FOOD FOR THOUGHT ...

.... or certainly memory.

I was a bit bored the other day (actually this is most days when I'm in Auckland) and got to thinking about the best things I've ever experienced. When it came to food I came up with:

Best pies (meat):  The tuck shop at St Patrick's college in the 1960's, no contest. These were gravy-filled with peas. They were so delicious that you had to order one in the morning well before lunch (particularly if that joker from 3G was lurking about).

Best pies (fruit):  There have been a lot and The Old Girl makes a pretty good one but I thikg the apple pastries that are on sale everywhere in France are hard to beat. Sure they vary a little bit in quality but whether you are in an airport or railway station or in a cafe/deli or 'dejeuneur bar' they are there and bloody marvellous.

Best roast dinner:  Mum's. Meat that fell off the bone. Crunchy roast potatoes that were deliciously moist in the centre and coated with meat browning. Gravy.

Chips: Golden Chips in Wellington (1970's)

Ice cream:   Difficult as I can't particularly remember as a kid except that Adams Bruce was pretty good. Today, Movenpick, Rush Munroe and Kapiti make good stuff but I rarely eat it.

Ice blocks and ice creams on a stick: Nothing comes close the the Pink Elephants in the early 1960's. There was also a delicious milky confection (not quite ice-cream) that had fudge at the top which I can't remember the name of but our corner grocer couldn't keep up with demand.

Soft drinks: Poisonous stuff that I don't go near nowadays but in the 1960's in Wellington, Orange Smash was the thing. It had bits of real orange pulp in it. Then, in about 1964 Fanta came on the scene and destroyed the market for other fruit flavoured drinks. Camroc ginger ale was the real deal as was Schweppes bitter lemon (now only available on airlines and overseas).

Sandwiches: I've got fond memories of soggy tomato sandwiches at school and Marmite and raspberry jam (combined) sandwiches but the best ever were the 'make-your-own' which sprung up in the 1980's and '90's. Unfortunately today the plethora of Vietnamese-owned bakeries and Subway franchises with those boring bread rolls and tasteless ingredients have taken over.

Bread rolls: France. Anywhere where those delicious apple pastries are sold you'll find filled baguettes (crispy outside with fluffy centre) filled with simple but elegant ingredients - cheese and ham, tomato and cheese, tuna mayonnaise and lettuce etc.

Steak: I'm not a big meat eater and never ordered steak in a restaurant until, in Anaheim which is not known for gastronomy, I was with some neanderthals fellow conference attendees who wanted steak. We went to a bar bistro and the chef, obviously a wannabe Michelin star, delicately cooked New York-cut sirloin. He prodded and massaged it while cooking to result in meat that was soft and smooth. Delicious.

Lollies and chocolate: I don't eat them but remember a toffee bar in Wellington (again in the 1960's) that had toffee or hard caramel 'knucles' covered in chocolate. It was unbranded and so hard that you could break a tooth trying to bite into it.

Milk shakes: The best ever and never to be replicated was to be found at McKenzies in Cuba Street between 1967 and 1969. After that McKenzies was taken over by Woolwaorths and went downhill. The milk shake was made in a kind of snow-freeze machine and was offered in two or three flavours only. Caramel, Chocolate and maybe banana. They were delicious (and no, those McDonald's and Burger King offerings don't even come close).

Breakfast: Italy. In a private hotel paid for by the wine company I was visiting. A private dining room just for the two of us with a table stacked with fresh breakfast goodies (enough for 20 people).

Wiener Schnitzel: I've never been to Austria but remember good schnitzel at The Matterhorn in Wellington in the'70's. The Old Girl makes a pretty good schnitzel but the consistently best is to be found at Da Sette Soldi restaurant in Auckland. I always have it when we go there.

Fish and Chips: Apart from the ones I make (freshly cut oven baked chips) the best is near home in McLeod Bay. They use fresh caught John Dory or snapper and have fantastic thick-cut chips.

Hamburger: The kiosk in Kelburn park near Victoria University (in the '70's. They used fresh salad including beetroot and hamburger patties (home-made) that shock:horror had seasonings and hence flavour - not like the pap served up nowadays.

I'm hungry now so better go and get some lunch.