New Zealand cuisine

New Zealand cuisine is largely driven by local ingredients and seasonal variations. An island nation with a primarily agricultural economy, New Zealand yields produce from land and sea. Similar to the cuisine of Australia, the cuisine of New Zealand is a diverse British-based cuisine, with Mediterranean and Pacific Rim influences as the country becomes more cosmopolitan.

Historical influences came from Māori culture. New American cuisine, Southeast Asian, East Asian, and South Asian culinary traditions have become popular since the 1970s.

In New Zealand households, dinner is the main meal of the day, when families gather and share their evening together. Restaurants and takeaways provide an increasing proportion of the diet.

When the indigenous Māori arrived in New Zealand from tropical Polynesia they had a number of food plants, including kūmara (sweet potato), taro and tī. The plants grew well only in the north of the North Island. Native New Zealand plants such as fernroot became a more important part of the diet, along with insects such as the huhu grub. Problems with horticulture were made up for by an abundance of bird and marine life. The large flightless moa were soon hunted to extinction.Rāhui (resource restrictions) included forbidding the hunting of certain species in particular places or at certain times of year, so that the numbers could regenerate.

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