A Vernacaular Food Tradition and National Identity in New Zealand

The humble meat pie is one of the most consumed casual takeout foods in New Zealand. Readily available in every bakery, corner dairy, cafe and gas station, they were traditionally the mainstay of roadside food vendor wagons known as "pie carts." This paper demonstrates how that modest, familiar feature of everyday life in New Zealand-the roadside pie cart-is a site where values of national identity were/are enacted. Contemporary pie carts no longer necessarily sell pies-but the name remains. Traditional pie carts do however live on in the memories and narratives of patrons. This paper investigates the role of these carts, past and present, in reiterating national food attitudes, and as a reflection of social change.