desserts. I am excited to bring it home and share some new recipes!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
This morning I woke up and ate breakfast with Josh, Becs,
and Josh’s parents. By 10:30 AM we left their home and arrived at the
Travelodge in Wellington about an hour later. Wellington, the capital city of
New Zealand, is located on the southernmost tip of the North Island. On very
clear days it is possible to see New Zealand’s south island, which is only
about 17 km away at the closes point.
 |
| Wellington City Harbor |
 |
| Te Papa Museum |
After I checked into my room I wandered down to the water and walked to New Zealand’s Te Papa Museum. Admission is free
so I took a couple of hours to look at exhibits such as the native Maori
culture and the history of New Zealand, but could have spent much more time
there. I spent the next few hours walking through gift stores and boutiques on
the main drag of the city – Lambton Quay – down the hill from my hotel and
within view of the harbor.
My next adventure was riding the Wellington Cable Car to a hill
at the top of the city that overlooks the harbor. The view from the top was
beautiful even though it was very windy and somewhat cloudy. Once I got my fill
of the view I rode back down and went back to the hotel for a relaxing night
watching the rugby game of the All Blacks play Ireland.
 |
| Wellington Cable Car |
Sunday, June 24, 2012
After a late night I slept in this morning, worked on my
blog, and then strolled along Lambton Quay again until meeting Josh and Becs at
noon to leave Wellington. Josh drove a different way back for the first half of
the drive, which followed the west coast north for almost an hour. They stopped
off at an overlook near the Kapiti Island so I could get some pictures. I was
able to just make out the south island because it was so clear and sunny.
 |
| View of the west coast driving north from Wellington on Hwy 1 |
By
the time we got home it was 3 PM. I spent the rest of my afternoon working on
my blog and unpacking. Tomorrow its back to work and it will be an early
morning at 5:30 AM with Becs. I am thankful for the weekend away from the farm
to be able to get away and reflect on how much I have experienced in the last
month, but I am happy to be returning to work!
Monday, June 25, 2012
I rode to the farm at 5:30 this morning with Becs to help
milk. After returning from Wellington, Josh and Becs were looking at the bulk
tank SCC report and determined the SCC has been increasing. It reached 350,000
cells/mL over the weekend, which is too close to 400,000 and having Fonterra
deduct from the milk check, for their comfort. Once milking was over I helped
dry treat 30 cows that will be late calvers this spring (mid-September). Afterwards
I helped wash down the holding area for the cows and some of the exit races. By
then it was lunchtime.
I returned to the farm at 12:30 PM to drive the Herd 1 cows
from the crop to the feed pad. Next I fed the milk calves and by that time it
was 2:30 PM. Becs sent me to town (by myself!) to take my IRD application form
to the “Post Shop” (post office) so I can receive an IRD number (identification
number for tax purposes that every employee in New Zealand must have). The
drive to town was uneventful and my visit to the post shop was successful – I
had all of my required documents and was even able to mail some postcards. Next
I had to stop at New World (the grocery store) to pick up some groceries for
Becs. I made it home safely and the truck as well. I spent the rest of my night
working on my blog and looking at plans for my week of vacation in July.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I got to the farm at 7:30 this morning. Rhox, Rav and I had
to sort today’s AB cows from the Herd 1 cows on the feedpad. They had already
been milked and sorted, but accidentally got mixed up when the rest of the herd
was supposed to go to the crop. There are about 380 cows in Herd 1 so it took
about 20 minutes but we were able to sort out all the cows we needed.
By 8:30 AM the LIC technician from two weeks ago, Norm,
arrived to do the very last bit of tagging. We had 200 heifers left to put
electronic ID tags in that are going to be calving within the next month. Norm,
Rhox, Rav, and I worked to tag the first 100 cows by noon. After a short lunch
break we finished the second half by 3:30 PM. Once we returned to the farm I
had to put the lame cow that I moved last Thursday back into the paddock of
cows for the vet to look at tomorrow. Somehow she had gotten out again…some
“lame” cow!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
When I got to work this morning at 7:30, I adjusted the reel
for Herd 1 to go onto the crop of forage rape and fed the milk calves right
away. Next, Josh had me pace off the pasture area for the lame and treated cows
to determine the area (m^2) each cow had. The lame cows only had about 55m^2 of
pasture and ideally they would get 100m^2 since they are milking and not
getting any crop, so I had to go adjust the fence reel another 20 paces out.
Once I finished that I went out to pasture 55 where Sam was attempting to get
one of the cows sorted out of the group…too bad taking one cow out of a herd is
like taking a fish out of water. After about 15 minutes of not being able to
sort her out, we determined it was a waste of our time and would be easier
tomorrow when we have to come back and sort through some more cows. By the time
this failed mission was over, it was time for lunch.
At 2 PM I returned from lunch to milk the afternoon milking
for Rhox so he could treat some lame cows. Milking went fine, but today was
very cold and windy…and then it started pouring sideways about halfway through
milking. The only good thing about this was that we didn’t have to stand
outside in the holding area to get the Herd 3 cows into the “cow shed” (milking
parlor) to get milked.
Once milking was over I was done for the day. Tomorrow
should be a busy day, with dry cows to sort through and calves to wean. Plus it
is my last day of work for this week since I have another 3-day weekend!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
This morning I adjusted the reel on the crop for Herd 1again after droving to the farm at 7:30 AM. After this was done it was my job to adjust
the fence reel for the lame and treated cows. They are in two separate pastures
– the lames are in 31 and the treated cows in 30. First I went to work on the
paddock for the lame cows while they were in the feed pad eating their mixed
ration before milking. I had to make sure I adjusted correctly for the number
of cows in the group (59) and then determine how big of an area of pasture to
give them so each cow got about 100m^2. Once I got this done for both the lame
and treated cows, it was time to feed the milk calves.
After I was done Sam, Nestor, and I went out to the same pasture of dry cows Sam and I were at yesterday. We sorted out about 20 cows that were slightly over-conditioned and drove them down to the other pasture of dry cows in pasture 68 (the same ones I was in charge of shifting the fence reel for the last couple of weeks). We were also successful in sorting out the cow Sam and I could not get yesterday. We drove her to paddock 49 that I set up last week with a few other cows for the vet to look at. By the time this job was done it was lunchtime!
I see a rainbow almost every day...and today I was lucky
enough to see both ends while feeding calves!
After I was done Sam, Nestor, and I went out to the same pasture of dry cows Sam and I were at yesterday. We sorted out about 20 cows that were slightly over-conditioned and drove them down to the other pasture of dry cows in pasture 68 (the same ones I was in charge of shifting the fence reel for the last couple of weeks). We were also successful in sorting out the cow Sam and I could not get yesterday. We drove her to paddock 49 that I set up last week with a few other cows for the vet to look at. By the time this job was done it was lunchtime!
After lunch we had our usual short, weekly farm meeting at
1:45 PM (right before milking started). The rest of the afternoon Sam, Reynor,
and I took off on our bikes (2-wheeler/dirtbike) and drove the two groups of
milk calves I have been feeding down to the yards to be weighed. Any calve over
80 kgs was weaned, which totaled to 48 out of 80 calves. We drove these weaned
calves back down the road and joined them with the pasture of already weaned
calves across the road from the farm. The too light calves we drove back down
to a pasture one of the groups came out of so they will be fed milk for another
2 weeks and then weighed. We drove the calves back to their pasture where Reynor helped me move three small feed troughs
into the large group of weaned calves and feed them grain. By the time we got
done it was 5 PM = home time.
I spent the rest of the night packing for this weekend in
Lake Taupo. Sam and his fiancé Rachael are taking me, another farm manager about
our age (Laurence) and two other friends to Rachael’s parents’ lake house for
some fun and fishing. I am looking forward to another adventure!
Friday, June 29, 2012
This morning I woke up at 7, packed, and made some of my
favorite trail mix monster cookies for the weekend. At 9 AM Sam and his fiancé
Rachael, their two dogs JD and Trevor, and Laurence (the farm manager of the
smallest BEL Group farm, Elingham, with 400 cows) came to Josh and Becs’s
house. Once we had everything loaded in their ute, we were on our way to
Rachael’s parents’ vacation home in Lake Taupo.
Sam and Rachael's dogs - JD (left) and Trevor (right)
We got to Taupo by noon, where our first stop was downtown
Taupo for lunch, which ended up being sushi. I can honestly say I have never
had sushi but it was actually pretty good! After lunch we went to the grocery
store and then to our house for the weekend. The view from the house overlooked
Lake Taupo with the snow-capped mountain peaks of Tongariro, Ruapehu, and
Ngauruhoe in the background…it was absolutely breathtaking!
Next Sam drove us to Huka Falls, which flows from Lake
Taupo. Afterwards we stopped at a large honey store – The Huka Honey Hive – and
tasted all different types of honey from various areas of New Zealand. We
stopped at the honey store because it was on our way to the Craters of the Moon,
a group of geothermal pools that smoke and bubble and smell strongly of sulfur.
It took about an hour to walk around the small park, with the view of the
mountains and the town in the background. By the time the walk was over it was
almost dark.
 |
| View of Lake Taupo from the house porch |
Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe (view from the boat on the lake)
Huka Falls
Trevor and Sam by the Huka Honey Hive
Craters of the Moon
We drove back to the house and ordered pizza for supper from
Hell’s Pizza, a common pizza chain in New Zealand. Hell’s Pizza is offering its
“Russian roulette”, where it puts a drop the the world’s hottest hot sauce on
only one of the eight slices in a pizza. We ordered this on one of the pizzas
and chose to eat that first. We all ate one piece, with nobody finding the
spicy slice. I was the last one to finish my first slice, so there was only one
piece of the pizza left by the time I finished. Nobody had found the spicy
slice yet, but as soon as I bit into the last slice I knew I had the spicy
one…but of course nobody believed me so they all had to take a bite of my slice
and then everyone’s mouth was on fire. It must have taken about 15 minutes for
my mouth to stop feeling like it was on fire! We spent the rest of the night
watching TV and playing cards, until Rachael and I went to bed but Sam and Laurence
went off to the bars for a few drinks.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
After sleeping in a little this morning, all of us went to
breakfast at a café downtown and then did some shopping at the local gift
stores and tourist shops. Next we went back to the house, grabbed some food,
hitched up the boat to Sam’s ute, and drove to the gas station to buy 24-hour
fishing licenses for Sam, Laurence, and I.
Once the boat was in the water, Sam drove across the lake to see the famous Maori rock carvings. We spent the rest of our time on the boat fishing for trout near the shore. There were a few bites, but no fish. It was a nice and relaxing afternoon on the boat, all sunny with no clouds, except a little wind and of course the dogs were out there with us…it was pretty entertaining.
After we loaded up the boat and drove back to the house, we
sat in the natural hot pool that is in a room adjacent to the house…it was
amazingly warm, like a sauna-hot tub all in one.
Once the boat was in the water, Sam drove across the lake to see the famous Maori rock carvings. We spent the rest of our time on the boat fishing for trout near the shore. There were a few bites, but no fish. It was a nice and relaxing afternoon on the boat, all sunny with no clouds, except a little wind and of course the dogs were out there with us…it was pretty entertaining.
The town of Taupo on the lake
Maori rock carvings on Lake Taupo
Trout fishing!
We ate supper at a local bar & grill – The Jolly Good
Fellow – that was right next to the lake, with the mountains in the background.
The rest of the night we spent at the house playing cards.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Everyone slept in until about 10 this morning and then
worked to clean the house before leaving about an hour later. Sam and Rachael were pretty intent on making me bungy jump (its a kiwi thing)...so much so that they even took my to the bridge where they have bungy jumping on a regular basis! Fortunately, it was expensive ($150 per jump) and I was not feeling the best. Although it was pretty tempting after Sam offered to pay for it if I jumped!
We stopped at Burger King for Sam and Laurence to get some food and then stopped at the Hunting & Fishing store. There was a huge sale so I bought a new fleece, long-sleeved half-zip polo…it is so nice and warm! When we returned to the car, there were Burger King wrappers all over the floor while Trevor and JD looked at us innocently! It was hilarious! So while Rachael and I went to a nearby bakery to grab some breakfast, Sam and Laurence went back to Burger King for some more food. We drove back from Taupo and were home by 3:30 PM.
We stopped at Burger King for Sam and Laurence to get some food and then stopped at the Hunting & Fishing store. There was a huge sale so I bought a new fleece, long-sleeved half-zip polo…it is so nice and warm! When we returned to the car, there were Burger King wrappers all over the floor while Trevor and JD looked at us innocently! It was hilarious! So while Rachael and I went to a nearby bakery to grab some breakfast, Sam and Laurence went back to Burger King for some more food. We drove back from Taupo and were home by 3:30 PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment