World in a Day Foodie Discovery Tour: South Auckland

Date: 10/03/2012
Start Time: 8:00am
End Time: 4:30pm latest
Price: $125

What is there for foodies to find in South Auckland?  Come with us and explore this diverse collection of food makers and suppliers.  You will be amazed! 


An absolute "must" is a visit to the Otara Markets, still going strong after all these years!  Our tour will start early in the morning to allow us plenty of time to visit this large market.  We will take advantage of some "local knowledge" to learn about the use and preparation of some of the produce on sale.  There are lots of fruit and vegetables, homemade baking specialities, and quality hand-made gift items to discover at the market (plus of course the usual stuff found at markets!).


Next we take you to a "secret" location in the heart of suburbia and discover an award-winning maker of meat smallgoods and traditional Hungarian sausages and salamis.  If you have enjoyed some unusual sausages at your favourite restaurant, chances are good that they came from here. 


Then we will move into the Otahuhu area, rich with Asian and Indian food suppliers.  We also visit an importer/wholesaler of specialty foods.  After lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, we will visit an Indian supermarket and an Indian sweet shop. 

We finish our discovery tour with a wine tasting at a well-known award-winning vineyard.

Join us for what will be a great day of foodie diversity and shopping.  Tour includes transportation, lots of tastings, morning coffee, lunch and an information pack to take home. 

Please note: Effective November, 2011, the South Auckland Tour will no longer visit the boutique food importer "Sous Chef".  We appreciate the staff who have especially come in on their day off to open the shop for us on our previous tours. 

We highly recommend Sous Chef to you and encourage you to visit them Monday-Friday or shop online on www.souschef.co.nz

We are pleased to advise that we have made alternative visit arrangements with an excellent importer/wholesaler of specialty foods located in the Otahuhu area.

South Auckland Food Discovery Tour, 2 July, 2011

"Fantastic day out!  Couldn't have asked for more.  Everything was so personal and well thought out!" Anna Davey

It was one of those perfect days - the sun shone and we were welcomed by Simon Gault at our visit to Sous Chef. 
We all got into the groove....

  
Melissa guided us at the Otara market 

Simon welcomed us to Sous Chef

We loved the fresh fruit and vegetables at the market, and also loved the premium ingredients at Sous Chef. Sous Chef is normally open from Monday to Friday, and the staff opened the business especially for our tour. 
You can shop anytime on-line: www.souschef.co.nz

  
King crab claws

 

Our group with Simon

    
Hungarian Deli smokehouse   Feasting on our Vietnamese lunch

Despite our morning of tastings, we all enjoyed the feast prepared for us at Sam Woo. 
Personal favourite: Lemongrass chicken

        
Ritu explained a lot about      Indian sweets for a sweet tooth
Indian vegetables

Our food shopping moved to Indian cuisine, with a visit to a busy Indian supermarket and then to a top Indian snacks and sweets manufacturer.  The temptations were too much for those of us with a sweet tooth!

We finished our afternoon with a wine tasting at Villa Maria.  The grounds are such a peaceful oasis in the midst of the airport warehouse area. 

Special thanks to the businesses who open their doors (literally) to welcome our foodie group visits.  We loved every minute! Thank you to a very convivial group - you all made the day such fun!

I will give some of them the last word:

"Awesome day!  Will do more.  Lots of fun." A happy tour participant
"Great day...flavour, fun and fab people." Libby

Join us when we return to South Auckland on 12 November.

We visited South Auckland on 9 April, 2011:

"Thought I knew every knook and cranny that sells food - but I really didn't." Pleasantly surprised tour participant, Gretchen

Another beautiful autumn day for us  - this time to explore South Auckland.  This is our most popular tour - there is such food diversity in this area.  Our group arrived bright (?) and early for our drive to the Otara Market.

  
Our market guide Melissa "talks taro"       



Puha and Watercress

  
Banana flowers                         Red hot chilis

    
Pacific Island food treats       Melissa with cookbook


From "market" to "upmarket"...we visited Simon Gault's premium food import business, Sous Chef.  The "masterchef" himself came to greet us and tell us about the tempting range of products.  The shopping bags were very full after this stop!

   
Simon Gault greeted us......



and whetted our appetite for the delicious products


Next we discovered authentic Hungarian and European sausages and smallgoods...

  
The smokehouse in action    Istvan explains a special product

Our visit to Otahuhu coincided with a special Sikh festival

We were ready to relax and enjoy our Vietnamese feast...
just some of the dishes...
 
Refreshing hot and sour soup           Lemongrass chicken


We pursued the Indian food theme after lunch...
 
Dhirendra helps us shop for spices     Indian sweets for dessert

Our last stop was at Villa Maria Wines for a wine tasting...


Several people relaxed with a coffee
overlooking the beautiful gardens

'"Finding" is the operative word.  Great day thanks.'  Feedback on the day


Thank you to our great group of foodies...you shopped and shared information to make the day so interesting.  Thank you to the wonderful food makers and suppliers of South Auckland, and our passionate market guide, Melissa.

Here is our Inaugural South Auckland Tour held in October, 2010:

"Would definitely book again...very good value and enjoyable day." Pauline Weeks


"Very well organised, great attention to detail, most enjoyable and informative." Another foodie adventurer


It's never easy being the first to do something new....but our friendly group of foodies took it all in stride and made our inaugural South Auckland foodie discovery tour a pleasure.  We had tour participants from far and wide...Auckland, South Auckland, Bay of Plentyand even Noosa! And what a great group of shoppers!  Even the sun came out during the afternoon to make the day more pleasant. Take a look at our adventure.....

We left downtown (bright?) and early to get to the bustling Otara Markets.  Emma Tavola met us there and gave us a guided tour.

  
Our guide, Emma Tavola      Super fresh veges

The peanuts in the stall behind Emma were from Tonga

  
Emma told us about some of the Pacific Island foods

We paused for a welcome cup of coffee and homemade Cook Island banana pudding in coconut cream and a coconut slice.  We all could have used more time for browsing and shopping, but soon it was time to leave for a premium food importer and supplier owned by - celebrity chef Simon Gault.

Simon Gault with Sous Chef manager Kirsty Cardy

Simon came in especially to greet our group and briefed us on Sous Chef.  Simon has a passion for quality ingredients and as a result he imports products that he cannot source in New Zealand.  Kirsty prepared a caprese salad using some of their imported buffalo mozzarella, Murray River Salt and balsamic vinegar which certainly showed how a simple dish using quality ingredients can be simply delicious.

   
Sampling the products                      Kirsty's caprese salad

Our next stop was for something totally different....an artisan maker of authentic Hungarian sausages and other smallgoods.  The smell of smoked sausages greeted us as we walked in the door of this small business.  Owner Istvan Muik welcomed us and explained their products to us....with lots of tastings!

  
Istvan shows us the Hungarian paprika   

You must taste this!


It was time for lunch in the ethnically diverse area of Otahuhu.  Lunch was at the long-time favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Sam Woo.  Our lunch-time feast included spring rolls (fresh and cooked), hot and sour soup, duck, lemongrass chicken, beef cubes and spicey salty prawns.  It was so good that we didn't even stop to take a photo! 

A short walk away in the brilliant sunshine we visited a popular Indian supermarket, which has an excellent selection of fresh produce flown in from Fiji twice each week.  Then we visited an outstanding maker of Indian sweets and savoury snacks, where we enjoyed a tasting of two of the most popular sweets.  This shop will be getting very busy during Diwali, when people often give sweets as gifts.

Sheron holding plate of colourful Indian sweets

A short drive gave us a chance for the food to settle.  We thought that a wine tasting at the award-winning Villa Maria winery would be a great way to finish the tour, and most of the group agreed.

  
Taste-master Mark                             Cheers!

A beautiful place to complete our tour

Thank you to the enthusiastic food makers and suppliers who gave us such a warm welcome and opened their businesses to us.  South Auckland is firmly on the foodie map! 

Thank you to our group of foodie adventurers....your feedback will make future tours even better!

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