Like a lot of mothers, Angela Cuming is frankly sick of Jamie Oliver parenting advice. Get ready for a rant about Oliver and the army of judgers who don’t know shit about kids who are picky eaters. I like to keep a couple of Jamie Oliver cookbooks in my kitchen. I find them incredibly handy … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Calum Henderson tries the New Zealand sweetie fusion to (hopefully) end all New Zealand sweetie fusions. “Oh they haven’t, have they?” – Toby Manhire, Spinoff Politics editor, 9:15am Oh yes they have. Pascall – the confectionery company owned by … Read more
The new logo adorning the Blackcaps’ shirts belongs to an Indian dairy giant with a long-running advertising campaign based around spectacular puns. It looks like it could be a secret society which dabbles in the occult, or the name of Brendon McCullum’s latest racehorse. But the word ‘Amul’, printed in a heavy medieval font on … Read more
Food writer Delaney Mes has eaten at, blogged about and worked through Visa Wellington on a Plate since day one. As the countdown to this year’s festival begins, she shares her 10 favourite memories of the country’s greatest food fest. Wellington, New Zealand. Our nation’s capital. Truly terrible weather, but consistently excellent coffee. With its … Read more
In a world of excess and greed, Madeleine Chapman just wants everyone to get the most out of their food. When I was in my final year at university, I had my heart broken. Not by a young man, but by Hilary Barry. The spear she used to pierce my heart was this tweet. For years … Read more
Now more than ever, says Simon Wilson, critics are good for restaurants and good for their customers too. The real problem in media coverage is the exact opposite: it’s uncritical feel-goodism and the lack of critics. Everyone’s a critic. It’s always been true about restaurants, because we all eat so we all know what we … Read more
Jonathan Cotton goes to Techweek’17’s Future of Food event in Christchurch to find out how New Zealand can innovate our way to a bigger slice of the $1 trillion global food market. It’s the brutal hour of 7:30 in the morning and I’m at the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce on Kilmore Street for The … Read more
Someone always leaves their cereal bowl in the sink, the microwave is filthy and there’s never any forks. The case is clear: the modern office kitchen is the closest us cossetted Kiwis get to hell on earth, says Greg Pritchard. In the last 50 or 60 years the New Zealand workforce has changed massively. Back … Read more
A chef from “the best restaurant in the world” has taken charge at Clooney in Freeman’s Bay. Good news? Some of the local critics have raved, but, surprisingly, not all of them. So how good is this Jacob Kear really? And how good has he made the restaurant, and how much would you pay anyway? … Read more
A new public discussion series explores the link between primary products – dairy, meat, wine and wool – and New Zealand national identity. Victoria University’s Prof Lydia Wevers introduces the series. Every Kiwi baby-boomer remembers having to drink quarter-pint bottles of warm milk at playtime, which at my school had been left outside on the … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. Adàn Tijerina is the director of Almighty Beverages. It’s a Wellington based company … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reveals where to find the best chocolate hot cross bun in New Zealand. Karori is pretty bad. I lived there from birth until I went off to university and I loved every moment of it, but it’s … Read more
We asked retro packaging super-collector Steve Williams for his top 10 Kiwi food labels of all time, and this is what he told us. Read more about Steve Williams’ collection of historic NZ food packaging here. 1. 1969 Nestle Milky Bar Chocolate Wrapper. “Great early example of the classic “Milky Bar Kid” on a wrapper.” … Read more
Don Rowe speaks to Steve Williams, a Palmerston North man who has curated the most incredible collection of packaging materials in New Zealand – and possibly the world. See Steve Williams’ 10 favourite Kiwi food labels here. There once was a time when sliced cheese came in a Ninja Turtle box. A time when chewing … Read more
Looking back on 1990s supermarket chain Big Fresh, it seems scarcely believable. A food shopping Disneyland with live country music, a TV room for the kids and giant animatronic vegetables swaying in the rafters? Did that actually happen? But for 15 glorious years the Big Fresh supermarket chain really did exist. Kristin Hall met the … Read more
Bill English made pizza for tea last night, igniting widespread internet debate over the leader of the nation’s culinary abilities. We asked one of the world’s best pizza chefs for his thoughts. An award-winning chef from one of Auckland’s best Italian restaurants has slammed the prime minister’s attempts at making pizza. “You can’t even call … Read more
An ode to the humble feijoa, the Che Guevara of the fruit world. New Zealand in the late 1970s was basically a socialist paradise. Healthcare and education were free, oil prices were high enough for the government to introduce an insane rationing policy (Carless Days anyone?), and the advent of One Day cricket played by … Read more
Every time celebrity chef Pete Evans talks about his ‘wellness’ beliefs, scientists and doctors line up to counter them with peer-reviewed research and established facts. That’s because Evans’ ‘common sense’ sounds a lot like utter nonsense, writes Dr Siouxsie Wiles. This article was published in April 2017. “What do you need a qualification for to … Read more
There is no greater torture than seeing a delicious meal in your favourite TV show and knowing you will never be able to eat it. Here are some that we wish we could try. From the deliciously disturbing dishes of Hannibal to Mr Bean’s botched turkey meal, there are countless fictional dinners that will remain … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Natasha Hoyland can’t comprehend the L&P fusion food craze. I ask myself this time and time again: why do New Zealanders become so obsessed with such mediocre, often quite frankly shitty things? I’m looking at you, L&P chocolate. Another … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Some people are upset about free-range eggs. Toby Manhire is upset about ‘tasty’ cheese. In the dizzying light of the Countdown cold goods aisle, it is easy to make mistakes. Mistakes such as picking up a block of Alpine … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reviews food delivery service Uber Eats. The simple concept of Uber Eats makes you immediately wonder ‘do we really need this?’ An Uber service that delivers very specific food to your door. Seems unnecessary. Before we get started, … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes inspects the chicken nuggets at the Chipmunks indoor play centre. I can remember the first time I had chicken nuggets from the fine establishment that is Chipmunks. If you don’t know what Chipmunks is – … Read more
Who invented Kiwi Onion Dip, and why isn’t there a gold statue of that person on top of Mt Cook? Hayden Donnell goes on a wildly emotional search for an unheralded New Zealand genius, the inspiration for his Get It To Te Papa series The woman on the other end of the phone line sounded … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. Situated on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, Coco’s Cantina has become a favourite for … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Domino’s Korean Sticky Wings If you’re cheap and carb-friendly, you probably know that Domino’s is dominating the cheap pizza wars. Its pepperoni pizza is worth at least $2 more than the $5 it costs if you pick-up (though definitely not … Read more
Chelsea Winter! Force of nature, success story, brand. But can she, you know, cook? Food writer Delaney Mes does her best to persevere with the recipes and the puns in the new cookbook Scrumptious. It’s been four years since Chelsea Winter tearily made her way into New Zealand cooking show history when she was crowned the winner of the late, … Read more
Three Figure.NZ charts offer a snapshot of the people who work in New Zealand restaurants and bars – and where. New Zealand’s growing hospitality sector has been in headlines recently both in relation to immigration policy and the rapidly changing face of the industry itself. But who is cooking and pouring and serving, and where?
a special longform feature brought you by The Spinoff and DB Breweries Rose Hoare speaks to chefs, architects, critics and hospitality identities to evaluate the state of the art in eating and drinking – without once using the word ‘foodie’. Even trends are getting trendier Let’s address the elephant in the room right away: kale has peaked. … Read more