Taste Of New Zealand 2011

John managed to justify his incessant 'social network' activity by winning VIP tickets for Taste Of New Zealand. Being one of the Localist Top 100 last month won him these tickets.

What a fantastic event! A great mixture of top NZ restaurants showcasing their food and vendors showcasing anything and everything foodie.

Our tickets got us a complimentary glass of bubbles - a nice way to start. We then headed to the Cable Bay stand for a glass of their delicious 2011 Sauv Blanc that I came across a week or so ago.

We then wandered around some of the displays. We stopped off at the 'Village Press' olive oil stand for really simple bruschetta with fresh tomato. It really demonstrated yet again how simple good quality ingredients make a dish. The great buy for the evening was a 2 litre 'cask' of village press olive oil for only $20! When you consider how much you pay in the supermarket for olive oil, or even cheap nasty vegetable oil this was a great buy.

Next stops was to The Grove tent for a Half Crayfish Tail with Cafe de Paris, Butter, Lemon and Vivian salad. It was really small but incredibly yummy.

John had spotted a 'Whiskey Masterclass' which we just had to take part in...and it was free. We sat down to a 45 minute education about whiskey and I even managed to almost quite like a couple when they were slightly watered down. The speaker said that some high level tasters water down their whiskey to release the flavours so I didn't feel too bad!


From there we wandered a bit and then headed home after a couple of quick purchases to use up our 'coins' - cake pops and 'Really Good' peanut butter.




Taste of New Zealand we will be back next year!