I'm a New Zealander. Here are 8 foods everyone should try when they visit.

Fri, 07/19/2024 - 12:09

A white plate with a yellow custard square covered with white sprinkles next to a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a flower and herbs on top. — I love having New Zealand delicacies like custard squares when I visit my homeland.
Katie Joll

I was born in New Zealand and love eating the country's classic foods each time I visit my family.
I grew up eating custard squares and marmite on toast, which can be difficult to find in the US.
Feijoas and hokey-pokey ice cream are very popular in New Zealand.

I was born in New Zealand but have lived in the US for the last 12 years. I miss a lot of the dishes native to my home country, so I love to eat those hard-to-get foods each time I return to New Zealand to visit family.

With thousands of people visiting the country each year, I always like to give tourists recommendations on the best things to eat while in my homeland. After all, it can be hard to figure out which foods are worth trying, and what dishes are truly unique to the country.

Here are eight foods I think anyone visiting New Zealand has to try at least once.

Feijoas are one of my favorite fruits.

Halved feijoa fruits, which look like limes on the outside with cucumber-like centers, in a blue-and-white bowl — Feijoas are a tangy, somewhat sweet fruit.
Katie Joll

The feijoa (pronounced fee-jo-ah) isn't native to New Zealand but came to the country from South America in the early 1900s.

The fruit, known as pineapple guava in some parts of the world, falls off trees all over New Zealand during autumn. There's usually so much of it that it's common for Kiwis to leave free boxes of the fruit at their gates to share.

The taste of a feijoa is hard to describe — I'd say it's sort of tangy, musky, and sweet, with a gritty, jelly-like texture. I eat them by cutting them in half and scooping the flesh with a spoon. When not in season, I've seen feijoas used in ice cream, juices, and cakes.

Marinated mussels are delicious and less oily than the ones I've found in the US.

A fork stabbed through a marinated mussel with a container of mussels in a clear solution in the background — I tried mussels in a lime-and-coriander marinade on my most recent visit to New Zealand.
Katie Joll

New Zealand is an island nation, so it's not hard to find delicious seafood. When I return to my home country, I crave marinated mussels.

I've found them in almost every New Zealand supermarket, cooked and sealed in a marinade — I recently purchased a lime-and-coriander-flavored variety.

The mussels I've seen in US stores are usually tiny and prepared in oil, but these are large and flavorful — almost refreshing by comparison.

Custard squares are a classic dessert.

A few countries have their own name for this dessert — the Aussies have the vanilla slice, and New Zealanders have the custard square.

In its simplest form, this dessert features thickened custard served between layers of puff pastry with vanilla icing on top. It's a classic treat in most bakeries, but every custard-square fan has a favorite vendor they swear by.

Meat pies are a seriously delicious handheld snack.

A white napkin holding a small pastry with a meat filling spilling out of it on a white table — There are several varieties of meat pies, from lamb to steak.
agcreations/Getty Images

Single-serve, typically handheld hot meat pies date back to the 1860s in New Zealand. It's a staple in Kiwi cuisine and can be found almost anywhere, from bakeries to gas stations and dairies (small convenience stores).

The modern meat pie has evolved to include a range of flavors. Bakers can even submit their unique entries to the New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards each year.

I'm a fan of the classic steak-and-cheese variety. However, I'm also partial to newer incarnations, such as lamb-and-kumara (sweet potato) meat pies.

Fish and chips is a wildly popular dish in New Zealand.

A cardboard box filled with battered, fried fish, french fries, and a dollop of ketchup. The fish looks golden brown. — I like the combination of salty fries and battered fish.
Katie Joll

Fish and chips have long been an established part of New Zealand cuisine. It came to the country along with 19th-century British settlers.

I've found fish-and-chip shops in almost every New Zealand town I've visited. I like to have it with Watties tomato sauce, another long-standing Kiwi favorite.

Marmite on toast is a great snack.

Slices of bread on a white plate with a jar, with a red label that says — I like to spread marmite on toast with butter, which is a traditional way to serve the food.
Katie Joll

The British version of Marmite first hit New Zealand shores in 1910, but by the 1930s, health-food company Sanitarium, which held the rights to sell the spread, had created its own Kiwi recipe.

Marmite is a concoction of salt and yeast, spices, and vegetable extracts. It has a unique, strong taste, and Marmite rookies should avoid spreading it thickly. The traditional way to serve it is smeared on hot buttered toast.

Raspberry buns are the perfect not-too-sweet treat.

A girl smiles and holds a raspberry bun, which looks similar to a long John. The girl wears a black top with a pink floral print. — My daughter is also a fan of raspberry buns.
Katie Joll

Raspberry buns, which I've seen in countless New Zealand bakeries, are a simple treat: a sweet, soft bun topped with raspberry icing.

They sometimes come with raspberry jam or cream in the middle, though I prefer a plain bun. The secret to a great raspberry bun is a fresh, not-too-sweet pastry. It gives me a hit of sugar without being overwhelming.

Kiwis love their ice cream, especially the hokey-pokey flavor.

A yellow square-shaped box with illustrations of yellow ice cream with a blue — Hokey-pokey ice cream is made with pieces of honeycomb toffee.
Jill Ferry/Getty Images

New Zealanders are among the biggest ice cream consumers in the world, and the local makers sure know their creamy desserts. The dairy industry in New Zealand is known for high-quality products, with ice cream being no exception.

The hokey-pokey flavor consists of vanilla ice cream mixed with honeycomb-toffee, or hokey-pokey, pieces. I recommend visitors check out a neighborhood dairy for scooped ice-cream cones or head to my long-standing favorite shop, Rush Munro's.

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I'm a New Zealander. Here are 8 foods everyone should try when they visit.