Kai
What is the classic food (or Kai in Maori) in New Zealand? The sausage sizzle was at every event this summer. And as a neighbor said "everyone loves a warm meat pie". Tiny pie shops are the most reliable food you can find in any small town or suburb. This is our local pie shop, Patrisha's.
Kiwis are also partial to Marmite, claiming it differs greatly from the Australian Vegimite. What is it? A very salty spread made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing. With all the beer brewing in Oregon I'm surprised we haven't come up with a similar 'mite'. A teacher at Quinn's school wanted to win me over to Marmite. She made me a slice of buttered toast with a thin veneer of Marmite. That's the secret she says. It was actually good enough that I went back for a second slice. I don't think I'm so enamored, though, that I'll buy a whole jar.
Groceries are generally very expensive so people hit the farmers markets for fruits and vegetables on the weekend.
Barefoot shopping is cool
The market wouldn't be complete without a traveling butcher. Sale on lamb mince!
Even though the farmers markets have fresh produce, organic foods are not readily available. The other thing that we relied on back in the States but that you can't find here are dried beans. So we search around town for pinto and black beans as if they are tiny treasures.
The eggs all have bright orange yolks, indicating that the chickens have been walking around fending for themselves. I call the color "free-range orange". Scrambled eggs here are so vibrant they take a little getting used to.
Though the diet here is not a radical change from what we are used to, it's enough to cause weight loss. Lucas has lost 15 pounds since we got here and now buckles his belt on the "central American notch" from when he lost a ton of weight on our honeymoon trip. We both can't put our finger on what exactly it is though, just lack of access to junk food? More walking?
I think my favorite food introduction here has been fish and chips. One night a week we pick up fresh local fish, lightly battered and fried and laid on a bed of french fries, in a paper bag sack. It's so good the kids have both been converted to fish lovers and Lucas, who has never liked fish, suddenly does.
Kiwis are also partial to Marmite, claiming it differs greatly from the Australian Vegimite. What is it? A very salty spread made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing. With all the beer brewing in Oregon I'm surprised we haven't come up with a similar 'mite'. A teacher at Quinn's school wanted to win me over to Marmite. She made me a slice of buttered toast with a thin veneer of Marmite. That's the secret she says. It was actually good enough that I went back for a second slice. I don't think I'm so enamored, though, that I'll buy a whole jar.
Groceries are generally very expensive so people hit the farmers markets for fruits and vegetables on the weekend.
Barefoot shopping is cool
The market wouldn't be complete without a traveling butcher. Sale on lamb mince!
Even though the farmers markets have fresh produce, organic foods are not readily available. The other thing that we relied on back in the States but that you can't find here are dried beans. So we search around town for pinto and black beans as if they are tiny treasures.
The eggs all have bright orange yolks, indicating that the chickens have been walking around fending for themselves. I call the color "free-range orange". Scrambled eggs here are so vibrant they take a little getting used to.
Though the diet here is not a radical change from what we are used to, it's enough to cause weight loss. Lucas has lost 15 pounds since we got here and now buckles his belt on the "central American notch" from when he lost a ton of weight on our honeymoon trip. We both can't put our finger on what exactly it is though, just lack of access to junk food? More walking?
I think my favorite food introduction here has been fish and chips. One night a week we pick up fresh local fish, lightly battered and fried and laid on a bed of french fries, in a paper bag sack. It's so good the kids have both been converted to fish lovers and Lucas, who has never liked fish, suddenly does.
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