New Zealand cuisine is the food culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, shaped by Māori tradition, British colonial settlement, and, more recently, immigration from Asia and the Pacific. It relies heavily on the country's local produce: seafood, dairy, lamb, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Māori cooking contributed techniques such as the hāngi, an earth oven where food slow-cooks over hot stones under packed soil, still used for special occasions. British settlement brought European staples and methods, while later Asian and Pacific immigration introduced fusion dishes blending Māori and European bases with Asian flavors and technique.
Signature foods include pavlova (a meringue dessert topped with cream and fruit, also claimed by Australia), lamb, seafood such as mussels, oysters, and crayfish (rock lobster), kiwifruit, and manuka honey. New Zealand and Australian cuisine overlap heavily (pavlova, lamb, meat pies); the real distinctions are in indigenous influence (Māori vs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait traditions) and specific native ingredients.