Aotearoa Is in the midst of a Food Revolution

Chile-born Giulio Sturla’s Mapu Test Kitchen in Lyttelton is representative of something powerful that is happening in New Zealand right now: a quiet culinary revolution; a shift to small-scale, local, sustainable, thoughtful, delicious dining. This country previously known for fish and chips and claims to pavlova is now a hotbed for gastronomic creativity and skill, Ben Groundwater writes for The Sydney Morning Herald.

The calling card for a number of restaurants nationwide (including Wellington’s Hiakai and Rita), is “lots of little”, Groundwater writes. It means taking food back to its source; using small amounts of seasonal produce to create beautiful things.

“I feel like we are only just beginning to step into our power,” says Angela Clifford, the CEO of Eat New Zealand, an organisation founded by Sturla, a movement dedicated to reconnecting New Zealanders to their land and their ocean through food.

Original article by Ben Groundwater, The Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2023.