eating my way through aotearoa/ new zealand.

this trip is sponsored by potatoes.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’d probably know by now that I’m gallivanting through the beautiful South Island of New Zealand.

aoraki/ mount cook 🏔

lake tekapo

I’ve been here for a week now, with my boyfriend/ sous chef/ dish washer/ food photographer extraordinaire Blake, and we’ll be here for 3 weeks, seeing the country the best way we know how - by campervan!

lake pukaki with sous chef

questionable pancakes in the fjords

Now, cooking in this campervan is much easier than cooking in Stella, because we can stand up in it, and there’s a water tank and sink - hooray! But, having said that, it’s still tiny and therefore a challenge.

william ready for a night at the lake.

But I do love a challenge when I’m up for it, and cooking in the van, who we’ve named William, has been a pretty jovial part of our trip so far. We’ve seen - and eaten in - some amazing places.

simplest lunch ever, vegan “jaffles” and tomato soup at lake tekapo

Although we’ve been cooking a lot, I’ve been wanting hot chips every day. Which is strange as I rarely crave them in Sydney. The thing is, the chips are just superior here, there’s no way around it. Do away with your Aussie patriotism and just trust me, kiwis just know their way around a potato, or more broadly, anything deep-fried. You can go to a “dairy” or a Chinese takeaway and get anything under the sun. You dream it, they fry it. What’s a hash brown stick? I don’t know either! But it’s amazing! Kumara chips? Chop suey patty? Battered mushroom? All accidentally vegan! Besides the endless world of artery-clogging possibilities, going to a dairy in New Zealand is like stepping back in time. The first one I visited housed three men in shorts and wellies, (it was 7 degrees) waiting for their fish and chips. There were kids under 10 showing up with mullets, speaking into the microphone to order for their parents, who were nowhere to be seen. There was an ancient-looking maze game on the wall for said unsupervised kids. Also, ketchup is served in tins. Like I said, a mesmerising step back in time. We ordered vegetarian chow mein and kumara chips, a combination that, to me, just makes sense.

Mullet kid at the dairy / kumara chips

All chip revelations aside, the other biggest surprise to us is that I’ve been eating a whole lot of breakfast food here. It’s just nice to wake up and cook something cosy to go with your cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s all been fry ups. I’m not an animal…

Waking up in Dunedin / kumara smash browns

The humble kumara seems to be a kiwi favourite, it’s kind of like a Japanese sweet potato. So, this week I’m giving you a variation on the hash brown. I’m calling it a smash brown, because I didn’t have a grater, so I just kind of had to smush the kumara. And that’s as no frills as it gets. An easy breakfast for the savoury lovers.

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ingredients.

2 kumara/ Japanese sweet potato, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

Vegan butter

Salt, pepper, dried herbs to taste

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how to.

1. Easy as anything, boil kumara until soft.

2. Fry onions in butter, add kumara and smash with a fork as you go. Cook for about 10 mins on medium-high or until the kumara crisps up. Add some salt and pepper and dried herbs of your choosing and serve with your breaky. We had mushrooms, tofu sausages, avo toast & homemade beans, which you can find my recipe for here.

big fry up

Also, it seems to be the week of the potato for my fellow food writers too! Go check out La Yapa and Bri’s Kitchen, embedded below, for more papa wisdom 💭

patatas a lo pobre

You Say Potato, I Say Papa