The New Zealand experience. Elsie Gabriel .Beacon Holidays. Food Bloggers Association.

 Exploring the Kiwi Experience.

The New Zealand experience was brought alive on the APB cooking studio tables recently by Beacon Holidays in association with New Zealand Tourism and the Food Bloggers Association, India.
I walked into a room full of delightful aromas arising from Lamb mince pie,Lamb cutlets and Lam Kababs, all cooking in Kiwi style.

Heena Munshaw played the perfect host, dynamic and informative, Munshaw knows every spot on the globe on the back of her hand. You want to travel, just ask her, more than details she spins out passion for travelling with minute attraction and cultural habits of the destination. She has been there and done that. She is the traveling expert alright! Heena Munshaw is the Managing Director of Beacon Holidays, worldwide.

‘ There are ‘farm stays’ in New Zealand which let you soak in the culture of the farm and outdoors, “ says Heena, “ Fruits and vegetables growing in plenty with so much to share. People simple share their produce of nature at the farm gates in baskets where people passing by drop in ‘honour money’ whatever they feel for the produce they pick up. Natural fresh food is in plenty. It is a joy to see abundance of natural environment around.”
Being an avid traveler I had sold my soul to New Zealand already.
The New Zealand wines offered was generous, at the ‘Bloggers cook off ‘ which was got together by the Food Bloggers association. What a brilliant idea of getting all the bloggers together Sameer Malkani of FBAI, you did do justice to New Zealand.

Farmers in New Zealand cater to excellent world class lamb, beef and dairy. The grasslands are pure and meadows so organic, what more could one ask for? A piping-hot roast lamb is a kiwi staple surrounded by  fresh vegetables. As a nation surrounded by the sea, in New Zealand you can get spoilt with fresh seafood year-round, they say. Many exotic sea food dishes hence turn up at every gourmet table there.

New Zealanders also love their Pavlova.  And one of the contestants made the most perfect one.

A meringue dessert that’s topped with cream and fresh fruit, Pavlova is a permanent fixture at many family meals too.Almost everything has the delicious kiwifruit which is a small and furry green fruits.

The cooks that day made several lip smacking dishes like Lamb Kababs which stole the show that afternoon. The Lamb cutlets were very close behind , I must say the cutlets were paired with the most amazing Salsa-Mustard-Kiwi combo sauce which was a tantalizing delight flavouring the cutlets.

These dishes distinctly had a New Zealand style with a sweet twist which made the afternoon blissfully Kiwi.

The New Zealand summer sees many eat outdoors, often in a barbecue setting. Kiwi barbecues - featuring New Zealand beef, lamb and seafood - are a big part of the culture, and typify the laid-back nature of the New Zealand people.

Another style of all-year-round outdoor cooking is the traditional Maori hangi ,cooked underground on hot coals, usually prepared for special occasions. It includes a vegetable called the Kumara, along with chicken, pork, lamb, potatoes and other vegetables.

I want to go to New Zealand only to bring back tales of the smoky flavours of the' hangi ' cooked underground, which is delicious and an essential culinary experience while in New Zealand.

I gottya mouth watering didn’t I, well New Zealand it is!