Pavlova

The perfect desert because it is fat free! One of the best New Zealand recipes that we Alaskans enjoy. This is pure heaven with fresh fruit piled on top with whipped cream.

The Shell:

2 egg whites
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar (or less, to taste)
Place the egg whites in a small mixing bowl and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, draw a 10 inch circle on a piece of wax paper and place (writing-side down) on a baking sheet. Variation: Draw 10 four inch circles on the wax paper.

Add vanilla and cream of tartar to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved (about 5 minutes).

Using the back of a spoon, spread meringue onto the circle, building the sides up to form a bowl.

Bake in a 300F oven for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven and let shell dry in the oven, with the door closed for one hour. Remove the shell from baking sheet and pull off wax paper. Store in an airtight container. Will keep indefinitely.

Suggested fillings:
The traditional filling is simply fresh fruit and whipped cream and topped with fruit sauce. Another good one is ice cream, nuts, fruit and sauce. You can top the Pavola with anything you desire. Have fun.

New Zealand scenery

Check out the galleries on these sites
http://www.thenewzealandsite.com/

http://www.pbase.com/slug/nz

http://www.accommodationinnewzealand.co.nz/slices/index.php

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/

And that’s a mere small selection

Music…

New Zealand has always produced home grown music on a small scale, with most of the popular music heard here being imported. But in recent years more and more has been happening in the music scene and it’s really taken off, with many international acts.

One of our oldest international acts is of course Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the opera singer. NZ produces many oepra singers as it happens, probably tanks to Kiri’s lead.

Also, Split Enz and Crowded House were big acts in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s.

More recently the big acts have included
The Datsuns (from right here in Cambridge!!)
Bic Runga (who made it fairly big in the USA, was on soundtrack of American Pie)
Goldenhorse
Shihad (who their US agents forced to rename themselves Pacifier, because it souded too mush like a call for a holy war toi them – oh dear!! – but they’re proudly Shihad again now that they’re home!!)
Head Like A Hole
48May
Goodshirt
Salmonella Dub
Che Fu
Dimmer
King Kapisi

In recent times a huge growing indusrty has been the NZ hip-hop scene. Mainly Maoris and Pacific Islanders. I personally cannot stand any hip-hop, from NZ or the USA.

If you have any interest in NZ music, this site has a lot of info and news
http://www.nzmusic.com/

Sport

New Zealanders generally love sport. The most popular No 1 spor is of course rugby union, our national team is the All Blacks. They are generally rated as the best team in the world, though the English seem to think they’re better because they have some trophy or rather.

Other popular sports here include netball for the ladies, cricket in summer, rugby league for the lower socio-economic levels of society (like rugby union but less skill and more violent, appeals a lot to the Aussies).

Also sports the NZ’ers excel at and many Kiwis follow are triathlon and that type of multi-sport, also rowing, and of course yachting which is extremely popular for people of all ages (I have never been in a yacht myself as it happens).

We also have top race horses, champion motorracing drivers, bike riders, and basically you name any sport in the world and there will be Kiwis playing it, usually in the top levels. Even Formula One car racing – the McLaren team was started by Kiwi Bruce McLaren, and even today many of its staff are Kiwis.

Hmmm, what else would you like to know?

Hi Erin,

I will try to help you.

OK, start with popular Kiwi food…
Roast lamb of course, almost always served with roast potatoes, pumpkin and other veges. Also we eat a lot of NZ beef, which is also very good
See recipes here http://www.recipes.co.nz/

We also consume a lot of chicken

The mince pie (not the disgusting fruit pie things the Poms eat for Christmas, but proper meat pie. They come in all sorts of flavours from mince, steak, mince and cheese, steak and cheese, potato-top, steak and mushroom, chicken, chicken and vegetable, etc, and some shops get more adventurous. You an buy a pie everywhere, from service stations to dairys to bakeries. Service Station pies are almost always disgusting, as are many dairy pies, but we still eat them. They’re a brilliant quick snack

A quick explanation – a dairy is what you’d call a 7/11 or a corner shop. You can buy all sorts of products at a dairy, it’s a small supermarket

Pavalova – This is a traditional New Zealand pudding dish, almost always eaten at special occasions like Christmas, etc. It is a soft merangue kind of thing with a hard merangue shell, and devine. It is one of the many Kiwi things that teh Australians claim is there’s but this was invented in New Zealand.

The traditional NZ hamburger has beetroot in it – something our foreign friends cannot understand. Also in the burger you’ll normally find beef patty, cheese, tomato, lettuce and onion. Mmmm. Fish and chips are very poular here, especially on Fridays.

Of course, we have an extremely diverse range of food in New Zealand. Up till 20 years ago we had a reputation of being bland eaters, like the British or the Belgians, etc. But in recent times many top Kiwi chefs have returned from abroad and injected new ideas into the food industry, along with many types of food coming in with our many types of immigrants, so now you’ll find things like middle eastern food, asian supermarkets, etc and you can basically get anything from the rest of the world.

I can’t think of much else to report on food – I just take it too much for granted I guess. If I think of anything else specifically Kiwi I’ll let you know.

I guess since Mr Hanna is apparently settling in Wanaka and building a hangar at Luggate (Wanaka Airport) he will still be in touch with the warbird scene.

An autobiography would be wonderful. I’d very much like to learn more about his early years, especially here in NZ, and also read his experiences of all the films he has appeared in.