West Auckland

Thanks to the influx of Eastern Europeans in the 1930s and 1940s, some of the predominant flavours found in West Auckland are those of the Mediterranean diet. Fruit features strongly, the most obvious being grapes, with some of New Zealand's best-known wines produced here. It's well worth the drive to West Auckland to pick up apples and, in the height of summer, delicious sweet and juicy strawberries. With the Waitākere Ranges and Woodhill Forest on the doorstep, there is plenty of opportunity to forage for edible plants. The West Auckland food landscape is becoming more culturally interesting every day, with influences from Asia in particular changing the way we cook the local produce.