What makes the cheddar Tasty?

Tasty cheddar is in fact pretty tasty, but why is it called that? It’s sharp and a little crumbly like an extra-sharp cheddar at home, and of course not dyed orange with annatto. If it’s not Tasty cheddar then it’s mild, or Colby. I have looked on the internet (not too hard, mind you) and can't find anything more useful than this info on cheese styles.

Sure.  It's tasty.  Tasty!  But why?  I am not any farther along here, am I?  

Cookies are “biscuits.” I have yet to see one in a bakery that looks appetizing. Well, there are a couple of places that have “American style chocolate chip cookies” which are more like Mrs. Fields, and I’ve had a few of these with no complaint. 

Of course, being Americans, we have also decided that we favor “American Pale Ale” style beer. Craft brewing has really just taken off here in the last few years, and they are definitely lagging behind the Pacific Northwest. A couple of breweries make an APA, and we love the one from Tuatara, but it is seasonal and not a regular offering. There are a few IPAs that are worth drinking, but a big hoppy style is not easy to find. 

What we call bacon is called “streaky bacon” here. There is also shoulder bacon, middle bacon and at least one other kind of bacon. They are all more like what we’d call “Canadian bacon.” Kind of dried out ham without any nice bits of fat running through it. Of course, streaky costs the most . . . . 

Ketchup is tomato sauce.  Salsa is almost non-existent, although thankfully there is one brand in the supermarket that comes in small jars and will do for my several-times-a-week lunch of homemade burrito (there is nowhere to get a reasonably priced burrito in town – there is one restaurant that offers them at $24 a pop – I won’t be trying them to find out how they are). 

And speaking of tortillas, let's talk about the burrito substitute here - the kebab.  First off, kebab rhymes with "the lab."  Second, in your run-of-the-mill kebab place, the "kebab" (whether it be gyro meat, chicken, falafel, whatever) is served in a tortilla.  That main filling sits on a thin bed of runny hummus that lacks much flavor.  After the filling is placed on the hummus-wiped tortilla, you can top it off with grated carrots, onions, lettuce, tabbouleh (in most places), or grated (and slightly pickled?) beetroot, which is of course, beets.  Then you can choose your sauce squeeze -- usually the offerings are tomato sauce (ketchup), garlic yogurt, tahini, chilli (like a sweet slightly hot barbecue sauce) and satay (peanut sauceish).  It is then rolled up like a one-ended burrito.  They're OK, and there are a few places here and there that actually serve decent ones, in real pita.  But of course, you can't really eat a kebab here unless you can do it while humming "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" by the Flight of the Conchords.  The key lyrics are:

Let's get in a cab
I'll buy you a kebab
I can't believe
That I'm sharing a kebab
With the most beautiful girl
I have ever seen with a kebab

 Local children don’t really eat peanut butter and jelly (jam actually, because “jelly” here is jello) – they might have one or the other in a sandwich, but not both. Chard is silverbeet, and peppers are capsicums. Coffee is all either french press or espresso. No one seems to brew coffee (fine with me). The favored coffee drink is a long black, which is somewhere between a double espresso and an Americano in terms of the amount of water involved. One may also have a flat white, and I’m still not clear on how that differs from a latte. There appears to be an enormous amount of gluten intolerance here. “Gluten free” is everywhere (and kind of depressing, as it often means that chocolate cake is flourless, which is not usually my fave). French fries are of course “chips” and no one makes very good ones. Potato chips are called chippies. Yams and sweet potatos are called kumara, and for some reason they make all the fries out of the purple skinned ones that have the lightest flesh (I think this is an Asian variety – I know you can get it at Uwajimaya). There is something here called a “yam” which is a more local/island tuber, but we haven’t tried it yet. If you really want to get into the whole sweet potato/yam/oca (that is what these NZ yams really are, apparently) thing, check out this post I found tonight by an American guy who happens to come from Santa Cruz and be living in Christchurch with his wife, who's working here as a physician, and young daughter . . . .

At the butcher you can buy beef or pork "mince," instead of ground meat, and if you want to make chicken stock, well then, grab a chicken frame or two. Fruit-flavored yogurt ALL has the chunks of fruit in it – not Ari’s favorite style although he is learning to eat it. Organic butter - there is one manufacturer - costs too much to buy.  Luckily, I guess, it's hard to find anyway.  Organic sour cream does not exist. 

The state of New Zealand’s fisheries, in terms of its sustainability, appears to be as bad as anywhere else, although the NZ fishing industry would not have you believe this.  There is certainly talk, in places, about sustainability in fishing.  Unfortunately, retailers don't seem to know the first thing about it.  This recent Greenpeace release seems to confirm what I have found when I have asked fish sellers about it -- I have even gotten answers that were completely wrong.   The "best fish guide" is depressing in its limited number of green zone seafood choices.  So, although there is a lot of fish available, we aren’t eating much because of this. 


There has to be good lamb here - we will find it (haven't been eating much meat, really, and so far the lamb seems gamier than at home), and it is refreshing to know we can buy beef and it is all grass-fed.  No Whole Foods premium prices involved, and we don't even have to buy our own quarter of a beef.  Phew.  We had filet mignon for Evan's birthday dinner and it was delicious and comparatively inexpensive.  Mmm, I am going up that way today -- maybe I will pay the butcher a visit.