There’s so much more to eggplant than slathering it with (expensive) cheese. There’s baba ganoush, eggplant curry, Egyptian mesa’a’ah, as a kasundi or as an agrodolce with almonds and feta. And the best part, is that it’s currently dirt cheap.

I bought a 1kg plastic tub and I’ve run through it as a side dish or flavour enhancer to everything from Spam and eggs, adobo and even as a burger topping.

I had my 1st Bo Sam at a party and I’ve been obsessed by it ever since

It’s called Kurobuta pork and comes from pure Berkshire pigs which have been bred and farmed according to traditional Japanese techniques. There’s a supplier in the South Island and a kilo for a pork belly cut starts at $49.

A new steakhouse has opened in Auckland and it doesn’t just offer the usual- go and try its $180 Wagyu tomahawk steak or exotics such as kangaroo and ostrich meat from Aussie.

They’re everywhere doing the same kind of epidemic run as last season’s dumplings. But I don’t really care; I can have them every day til the end of time