Battling The Lions: Tour tucker

Like any touring rugby side, the Lions have been well fed.

The banquets appear to have been part of a strategy to fatten them up to slow them down on the field, and the menus show the evolution of New Zealand cuisine.

In 1904, the 15-item menu at the Hotel Cecil in Wellington for a formal test dinner would not have been out of place in fancy Continental restaurants.

After taking time out to toast the King, each team, the referee, the press and sing the Song of Empire, players tucked into raw oysters, imperial soup, rolled beef, veal, wild duck and finished off with orange custard and Neapolitan ice cream.

The 1950 third-test dinner at the Hotel St George reflected post- World War II austerity with just six dishes but had some American flavour - Chicken Maryland was on the menu.

Days of plenty were back in 1959, at least in the Taumarunui Hotel, after the Lions' 25-5 win over King Country-Counties. The 23-item menu was heavy on meat dishes and desserts and was kicked off by a quote from Thackeray: "Sir, respect your dinner! Idolise it; enjoy it properly. You will be many hours in the week, many hours in the year, many hours in your life, the happier if you do."

Halfback Dickie Jeeps was forced to diet after he packed on 8kg by mid-tour.

But in 1966, it was not only the Baked Virginia Ham and Compote Peaches that made them happy.

In Westport, Lions skipper Michael Campbell-Lamerton took comfort by frying two pieces of bread in the hotel kitchen.

Others on the same tour went in search of more exotic delicacies.

At Muriwai, Willie John McBride and some of his teammates got stuck into toheroa. Fishing and hunting expeditions have been popular with the outdoorsmen among the Lions throughout their visits.

After the first test in Wellington in 1977, dinner in the Unicorn Room at the Hotel St George began with the ubiquitous shrimp cocktail.

By 1993 that starter become a shrimp salad with a brandy cream but the buffet was taking on a more modern taste with iceberg lettuce and oranges, chicken liver pate with green peppercorns and mixed salad with feta cheese.

There will be more self-catering for the Lions this year. Their enormous management team has among their ranks chef Dave Campbell, who came up with the right recipe for England during the 2003 World Cup.