I haven’t done a cheese roll post for a while. But I am concious that there’s a group of cheese roll fans (fanatics) out there in Wellie who might appreciate one or two (or nine!).
I’ve just ordered a bunch of them from a school fundraiser. Shall I bring them to Parliament and how do you want them? Frozen or cooked?
Ideas?
And if you don’t want to comment on Red Alert I’m happy to have emails; clare.curran@parliament.govt.nz
I just discovered this on Facebook. Unashamed parochial moment of excitement. I know there are more of you out there.
Join. You’ll never look back.
And it’s spurred me to try to remember to organise cheese roll days in Parliament. Tell me you want them. (I know you do)
Had the best cheese roll on Saturday at Mrs Clarks Cafe in Riverton, where we ended up after attempting to attend the Ngai Tahu Hui A Tau at Colac Bay but the weather intervened. Incredibly strong winds had blown down the main tent and prevented the hui from beginning on time.
In the end we only caught the opening addresses by Ngai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Mark Solomon and CEO Anake Goodall
And of course we had amazing kai at lunchtime in a tent which felt as though it was about to lift off. While the experience was precarious weather-wise and we didn’t get to hear the main discussions, we did see all of Ngai Tahu (or Kai Tahu as we say in my part of the world) working together to battle the elements. It was uplifting (literally) and a great experience.
And then there was that cheese roll. Perfect.
PS: I meant to add that someone I was with on Saturday coined the apt phrase to describe the cheese roll as “the sushi of the south”.
It’s come to my attention that a number of my colleagues don’t know what a cheese roll is. They think they do, but they don’t.
Why does this matter? Well, if you live in my part of the country, the South, then the cheese roll is, well, it’s an institution. It’s used for school fundraisers, it’s sold with pride in cafes (coffee shops) with lashings of butter on the outside. And the further south you get, the bigger they get, and the more lashings of butter.
I grew up with cheese rolls. I expect everyone to know what they are. But they don’t. MPs north of Dunedin don’t have a clue, unless they grew up in the South, except for Jacinda Ardern, who has already had the experience, and Grant Robertson, who grew up in Dunedin (and apparently once wrote a review of cheese rolls).
Clayton Cosgrove experienced his first cheese roll with me in Invercargill a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t the best specimen, but he got the picture! In fact, he was anticipating The Big Cheese Roll as we drove into Invercargill. Just like Gore has The Big Trout! Maybe that’s an idea for Tim Shadbolt to think about.
Ok, I’ll stop there. I guess I was inspired by Ode on a Grecian Urn, by Keats, that I learnt at school. Not quite the same thing. But hey, it’s the South!
