Kai to Pie exhibition

Delving into our history can be quite interesting, especially if you're talking about something that you're interested in - in my case, it's food. Mum and Dad have told me stories about when they were young, what it was like. I find it hard to imagine a world without a good noodle bar around the corner or supermarkets closing before dinner time. Imagine (if you can) a world where Auckland has just one supermarket in Otahuhu, where there's hardly anywhere to get coffee, where we dressed in our finest just to go on a picnic and we had tongue sandwiches packed in picnic baskets.

Auckland Museum's Kai to Pie exhibition (free entry) takes us on a journey through Auckland's history, through the eyes of our food. Would you believe that once there was a mighty feast in Remuera (1844), where 9,000 sharks and and 11,000 baskets of potatoes were cooked as part of a display of Maori might. 

While the exhibition is good and I found it quite interesting, the most exciting parts are the activities surrounding the exhibition. I've listed these under the photos and they include some great school holiday activities!

Have a little sniff of a few different smells typical of some of Auckland's cultures. We can wander through displays of some of Auckland's feasting history, including the 1844 Remuera feast and what a picnic was like before the days of chilly bins and disposable plates. 

At one point, we could fit all of the places to get coffee in Auckland, on a tea towel...

Auckland gets its very first "American-style" supermarket and they named it Foodtown.

And who can forget Georgie Pie? I think that Georgie Pie kept many a tertiary student fuelled in its time. One and two dollar pies were the perfect student meal!

World on a plate - tastings and food demonstrations

Saturdays is cultural food demonstration day - each Saturday, the exhibition will feature one of Auckland's ethnic cultures with food demonstrations, tastings (for a gold coin donation) and cultural performances.

Saturday 19 June: Chinese
Saturday 26 June: Croatian
Saturday 3 July: Maori
Saturday 10 July: Scottish
Saturday 17 July: French
Saturday 24 July: Russian
Saturday 31 July: North African
Saturday 7 August: Cook Islands
Saturday 14 August: Indian
Saturday 21 August: Dutch
Saturday 28 August: Brazilian

Sundays is Trolley Dolly day - sample some kiwi fare from the trolley (free).

Family activities

Family Garden Space (gold coin donation)
Weekends and daily during school holidays
Kids can grind their own flour, decide what to grow in a seasonal garden, listen to stories and take home a growing kit.

Tots and Toddlers Tales (gold coin donation)
Tuesdays from 20 July, 10.30am - 12.00pm
Food themed activities and stories for toddlers.

Coffee festival

Sunday 17 September ($10)

Inaugural Auckland Museum Coffee Festival. There will be Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, barista competitions, talks and coffee sampling, and free fluffies for the kids.

Photo competition

What's on your plate?
Send in your food photos to be part of a special exhibition. Whether it's pictures of you eating, dad cooking, nana in her vege garden - send in your photo and you can win some great prizes!

Every photo submitted will appear in the exhibition and be displayed on our Facebook and Flickr pages. Prizes include a seven-course degustation experience for two at Meredith’s, Auckland’s top restaurant. There will also be monthly spot prizes of iPod nanos and Bokashi Compost-Zing gift packs.

For full details about any of these events, visit aucklandmuseum.com.

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