Our Food

Recipe: Tomato Fritters with Feta
These little fritters are a treat to eat, especially when made with late-season, sun-ripened tomatoes.

Debra Cruickshank named supreme winner of Enterprising Rural Women Awards
A boutique winemaker has taken out the top prize at the Enterprising Rural Women Awards.

Nelson family growing capri tomatoes since the 40's
Thanks to one very determined grower, Nelson’s favourite tomato is still growing strong after 60 years.

From derelict barn to award-winning berry business
A Wairarapa couple have transformed a derelict wee barn and rundown lifestyle block into a successful fruit and berry business.

Imake's 50M home brewing success story
A NZ home-brew company has doubled its turnover after launching an electric brewing machine called The Grainfather.

Recipe: Southland Cheese Rolls
The best cheese rolls are found in Southland – and don’t dare suggest otherwise.

Video: Watch Amelia Ferrier transform a cake into a work of art
Cakes are a blank canvas for a talented baker and author of Melie's Kitchen.

Sawmill Brewery scales up to 1M capacity
A Matakana couple find that brewing beer, staying creative and living in the country is the best medicine for what ails you.

How to make lemon balm and rosemary-infused olive oil
This oil makes a great dip for bread with dukkah, or it can be used as a salad dressing, or drizzled over new potatoes and barbecued meat.

Christmas on the barbie menu
Have yourself a very merry Christmas barbecue with these show-stopping recipes by Anthony Hoy Fong

Recipe: Spatchcocked Turkey with Sage Chimichurri
Take Christmas dinner outdoors this year with this delicious spatchcocked turkey.

Recipe: Market Vegetables with Buttermilk Ranch
Get the barbecue started with these delicious grilled veggies with ranch dressing and bagna càuda, an Italian anchovy dip.

Recipe: Shrimp & Corn Fritters with Sriracha Aioli
These barbecue corn fritters might be the best corn fritters you've ever tried.

Recipe: Smoked Kumara with Peas & Parma Ham
Use this simple smoking technique to add oodles of flavour to kumara. Part of our Christmas Barbecue Menu.

Recipe: Toasted Farro Salad with Blistered Red Grapes & Feta
Blister grapes on the barbecue to turn up the flavour on a summer salad. This recipe is part of our Christmas Barbecue Menu.

Recipe: Barbecued bourbon peach cobbler
Use a cast-iron skillet to cook this delicious dessert directly on the barbecue. Part of our Christmas Barbecue Menu.

Kate tries her hand at cheesemaking
NZ Life & Leisure editor Kate Coughlan, aka Little Miss Muffet, takes a voyage around her great-grandfather and makes cheese.

Tickets available to the Outstanding Food Producer Dinners
Readers in Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin can sample the award-winning cuisine at the Outstanding Food Producer Dinners.

The veggie that helps break the sugar habit
Kristina is trying to break her addiction to sugar and she's found there's a veggie on her side.

The 10 best lettuces for a 365-day salad supply
Jenny Somervell selects the best lettuces to grow this summer (and the rest of the year).

Water Cooler: We cook like Chelsea
As a nod to NZ Life & Leisure’s cover star Chelsea Winter, the team put some recipes from the MasterChef winner’s new cookbook Eat to the taste test. It wasn't really a bake-odd just a really good week in the office.

Behind the scenes at the NZ Chocolate Awards
Being a chocolate judge would be many children’s dream. thisNZlife goes behind the scenes at the NZ Chocolate Awards to discover how to taste chocolate like a pro.

Game on for Lumsden salami business
A passion for hunting and a taste for cured meat prompted Chris and Sally Thorn to start their own artisan business in Lumsden.

The case for planting manuka
It can be expensive to plant manuka as a crop, up over $1000 per hectare so it’s not for everyone.

Maori herbal tonic business in growth mode
A young entrepreneur from Great Barrier Island is tasting success from his own bitter medicine

Simon Gault from plot to plate
Former MasterChef judge Simon Gault’s diabetes diagnosis is a 'sauce' of inspiration for a new food venture and at his restaurant Giraffe where he serves veggies grown in his own garden .

Recipe: 2 tasty avocado ideas
NZ avocados are particularly special, with double the amount of vitamin B6 and 20 per cent more folate than those grown in other parts of the world.