From hummus to hot sauce, these are some of New Zealand’s must-try gourmet treats.
A quick survey of the Viva team’s favourite New Zealand-made gourmet products provided a flurry of links to everything from Waiheke Island extra virgin olive oil, to candied jalapenos made in Raglan, accompanied by commentary like
Is this the best hummus in New Zealand? Try it for yourself and see. Batch-made by hand by Gemmayze Street chef/owner Samir Allen, this hummus is smooth, thick and creamy, topped with a rich layer of paprika-infused oil, based on his family’s beloved recipe. From Daily Bread and Farro.
At Waiheke’s Kennedy Point Vineyard, the estate is planted in grapevines that grow among sprawling pōhutukawa, but it’s also home to organic olive groves and the estate’s own manuka and pōhutukawa honey. Kennedy Point’s extra virgin olive oil is made with a blend of Frantoio, Fossil Bay, Koroneiki, Mission, Verdale, J-5, Tamaki, Kalamata and Ascolano olives, for drizzling anywhere quality olive oil is required.
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Advertise with NZME.Made with New Zealand eggplants and simmered to perfection with garlic, ginger, tamarind and secret spices, Tumjal eggplant relish is ideal on a platter, dolloped on to burgers and sandwiches or as the finishing touch in a sauce or dressing. Available from select supermarkets and speciality food stores.
So many people inquired about the zingy, slightly firey yellow mustard served at Depot, Fed Deli and Best Ugly Bagels that owner Al Brown decided to bottle it. Famously served alongside the skirt steak and sizzled onions, Old Yella is your best friend at summer barbecues, housed in a 250ml squeezy bottle.
The packaging might be low fi but the ingredients are stellar – a readymade kimchi pancake mix just waiting for a hot frypan. Ginger’s Pantry favours “sour” kimchi, which is aged for 3-6 months, so it’s soft and tangy rather than crunchy. The resulting flavour is mildly spicy, “an amazing mix of crunch, savoury, sour and umami flavour”.
Hawke’s Bay’s The Bottling Shed makes artisanal, small-batch sauces, chutneys and preserves and its tomato chilli jam is a highlight, made with tomatoes, roasted peppers, garlic, ginger, spices and a hint of brown sugar. Lovely paired with cheese and crackers and ideal anywhere you might dollop tomato sauce.
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The spellbinding orange of this jam is the first sign it’s packed with real apricot flavour. Award-winning Augustines of Central creates boutique, unique fruit preserves, jams and chutneys that showcase the beautiful fruit of Central Otago. Level up your toast with this vibrant apricot jam.
Made in Whāingaroa, Aotearoa, Zeke’s Gold candied jalapenos are inspired by the US condiment known as “cowboy candy”, which are spicy/sweet jalapenos that are similar to pickled jalapenos but with added sugar to provide a slightly crunchy texture. Zeke’s version is made with New Zealand jalapenos aged for three months in Zeke’s own Gold Jalapeno drizzle for a spicy candied concoction that’s great with cheese and crackers, on pizza or nachos or in your spicy margarita. Find it at limited speciality stores nationwide.
Earthbound specialises in honey products, its raw, natural honey harvested by hand, produced by bees feeding off pōhutukawa and manuka near Bethells Beach in west Auckland. Its sweet, sour and syrupy apple cider honeygar is equally potent as a health tonic as it is an accompaniment to dressings and marinades. Try it with good-quality olive oil and a fresh loaf of bread.
Middlehurst Station, located in the remote mountains of the Awatere Valley, Marlborough, is a family-run farm business that offers premium cuts of homegrown Merino lamb and Angus beef for national overnight chilled delivery. Boxes range from premium lamb cuts to premium Angus cuts and even handmade sausages and pies. The Macdonalds’ family’s products are also available to buy in person at their cafe, shop and boutique butchery at the Middlehurst Station farm store in Kaikōura.
Fresh tortillas crafted from Hawke’s Bay maize, Hands Down pay homage to a traditional technique pioneered by the Mesoamericans called nixtamalisation. This sees corn kernels soaked in lime water so they’re more digestible, and taste better too. As these are fresh, they’re best kept in the fridge to extend their shelf life. Ideal for tacos, tostadas and taquitos. Available from speciality stores throughout NZ.
If you haven’t heard that sauerkraut is good for your gut by now, then you’ve been living under a rock. This gold kraut boasts probiotics and anti-inflammatory properties thanks to turmeric, ginger and marigold, which also give this kraut its golden hue. Raw and wild-fermented, try this kraut in your salads and sandwiches, on a cheeseboard, on top of eggs or in piping noodle soups. From supermarkets and speciality food stores.
New Zealand-made sea salt? Yes, please. Small batch, solar-evaporated sea salt sourced from Maraetai in the Hauraki Gulf, Hauraki Salt Co’s sea salt has a “robust, clean and briny flavour”, perfect as the finishing touch on any dish.
Barbecue sauce, seasoning and rub company Rum And Que was born out of a barbecuing competition at Meatstock, when a group of friends saw an avenue for a small business selling their secret spices. Their Dirty Bird seasoning is perfect for fried chicken, with KFC-but-better secret spices, maize starch and herbs. For a spicy kick, try the Nashville seasoning, also $12.
Shirl + Moss is known for crafting small-batch chocolate from single-origin cacao, carefully roasting and refining the beans to highlight the unique flavours of each origin. This bar has notes of cherry and plum with a smooth layered finish, an expression of the Kilombero Valley region, bordering the Udzungwa Mountain National Park in Tanzania, where the organic cacao is from. Plus, the packaging is gorgeous.
Wild West Worcester original spicy sweet blacksauce, $15
Like Worcester sauce, but made in Pakotai, Northland, Wild West’s version of this age-old sauce is aged for a minimum of six months for a mature yet smooth flavour ideal for a final flavour hit to an endless array of dishes.
From Kapiti Coast brand Apostle, this crispy chilli oil is ideal for drizzling on anything and everything, with a unique mix of crunchy onion and garlic and crispy chilli flakes, but also fennel, coriander seed, cardamon and star anise. These aromatic flavours are immersed in New Zealand rapeseed oil infused a brilliant shade of orangey red. Apostle’s bottles are designed to be a giftable work of art, with labels by artist Juju, inspired by Roman Catholic artwork and Greek Orthodox iconography.
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