Based in Wellington, David Burton is one of New Zealand's most influential and respected food writers, having earned his reputation over the last two decades as a discerning, if at times controversial, food and restaurant critic. His regular articles for Cuisine magazine and reviews for the Dominion Post are awaited with anticipation by diners, restaurateurs and chefs alike. When David wrote the award-winning 200 Years of New Zealand Food and Cookery (published in 1982 and regarded by many as the 'bible' of New Zealand's culinary industry), his claims that a unique New Zealand cuisine existed were met with hoots of derision. But David asserts that 'Kwisine Kiwiana', as he calls it, was and still is alive and kicking and evolving.

Comprehensive in its coverage, this new book focuses on food and recipes of our nation. An introductory section covers Maori and traditional colonial foods, including a fascinating history of dining out in New Zealand, and traces developments in the food industry and produce through to the present day. Old Kiwi food institutions such as fish and chips, Aunt Daisy, meat pies, tomato sauce, chilly bins, barbies and chocolate fish, and many more are also covered. Over 100 recipes, from Shepherd's Pie and Toheroa Fritters to Spanikopita and Kumara and Prune Tzimmes, illustrate the dramatic changes in our culinary traditions; not only do they show the influence of thousands of new ingredients which accompanied migrants to New Zealand, but also how we have embraced these cuisines and successfully adapted them to our own indigenous ingredients.