Favourite Foods

Bringing back the past.*

For many the adventure of visiting other countries or even moving to another country to live, far outweighs the, what some might call, sacrifices - like giving up those things that are peculiar to their lives in their native countries.

Fogy has been living in Brazil for more than 36 years and you would expect memories of the past to fade and become insignificant. Many other people of other nationalities face similar situations, yet all of them still long for those dishes that were what was home, what mom cooked or simply the culture of their homeland.

Fogy's New Zealand is renowned for its Pies, Vegemite and Marmite, something alien to most people who have never visited NZ nor Australia.

Vegemite is a food flavouring derived from concentrated yeast and vegetable extracts mixed with spices. Originally from Australia, some might remember the Australian music group - Men at Work - that mentions Vegemite Sandwich in one of their popular songs, it is also a favourite among NZers, used in cooking stews, on hot toast with rich melted butter, on a cracker with cheese, or simply in a sandwich that children might take to school in their packed lunches.

Marmite is similar but is derived more from brewer's yeast and is loved or hated, both at the same time. Used for flavouring mostly meat dishes it is still an important part of the memory of NZ.

And now to the NZ Pie. Mostly made on a base of Flaky Pastry, today's pies are made up of so many different flavouring combinations it becomes increasingly harder to decide which one to buy.

A wide selection of NZ Pies

Fogy remembers when he was at school, every Friday was the day when children could choose between 'Fish & Chips', 'Sausage & Chips' or the iconic 'Meat Pie' for lunch. Having chosen what they wanted, a local takeaway store would deliver these to the school at lunchtime, and everybody would sit down and eat their food of choice - those were the days.

In a recent visit to NZ, Fogy put on about 2 kilos simply from consuming these longingly missed pleasures. Oh and don't get me started on the cans of Baked Beans, heated in a pot and served on hot buttered toast as well. We had a great life!!

Going to Scotland introduced Fogy to the national food called the Haggis. If you read what goes into them you might find yourself looking for a toilet immediately. The Haggis though is a delicious treat and can be enjoyed simply, or together with 'Tatties' & 'Neeps' or even with chips from your favourite Chippy.

Haggis, tatties & neeps

There are so many other dishes that stand out but none as much as the Haggis.

Irn-Bru (Iron Brew) is something you are not likely to find outside Scotland and is as peculiar to Scotland as Guaraná is to Brazil.

And what about Brazil? Well Brazil has its Cheese bread (Pão de Queijo) and Potato bread (Pão de Batata), Feijoada, Acarajé, as well as almost every other country's food types that might exist. Except of course, the ones mentioned above.

Fogy sometimes has this overriding desire to eat those traditional foods that have been part of his long life, except that they represent that very rich memory of other pleasures, those pleasures that are better left unspoiled.

Cheers.

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