Hastings Meatball Festival: Peter Gordon and EIT students take top prize as close to 5000 pack streets

Peter Gordon and EIT are the Hastings Meatball Festival People’s Choice Award winners.

As 15,000 Hastings meatballs were devoured in a matter of hours, one stood alone as the champion.

The inaugural Hastings Meatball Festival saw renowned chefs battle it out for the best ball in the city, and punters went crazy for them.

In the end, wagyu beef, Peter Gordon and EIT proved to be a winning combination, with their ball taking out the People’s Choice Award.

It was tight with Black Betty BBQ coming a close second, and Shaneo’s Bakehouse, Gina’s Food Truck and Cellar 495 tying for third.

Gordon’s winning meatball was a First Light wagyu meatball, labneh, pickled red onions, kawakawa salsa verde, crispy shallots and curry leaves.

An estimated 4500 to 5000 fans made sure they tasted plenty, munching their way through 15,000 meatballs, before deciding on a favourite.

Run by Hastings District Council as part of F.A.W.C!, the walk-up event in the CBD was “simply fantastic”, Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said.

Hawke’s Bay’s bakers, chefs, butchers and celebrity chefs Gordon and Ben Bayley rolled out meatballs as fast as they could with queues quickly forming in front of all vendors.

An estimated 4500 to 5000 people headed to Hastings CBD for the Hastings Meatball Festival.

“It was so special to see our Hastings centre packed full of smiling faces devouring thousands of meatballs from our talented hospitality businesses, and an honour to have New Zealand chefs Peter Gordon and Ben Bayly join us, partnering with EIT and Matangi respectively,” Hazlehurst said.

“It was a delicious collaboration with local businesses, and we are very grateful to all our foodies for getting involved, the community for joining us, and to TW Group and Progressive Meats Limited for their support. We all had a ball,” Hazlehurst said.

A spokesperson for the council said they hoped the festival became an annual event.

“Based on the positive feedback we’ve had, there is definitely a demand to do it again next year, and Hastings is now firmly established as the home of the meatball,” the spokesperson said.

“We will sit down with all the meatballers and review what worked well and what needs tweaking. We know there were queues for meatballs so we will be looking to see how we can reduce those but overall feedback has been remarkably positive.”

Craft & Social bar and restaurant owner Damon McGinnis said it was a “magic event” and an “overwhelming success”.

“It was so fantastic to have so many positive people out on a beautiful night enjoying the lifestyle that Hastings provides. Wicked work from HDC and the team.”

The Hastings meatball was made popular by Dutch patisserie-chef immigrant Gerard Denijs, who in 1953 introduced New Zealand to a meatball based on the Netherlands’ “Bitterballen” from the Lilac Continental Patisserie on Heretaunga St East.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.