A review of Hiakai, perhaps the most important cookbook in the country

A photograph of pikopiko fronds arranged on a black background. The cover of Hiakai.

Locked down in Brisbane, chef Te Tangaroa Turnbull finally read the cookbook they’d been waiting for – and was moved to tears. Hiakai may be the most important cookbook yet written in Aotearoa. A foundation text for the use of traditional Māori ingredients, it deserves to be read alongside the likes of René Redzepi’s Noma … Read more

Ranking the fish from THAT fish and chip poster

Every fish on the iconic New Zealand Commercial Fish Species poster, ranked.  There are a few staples of the quintessential fish and chip shop: sticky plastic curtains, soggy paper tickets with a little red number, tin pottles of Wattie’s tomato sauce, even some unlabelled aioli if you’re feeling bougie. And then there’s the New Zealand … Read more

Food podcast: Fritters, cocktails and the resurrection of Al Brown

Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. Back in January, we had Al Brown round for a barbecue and recorded a podcast while we were at it. A grand time was had by all, but as Simon Day poignantly relayed … Read more