Afghans, Barbecues & Chocolate Fish
The ABC of Kiwi Food
by Jane Hingston
Hachette NZ Ltd, 2009, softcover, 128pp

Kiwis love their food, especially all those goodies that are unique to New Zealand.  Afghans, Barbecues & Chocolate Fish is full of stories about the foods we regard with affection - Anzac Biscuits, Jaffas, Hokey Pokey icecream, Trifle, right through to Kina, Toheroa, the Sunday Roast, and Huhu Grubs.

As a bonus, more than 20 simple recipes are includedso you can create such Kiwi classics as Afghans, Pavlova, Feijoa Jam, or Ginger Crunch. 

Afghans, Barbecues & Chocolate Fish explores the history of our well-known food brands such as Vogels, Marmite and Weet-Bix, investigates the tall tales that surround the origins of the likes of Lamingtons and Neenish Tarts, provides the low-down on Kiwi culinary traditions such as Christmas, birthday parties, and 'ladies bring a plate', along with a fun collection of facts.

Traditional Maori foods like Kina, Maori bread, Puha, Kanga wai ( fermented sweetcorn) and Muttonbirds all have their place in the book too.

Each food of interest is given one to two pages and is illustrated beautifully. 

This is a gorgeous book, and a unique way to share our culture with people from other nations.  The book gets to the heart of one of the important aspecis of what makes us Kiwis...our food.  Through reading this book you get an insight into our history and the way we live.

And if you are wanting to impress your Kiwi friend, there's nothing better than to cook him/her a pavlova, some scones, or perhaps some Louise Cake. Their recipes are in the book.