Some people view traveling as a wonderful opportunity to sample local cuisine and dine on delicious meals unique to the area. Andrew is one of those people. He’s the first in line to try the odd-smelling green mush being served on the street, even if he can’t pronounce the name of the dish. Andrew has also been violently ill in foreign countries more times than I can count on all my digits.
I am not like Andrew. I am now a strict vegetarian, who would rather skip a meal or two than brave the green mush. Although New Zealand’s food is quite safe, and easy to pronounce, the quality comes at a price—a very high price. As an unemployed traveller, I need to make every dollar count, so consistently eating out is not an option.
On this last road trip through Southern New Zealand, I was faced with the challenge of not having access to a grocery store, except at the start and end of the journey, and having no method of refrigeration in the car. Still, I was determined to fuel my caloric needs without breaking the bank, so I concocted a few different dishes that met three very basic standards—vegetarian, shelf-stable, somewhat healthy.
The following is a list and review of basically everything I ate for a week. I set up two parameters to rate the dishes. First is taste, which is self-explanatory. The second, satiety, rates the food’s ability to meet my caloric needs.
Dish: Peanut butter and banana on brown rice crisps
Taste: 3/5
Satiety: 3/5
Comments: Rice crisps are lightweight and don’t get stale as quickly as bread. Much better with banana than without.
Dish: Canned Beans
Taste: 2/5
Satiety: 5/5
Comments: Should have invested in hot sauce. Do not mix with an entire onion or stomach will not be happy. Invest in pull-off top on cans to avoid frustration when you forget can opener.
Dish: Trail Mix
Taste: 5/5
Satiety: 5/5
Comments: Absolute necessity. Don’t eat too fast, or the bag will be gone, and you’ll feel disgusting.
Dish: Instant Rice
Taste: 2/5
Satiety: 4/5
Comments: Tastes fine when cooked in hot water. Tastes disgusting raw.
Dish: Campbell’s canned minestrone
Taste: 4/5
Satiety: 1/5
Comments: Not great when consumed cold but was forced to. Mix with rice or you’ll need many cans to be full. Don’t drink too many cans—they are very salty.
After seven days of rotating through canned soups, beans, trail mix, and sometimes-cooked instant rice, I gained access to a BBQ and roasted myself a feast of vegetables and tofu sausages.
With the leftovers, I made a sandwich out of an entire baguette stuffed with a sweet potato, three veggie sausages, onion, hummus, and three tomatoes. On my final hike, I finished the entire concoction at the summit.
Dish: Roasted vegetable sandwich
Taste: 5/5
Satiety: 5/5
Comments: I wish I had access to fire sooner
Despite my stubborn budgeting, I couldn’t leave New Zealand without a sample of the local cuisine. On my last afternoon in Queenstown, I tried a local favorite—the fergburger.
As I sat in a park and enjoyed my falafel burger, I remembered exactly what I had been missing out on. Even though, my food may not have tasted the best, it fueled me to reach some incredible locations. See everywhere I got to enjoy my canned beans and cold soup here.
—Chris Buchanan