Discover the amazing foods around New Zealand by taking your family on a culinary road trip to remember with Subaru.
New Zealand is the perfect natural playground to explore with the family and a road trip to the rural parts of our beauty country can make a fun day out for all. By taking them out on an outdoors cooking or foraging adventure, you can show your children where our food comes from and how bountiful Aotearoa really is. So make your next road trip a real journey to remember!
We sent best-selling cookbook author Amber Rose and her team of foraging helpers, son Oli (12) and his friend Pascale (12) on a challenge to venture out of the city in a Subaru XV to find somewhere special to create the classic Kiwi camping meal, damper. They had to collect their own ingredients for the damper along the way.
The damper challenge
Using an open fire to turn flour and water into a delicious treat is a Kiwi camping tradition. The challenge for Amber and friends was to use ingredients they found along their way to create both a sweet damper and a savoury damper.
Armed with a Food Adventure Box, Amber and her team were given the dry ingredients for a damper, and a herb and harvest identifier to help the team make it. Using nature’s own ingredients, they found local fruits and herbs to help them create delicious gourmet dampers over an open fire.
Click here for Now To Love's easy and delicious damper recipe.
Adventure awaits
From picking berries and fruit at your local food farm or gathering seafood at the beach, there are plenty of food adventures for families around New Zealand. The damper challenge is a kiwi classic, and here are seven more ideas that can inspire your next adventure. No matter what the season or location is, there’s a food journey for you and your family!
1. Visit a dairy farm
Many farms offer open days or tours when you can take your family and see how one of our largest industries actually works. You're never too young to learn how to milk a cow!
2. Experience a hangi
In areas like Rotorua and Northland, you can experience the traditional Māori way of eating with a delicious hangi, where meat and root vegetables are wrapped up and cooked in a pit in the ground. Find your local hangi spot to try this earthy, smoky meal.
3. Fruit picking
In the warmer areas of the country, you'll come across local orchards or fruit farms. Whether it's a summer bounty of strawberries, or autumnal apples and feijoas, there's plenty of fruit to pick from in New Zealand. Pile the kids in the car for an adventure to a local orchard or farm and pick your own fruit.
4. Visit a farmer’s market
Meet the local experts and try the local produce by finding a farmer’s market near you. Learn what's being made in your own backyard – and get to know the actual people making it. On the drive to the farmer’s market, get the kids to try and spot farms or produce they think they might see at the market.
5. Get foraging
It’s no secret that people have been living off the land in New Zealand for hundreds of years, so explore the native foods and see for yourself what you can find. Some companies run official foraging tours, but you can also find native ingredients by using a herb and plant identifier when exploring your own area with the kids.
6. Head along to cooking school
If you want someone else to find the ingredients, take the family to a cooking school and learn a new style of cooking. New Zealand is blessed to have 200 ethnicities here, and they all have different, delicious ways of cooking.
7. Winter whitebaiting
From August, you can try your hand at whitebaiting. Head to local rivers to watch whitebaiting crew catch the teeny tiny fish once the season starts, or hire a proper scoop net and try yourself. Find your local fritter maker for the ultimate feast.
Note: Make sure you're following sustainable practices by checking the Department of Conservation regulations first!
Start your family adventure today!
Your next family adventure is only a car ride away, with the stunning Subaru XV, you get the best of both worlds thanks to the combination of cutting edge design and safety focused technology. As with all our SUVs, there’s the legendary All-Wheel Drive and Boxer engine, as well as the EyeSight clever crash avoidance technology to keep your family safe on the road. www.subaru.co.nz/xv
Check out our full SUV range here to find the SUV to suit your lifestyle and help you do extra with your day.
Download the Subaru food adventure planner below to start discovering New Zealand on your next road trip.