Food for all

You’re walking around Fieldays and you start to feel hungry. How do you choose what to eat? The good thing is you’re spoiled for choice. Coffee, chocolate, seafood, donuts, hot dogs, waffles, pies, pizza, meat, cheese, bread, condiments, alcohol, you name it, it’s probably there.

Matamata woman Liana Gillingham reckons if you’re feeling the pace at Fieldays, you can’t go past the free food.

“For those who can’t afford much but love the experience of Fieldays, the free food – soups, savouries, bread, cookies, etc – is a big help to keep you going and enjoy the event,” said Gillingham.

“It’s especially good having these little things such as free food. It can be very cold walking around all day long, and uncomfortable in the rain if the weather is bad.”

She has a favourite. “The biggest thing I enjoy in terms of food at Fieldays is the Fonterra tent. I love trying all the new dairy products in there and it’s free,” she said.

Gourmet testers might want to make their way to Kiwi’s Best Kitchen, which showcases New Zealand produced gourmet food and beverages.

Organiser Rachelle Bertram of Classic Events said there will be wine, cheese, sweet treats, the best cuts of meat, breads and pastries, a range of beverages and everything in between.

“Most Kiwi’s Best Kitchen exhibitors offer the public small samples of their product so that they can try before they buy,” she said

“We will have a meet and greet area set up outside the Kiwi’s Best Kitchen Theatre, where our celebrity chefs will be there to answer questions and sign copies of their cook books. Our celebrity chef line-up includes Brett McGregor on the Wednesday, Michael Van de Elzen on the Thursday, and Karena and Kasey Bird on Friday and Saturday.”

The Kitchen Theatre has a grandstand accommodating 150 spectators. Celebrity chefs and invited demonstrators will present recipes and techniques featuring their favourite New Zealand-grown produce and ingredients.

Visitors will have the chance to stock up on products they may not find in their local supermarket, Bertram said.

Other tastes are also catered for at food stalls all around the venue, from donuts to woodfired pizza. And those who have spent all their money and are in need of a cheap feed and a coffee can head to the bank tents. Fieldays sponsor ANZ bank will be offering a hospitality service to all visitors to the ANZ Building during Fieldays, according to Evan Rummins of ANZ.

Fieldays visitor Faith Paea-Grey said: “The bank tents always offer something warm and hearty for the crowd. The Westpac tent used to always have the best pies (even better than the ones you would pay money for).”

She has a further food tip. “If you are going to buy some food then I would definitely recommend waffles. I don’t remember where I got them, but the waffles were fantastic and they would be my go-to food aside from the bank tents’ food.”