Hokitika’s Wild Side

The population quadrupled this autumn in Hokitika, as food enthusiasts from around the world flocked to get a taste of the 20th Wildfoods Festival, serving up a host of obscure, adventurous, and downright daring culinary experiments. “Some of this exotic fare included whole species I had never imagined could be edible, much less considered gourmet,” writes Meg Adams. “Booths advertised ostrich pies and sandwiches, snails, and even worm sushi. Among the most daring purchases were huhu grubs: barbecued, marinated, pickled, or even raw. One huhu grub booth had a large stack of deadwood outside of its stall. To the delight — and disgust — of onlookers, two men took hatchets to the rotting tree trunks and harvested huhu grubs right then and there.” Other highlights included ice cream draped in freshly sliced honeycomb, coffee liqueur made with unpasteurised cows milk, venison kebabs, barbecued cow’s udder, and even deep-fried sheep gonads. “For a country where the most adventurous local food used to be the ever-present spread Marmite … New Zealand is certainly producing some interesting food these days.”