With 85,000 international visitors in the country, Rugby World Cup will showcase New Zealand to a global audience of discerning travellers – and, away from the rugby field, it’s Kiwi food and wine that’s likely to attract the most sustained interest.
Tourists hungry to sample the New Zealand lifestyle will find that Kiwi cuisine has come a long away in just a few decades – from basic colonial fare to a distinctive Pacific Rim cuisine that now vies with the best in the world.
Talented and innovative chefs combine ingredients freshly harvested from the garden, pasture and ocean, while Pacific influences, organics and indigenous foods make it unique.
New Zealand wine
New Zealand is also a premier new world wine country, producing award-winning wines. Exported to cellars worldwide, New Zealand wines reflect the terroir of clean air, fertile soils and sunshine.
Most of New Zealand’s more than 500 winemakers are boutique, small scale operations producing low volumes of niche varieties. Many will be showcased during food and wine events and festivals that will run alongside the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The REAL NZ Festival programme is currently listing 100-plus food related events – just some of the more than 500 events on the mammoth nationwide six-week festival programme that’s about much more than rugby.
Festival events range from food demonstrations in farmers markets to food festivals celebrating regional delicacies, and exclusive fine wining and dining occasions in some of New Zealand’s top vineyards and restaurants.
Feast of flavours
During the festival there’ll be a moving feast of flavours nationwide as the New Zealand farmers’ markets network presents Outstanding in their Field (weekly) with local producers and chefs working their culinary magic to showcase fresh Kiwi produce.
Downtown Auckland will host Taste of New Zealand (19 – 22 October) – an indulgent culinary celebration of the best restaurants and produce, sandwiched between the Rugby World Cup semis and final. Visitors will be able to sample innovative cuisine, fine wines, beers and produce from 120 providers, and watch international guest chefs putting an international spin on Kiwi produce.
Meanwhile, migrant communities in Wellington will band together for a spicy multi-cultural celebration of their culinary traditions. Hosted by Pataka Museum, in Porirua, and running for six weeks, The Migrating Kitchen (18 August – 27 September) will profile local ethnic communities, showcase their culture, and demonstrate their cooking.
Regional food celebrations
North to south, regional celebrations of seasonal delicacies will be a major feature of the festival programme which covers some iconic New Zealand events.
Three hours north of Auckland, the family-friendly Bay of Islands Catch “it!” (20 – 21 October) seafood tournament is all about bringing in the biggest and the best, and eating it. The two-day event based at Paihia features fishing, diving and gathering, along with filleting, shucking and kina / sea egg sucking. Capping off the fishing contest, there’ll be the one-day “it” Food & Wine Festival (22 October) – on the Paihia Village Green.
Whitianga Scallop Festival (17 September) – on the Coromandel Peninsula, and a favourite Auckland weekend destination – promises land-based seafood indulgence, with food and wine stalls, seafood demonstrations and cook-offs, scallop shucking and live Kiwi entertainment.
In Hawke’s Bay, the New Zealand Olive Festival (24 September) celebrates all things olive from olive oil tastings to appreciation workshops, cooking demonstrations by top local chefs, grower stalls, great food, wine and entertainment.
On the northern Canterbury coast, Kaikōura Seafest (1 October) is an annual festival celebrating the ocean’s abundance. Long before Kaikōura became renowned as a whale-watching Mecca, Māori knew it as the place to go for the best crayfish / lobster. Kaikōura means “eat crayfish” and Seafest is the place to try delicious New Zealand kaimoana / seafood straight from the sea.
The South Island’s West Coast Whitebait Menu Challenge (2 September – 30 October) is inspired by the little fish netted by the bucketful from local river mouths, and rated among the freshest and tastiest on the planet. The challenge has local eateries showing off their best whitebait recipes – including the classic whitebait pattie – and competing to find the ‘Best in the West’.
In the central South Island, the Central Otago Pinot Experience (20 September) is a not-to-be-missed event for wine connoisseurs. Renowned for award-winning pinot noir and aromatic whites, Central Otago is among the world’s great wine districts. This grand tasting experience in the picturesque Gibbston Valley will involve 20 wineries with sampling, gourmet lunches and take home goodie bags.
Port Chalmers - on Otago Harbour and just outside Dunedin - is the major fishing port for the cold waters of New Zealand’s southern ocean, and the Port Chalmers Seafood Festival (1 October) celebrates this bounty. A variety of vessels will service the wharf-side event, including fishing boats delivering fresh seafood, and passenger vessels.
In New Zealand’s deep south, Taste of Southland (8 – 18 September) will draw oyster lovers to a fresh supply harvested from the pristine waters of Stewart Island. Reputedly the best in the world, local Bluff oysters will be on the menu in Invercargill – served straight from the shell, or cooked to perfection in a local restaurant.
REAL NZ FESTIVAL 2011 on the web: http://www.nz2011.govt.nz/
Tags: REAL NZ Festival 2011