The Sauce NZ

Tash checks in with Vicki from Sicily for a food and travel catch-up that goes well beyond holiday envy. Vicki shares what she has been eating, drinking, and learning on tour, with a focus on Sicilian traditions, regional identity, and how food tells the story of place.
We discuss Sicilian dishes, wines, coastal food culture, and how travel changes when you spend time with locals instead of just ticking off landmarks. Tash also gives a quick update on what is happening back home, including new product tastings and a Barker’s pasta moment.
Key topics
Vicki shares the rhythm of eating in Sicily, from caponata at almost every meal to simple breakfasts built around coffee and cornetto.
The group’s social vibe has been easy and warm, with Kiwis bonding quickly over wine, food, and shared travel energy.
A standout off-the-beaten-path experience came through a local tourism cooperative in Sciacca, where Vicki saw anchovy processing and coral jewellery making.
Vicki explains how anchovies are salted, rested for 49 days, and turned into different products, including white anchovies preserved in vinegar instead of salt.
She describes the sustainability differences in coral harvesting in Sciacca, where black flecks in coral are prized because of the area’s volcanic history.
Sicilian food is less about novelty and more about lineage, with many dishes reflecting family traditions, local ingredients, and regional memory.
Vicki breaks down how Sicily’s food changes by area, including the difference between Palermo arancina and Catania arancino, and why the island’s identity is deeply regional.
The wine story is becoming a major theme for her, especially through house wines, Marsala history, Florio, and the rise of new-generation Sicilian winemakers.
She compares Sicily to Emilia-Romagna to show how Italy is really a patchwork of regions, not one uniform food culture.
Tash gives a home update on new product releases, including a high-protein, high-fibre oat milk and fermented tonic-style drinks, plus a Barker’s sun-dried tomato and olive pasta win.

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What does wine mean when it’s more than a drink? In this week's episode, Tash and Vicki meet Brent Eddy of Home Fields Wine to talk about his unexpected journey from corporate life to winemaking in the Wairarapa—and the deeper cultural role wine plays in bringing people together. They explore the hard work and human stories behind a vineyard, the pressure facing New Zealand wine producers, and why the industry needs to move beyond labels and tasting notes to create more meaningful connections.
At the heart of the conversation is Come Over October: a simple invitation to put down the phone, share a meal, and make time for the people around us.
Whether it’s dinner, a barbecue, board games, or eggs on toast, the point is the same: gathering doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to happen.
In this episode:
Brent’s path from city life to running a vineyard
The realities of growing and making wine in the Wairarapa
Why wine is a cultural ritual, not just a product
The changing relationship between younger generations, hospitality and social connection
How better stories can help people discover wine
The idea behind Come Over October—and how to take part

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Tash and Vicki couldn't visit Wellington without inviting Lucy Corry to the group chat. Iconic food writer and noe RNZ's Lifestyle Editor, Lucy says the fix for NZ food writing starts with telling better stories about real people, real seasons, and real kitchens.
If you care about how we eat, what gets published, and why some food content connects while so much of it disappears into the scroll, this conversation will hit hard.
Lucy is known for her unmistakeable 'voice' behind The Kitchen Maid and her Sunday Fancy Butter Substack, and she joins us for a sharp, funny, and surprisingly urgent conversation about the state of food media in Aotearoa. Together we unpack why New Zealand food storytelling has often been stuck between recipes and restaurant reviews—and why that narrow view leaves out so much of the country’s actual food culture.
We explore seasonality, recipe writing, AI-generated food content, editorial judgement, and the difference between food writing that informs and content that simply feeds the algorithm. Lucy also explains why the most compelling food stories are really about people, not plates—and why voices outside the usual food-media lane are so urgently needed.This episode is for writers, editors, cooks, publishers, food lovers, and anyone who believes food stories should mean more than content.

Show the love by giving this episode a Like, a review or leaving a comment - we read every single one. Then head to http://www.thesaucenz.com to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
Visit gerrys.co.nz and use the code SAUCE20
Visit barkers.co.nz and use the code SAUCE15

The Sauce is on the road! This week we went on an adventure to Wellington, to spend time with some behind the scenes hospitality professionals making a real difference. One of whom is Dominique McMillan, co-owner of Floridita's and Loretta and co-founder of Kitchen Day. Kitchen Day started as a series of events to bring hospitality industry in Wellington together and it's blossomed into a heartfelt and special community, as well as a podcast showcasing the incredible people who work in front of house and service roles.

When you're in Wellington - support our hosts for this episode Hawthorn Lounge (82 Tory St, Wellington) and be sure to check out https://www.kitchenday.co.nz/ wherever you listen to podcasts, and as ever, we couldn't do this without our remarkable sponsors: Gerry's and Barkers.

This week we unpack the real and true history of fish & chips: a journey of migration and how food, techniques and technology move around the world. We're so passionate about understanding how this dish evolved and has become uniquely Kiwi in it's own way - and different in every part of the world. To help understand it, we talk to Izzy from Rivers Catch in Rotorua. Izzy shares how she turned a suburban Rotorua fish and chip shop into a destination by treating it like a restaurant experience. The conversation covers her move from the Philippines to New Zealand, and the menu choices that make Rivers Catch stand out.
We discuss fish selection, chip cuts, sustainability, Filipino-inspired dishes like lumpia and adobo fish tacos, and how she educates customers without losing the comfort of a classic Kiwi takeaway.
Tash and Vicki also help frame the cultural place of fish and chips in New Zealand and the community value of a good local takeaway.
Key topics
Izzy explains that Rivers Catch is an upmarket fish and chip shop in Sunnybrook, Rotorua, chosen deliberately for its suburban location and local customer base rather than tourists.
She shares her journey from the Philippines to New Zealand, including her background as a nurse, her culinary training in Auckland, and the moment she realized kitchen work felt like home.
Izzy talks about learning the realities of hospitality ownership through Fish Smith in Herne Bay, which taught her the business side of opening and running a shop.
She describes how Rivers Catch was built on more than food alone, with attention to atmosphere, service, music, seating, reading material, and an overall restaurant-style experience.
Izzy explains her sourcing philosophy, including nearby organic vegetables, sustainable fish suppliers from Napier, and a strong preference for quality and consistency.
She breaks down her favorite fish choices, especially blue warehou, trevally, gemfish, and tarakihi, and why she avoids relying on snapper or hoki for battered fish and chips.
The conversation explores how she uses menu cards at the counter to educate customers about different fish, helping locals become more adventurous and informed.
Izzy shares how Filipino dishes have become part of the business identity, including fish and prawn lumpia and adobo fish tacos, which have found a strong audience.
She explains her chip strategy, including thick-cut 18 mm chips, shoestring chips for kids and burgers, and why she stopped short of hand-cutting every chip.
The hosts and Izzy discuss the cultural significance of fish and chips in New Zealand, especially its role as a suburban institution and a familiar family meal.