Overseas travel may be becoming a faint memory for most Kiwis as Covid-19 continues to bite but one local company is trying to soften the disappointment.
Meal kit home delivery operator My Food Bag (MFB) has created a selection of mouth-watering recipes from around the world as part of its new My Choice Bag, to help New Zealanders at least experience some of the tastes of their favourite holiday destinations.
The initiative follows research carried out by MFB which revealed that half of those surveyed had planned international travel from March – plans which in almost all cases were thwarted by the pandemic.
"Since overseas travel is very limited, we thought we'd do something for our taste buds and at least take them on holiday," says MFB co-founder Nadia Lim.
The company has created 12 iconic international dishes which are available to order as part of the new My Choice Bag. Deliveries of the globally inspired recipes began on September 13 and will continue throughout October.
Lim says the survey of 1166 people on the MFB database conducted between August 28 and September 1 earlier this year also asked what destinations they most like to visit and what they like to eat when there.
"It turned out Italy, Greece and Spain are the top-three picks for travel-obsessed Kiwis," she says. "The research also revealed that 94 per cent seek out famous dishes while travelling while four out of five (81 per cent) enjoy trying to recreate those they've eaten when they get home.
"We all know how much Kiwis love to travel and with no firm plans in sight for most to escape to their favourite destinations we've decided to bring global dishes for people to transport their taste buds instead.
"New Zealanders are not only adventurous travellers, they are adventurous eaters as well and like to try new things. I get inspiration for a lot of recipes myself from travelling."
Lim says the recipes have been created - many in collaboration with well-known restaurants - from countries as diverse as Malaysia, India, Jamaica, Thailand and Korea as well as the top three destinations of Italy, Greece and Spain.
"Think authentic chicken pad thai and Spanish prawn paella," she says. "We've got guest chef recipes from some of our favourite local restaurants such as Cotto's Italian lamb ragu with fresh pasta and a delicious Korean fried chicken burger from Tiger Burger."
Although the recipes are available for a limited time, Lim says some could ultimately be included as regular choices. "We survey customers every week to find which recipes are most popular and possibly some of the global dishes will pop up among these."
Lim herself is one of many Kiwis whose travel plans were cancelled in 2020. Although her favourite country to visit is Italy, she had had a special trip in mind this year - a journey to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate her grandmother's 93rd birthday next month with her two sons (four-year-old Bhodi and River who has just turned two).
"My father is from Malaysia and it's two years since I've seen my grandmother. My youngest hasn't met her yet so we were looking forward to going."
To order the globally inspired dishes as part of My Choices go to: try.myfoodbag.co.nz/myglobalkitchen/