Kiwis love their cheese, and we've dedicated a whole month to it.
Photo / Thinkstock
Kiwis love their cheese, and we've dedicated a whole month to it.
Photo / Thinkstock
Sink your teeth in to cheese month New Zealand cheese has a whole month dedicated to its awesomeness, and we were there to kick things off this week. We sampled five different cheeses with matching Crossroads wines, chatting with the cheesemakers about their glorious goods. That's the idea behind the month-longevent - the chance to meet the people crafting the country's top cheeses. They will be appearing at your local supermarket, restaurants and specialty food stores. Check out the cheeselovers website here for all the info.
Beer business Founders Brewery turns 160-years-old this month, and to celerbate the milestone the fifth and sixth generations of the brewing family have released their own Golden Lager. They say the recipe is based on what current brewers Matt and Callum Duncan found in their great-grandfathers dusty old suitcase. Based in Nelson, the latest Founders beer is designed to be easy drinking, full of flavour and very, very smooth. "We have used three varieties of malts to provide full flavour," they say. "The flavour hops are added extra early to really get those citrus and resin flavours in to the beer."
In other beer news, Josh Emett's popular Malaysian restaurant, Madame Woo, has teamed up with craft brewers Hallertau to make a special tap beer just for them. The brand new Woo Brew will be added to the tap next month and will stay there all summer. The golden ale uses Cantabrian malt and Motueka hops with a hint of coriander in keeping with the Asian theme of the Queenstown eatery. The beer will be launched with a four-course banquet on the 19th of October. Tickets are $55 and can be purchased via email dine@madamwoo.co.nz or in the restaurant.
Ham and bacon awards We headed down to The Storeroom this week to sample the very best bacon and ham in the country, according to the panel at the NZ Pork Awards. Manuka-smoked pork products dominated with the classic Kiwi flavour proving a winner in both the bacon and the ham categories. A honey cured bone-in ham was crowned the country's best over 60 other entries, the winning goods made by Cameron Harrison Butchery in Wellington. Meanwhile, a streaky bacon crafted by the Independent Meat Processors' in Christchurch was named best bacon in NZ, beating 168 other entries. Read the full story here.
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