I'm not married, so I spend a lot of time thinking about my wedding cake-to-be. I often thumb through Martha's book on wedding cakes on the floor of Barnes & Noble, and I can't pass a window full of them without gazing longingly. They're just so beautiful.

In all of this fantasizing, it's never occurred to me to think about having a cake made out of something other than cake. Like, for example, cheese. But apparently cheese cakes are becoming trendy in countries like New Zealand -- layers and layers of gorgeous, decorated cheese. Has anyone ever actually witnessed or tasted one of these? Would you consider having one?

A peach farmer in New Zealand has been growing a new variety of peaches for a couple of seasons now. Well, the variety is new to the English speaking world, I guess.

The flatto peach has been growing in China and across Asia for thousands of years. In fact it is supposedly one of the oldest varieties of the fruit. It has a flat bottom and flat top, so it's not round like to variety of peach that I'm used to. The flatto also is said to have a superior flavor and juiciness. That sounds great!

The grower, Kevin Paulin, says he's never had this much interest before. Apparently people have been been seeking him out to ask about his new crop. No word yet if this will reach American markets. The peaches have barely begun appearing in New Zealand stores. It's still pretty new outside of Asia, so it may take a while. Does anyone know about this variety of peach, and if it is available outside of China and New Zealand?

• The Boston Globe Magazine turns Japanese, I really think so.
• Making takeout at home.
• An evening with The Bacon Club.
• Football players love pie.
• The Food Snob's Dictionary looks like fun.
• Mmmmmm...Cider Doughnuts.
• Turduken...in a can?
• How about a taste of New Zealand?
• This week's recipes: Almond-Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon, Carrot Pate, Cauliflower with Tuna, Raisins, and Capers, and Orange-Scented Cranberry and Pecan Scones.

Two 14-year-old New Zealand girls made the news recently when their school science project revealed that Ribena, the popular black currant drink, did not have the high levels of vitamin C it claimed to. According to a story published yesterday in The Guardian, the girls were testing a variety of beverages, expecting to find that the less expensive ones had less vitamin C, when they discovered the opposite. Their results were picked up by a local news show and then eventually a national watchdog group. Today, The Guardian reported that GlaxoSmithKline, the drink's producer, is being fined almost $160,000 for misleading ads, which stated "the black currants in Ribena contain four times the vitamin C of oranges." A GSK press release says that that fact is true "on a weight for weight basis," but also admits that it could be misleading. There's also some discrepancy about the differing vitamin C levels in the concentrate versus the diluted product. On a personal note, I was a Ribena drinker for a while. I think it's tasty stuff. I don't think I ever believed it was good for me, however.

Although the results of the 12th annual Great New Zealand Sausage Competition won't be in until later this week, the most interesting thing about the judging isn't finding out who the winner is (unless you were participating, of course) but who was doing the judging in the first place. In addition to the Beef, Pork, BBQ, Flavored, Flavored BBQ, Saveloy/Polony/Cocktail, Traditional, International, and Gourmet categories that were evaluated by experienced judges, there was also a second judging of a selected group of entries to see who would win the Kids' Choice Award. All the entries, selected from those participating in other categories in the competition, were scrutinized by two groups of kids: seven judges under the age of five, and a group under the age of nine.

Perhaps some will bristle at the idea of their product being judged by kids, but most children love sausages and while they may not be able to pick out the same points as a life-long professional food critic would, they certainly know the difference between a good one and a bad one.

If you're sitting around trying to decide on a new wine to try tonight with you dinner, may we suggest a little something from New Zealand?

Forbes picks 15 "Five Star" wines from the tiny country that served as backdrop to a giant movies about hobbits:

1. Cable Station Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2004 ($18) - "bright, ripe fruit flavors balanced with just the right amount of acidity to keep it food-friendly. Forget those ponderous zins and shirazes, this is the red for a barbeque"
2. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2005 ($26) - "Deceptively light at first, it slowly evolves in the glass to eventually reveal a long, rich finish packed with a smoky minerality."
3. Craggy Range Merlot, Hawkes Bay, 2003 ($35) - "a perfect balance of silky tannins, lush ripe fruit and good acidity for a robust structure that's unusual for this varietal."
4. Crossroads Destination Series Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay, 2003 ($16) - "Rich and lush with ripe fruit in the front of the mouth, but with a fine, tart, green apple finish."
5. Drystone Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2003 ($30) - "bright flavors of red cherry fruit and June strawberries abound, pulled together by a soft touch of oak and round, ripe tannins"

I'm not vegetarian (though I did try a vegan lifestyle for about a year), but I love this idea of a vegetarian film festival. Organizers of New Zealand's first ever Vegetarian Film Festival will be showing selected movies that have vegetarian themes, ranging from "light" like the indie film Shooting Vegetarians to "heavy," like the story of a live sheep export campaigner in Jill's Film.

But it's not just vegetarian in the movie, it's vegetarian at the movies as well, with concessions stands selling popcorn, vegan ice cream, and contests in which festival-goers can win vegetarian wines (aren't all wines vegetarian!??!) and vouchers to vegetarian restaurants.

The film festival will take place in Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealan on October 8 in conjunction with World Vegetarian Day.

In New Zealand, scientists have been able to determine precisely which genes are responsible for the individual flavors and scents of fruits and flowers. As a result of this breakthrough, it will now be possible to actually produce natural flavorings without having to resort to chemical extractions or other synthetic processes, not to mention that it will save time trying to match the flavors of new products to natural ones. The scientists inserted the newly-identified genes into bacteria and model plants, which then produced the same results. Using a process known as biofermentation, they will be able to harvest the flavors and smells from the cultures in which they are grown and then implant them into food products (or perfumes).

The upshot of all of this is that it opens the door to a nearly infinite number of flavors - all-natural flavors, at that. As consumer demand increasingly grows for "natural" products, it seems likely that novel, but natural, flavorings could catch on. Green apple potato chips, anyone?

Australian actor/comedian Paul Fenech (Fat Pizza) recently made a 12,000-mile pizza delivery, from Austraila to New Zealand, via Spain and South Africa. The three-day trek was done to raise money for 13-year-old Niko Apostolakis, a non-hodgkins lymphoma sufferer in Wellington, New Zealand, and to raise awareness for CanTeen, a youth cancer charity group. To make getting through customs easier, the pizza was cheese-free. Apostolakis didn't have to eat the three-day-old pie once it arrived, Stuff reported. Fenech apparently took down a slice upon delivery, however, according to NineMSN. Oddly enough, the previous record was held by another T.V. show, Neighbors, for a London to Australia delivery.

A study in New Zealand has linked TV watching and a poor diet, showing that kids who watch a lot of TV are more likely to eat unhealthy foods. Interestingly, the study also noted that the foods had a stronger correlation to obesity and weight gain than decreased physical activity alone.

All the research seemed to lead up to one thing: the authors of the study, and no doubt whoever sponsored it, want to see a ban on "bad food advertising" in New Zealand. There is currently a voluntary "ban" that many advertisers comply with and officials say that it is effective.

Wouldn't it be better for researchers to study ways to actually improve the diet of children and to get them to be more active? We don't need more studies that identify potentially harmful things - are we going to ban everything that isn't "health" food?

Stronger, darker craft brews are gaining popularity, especially here in the U.S., and the  researchers at HortResearch in New Zealand say that their new hybrid hops will suit changing tastes. The new hops is a blend of European and New Zealand strains and has a stronger aroma, reported BeverageDaily.com. Researchers don't seem worried that the new variety of hops will make for a costlier beer for the consumer, as many beer buyers already seem willing to shell out the extra cash for premium brews. Anheuser Busch also appears interested in the new hops, HortResearch says.

It would seem the anticipated labour shortage in New Zealand has not materialised; there was a fear that some vineyards would suffer and loose their crops as pickers were in such short supply last year. It would seem they are OK.

Not so in California. Here the crack down by US immigration has limited the number of workers. Because US citizens do not want to do the (admittidly backbreaking work) the industry has relied on illegal immigrants for the short period of harvest.

'We are having a hard time enticing people to do this hard work, so we are encouraging lawmakers to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that would include jobs, such as a supervised program for workers to come into the US and then go back to their country or be eligible for US citizenship.' Says Nat DiBuduo, CEO of Allied Grape Growers.

A New Zealand company is using some unusual tactics to grab customers' attention. The Brazil cafe commissioned a company to create specialty branded trash cans to promote their coffees. The trash cans are shaped like coffee cups, complete with protective sleeve and stir stick, and shout "Coffee taste like crap?" insinuating that coffee drinkers should ditch their sub-par beverages and head for a Brazil location, to which the cans helpfully point the way. Located in a popular Auckland neighborhood with many independent cafes as well as corporate chains, the cans that were placed outside a Starbucks had their slogans removed by Starbucks employees who were unhappy about them. There is little doubt that the company wasn't a big fan, either.

[Image via Adrant]

 

The 'your children are fat and what are you going to do about it' vibe hits New Zealand as the chairman of an international obesity taskforce, Professor Philip James, says there is too much talk about obesity in New Zealand and not enough action.

Just as Jamie Oliver is taking action in the UK's schools, this chap says children's diets in New Zealand are "atrocious" because food companies recognise that by marketing to children they can manipulate eating patterns of entire families.

James says New Zealand should ban all food advertising on children's television and cut the goods and services tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. Voluntary codes do not work, he says, and New Zealand should pass laws to ban it and all other forms of food advertising that target children. Again like Oliver, he says that schools should ban sugary foods from their canteens.

One of the reasons I miss the Bay Area is the San Francisco Chronicle. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Los Angeles Times and a couple of the writers in the weekly food section are ones I look forward to. However, the San Francisco Chronicle dedicates a whole section to wine on Thursdays (and the fact that there is no need to "register" right away).

As we've already posted, the Chronicle pays homage to the wines of New Zealand this week, but their list of 36 recommendations from the 52 wines that they tasted deserves to be singled out. They're all Sauvignon Blanc, which is what New Zealand is famous for.

• Highest ranked of their list, rated three and a half stars (***½) to 2005 Framingham Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($17), 2005 Matua Valley Paretai Estate Series Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($17), and 2005 Sauvignon Republic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($18). 2005. That was a very good year.
• Three stars (***) out of four awarded to 2005 Forrest Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($16).
• Two and half stars (**½) for just about everyone else.

  Aw, they didn't even mention my favorite Monkey.