Houses of Parliment Steak Sauce, By Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, more commonly known as "HP Sauce," appears to be a staple condiment in New Zealand. And well it should be- it's delicious. I was delighted to find a favorite childhood flavor sitting on the deli tables at my luncheon spot, in the place usually reserved for Ketchup and other lesser sauces. The HP Sauce and a classic steak and mushroom pie made for an scrumptious lunch in downtown Auckland. Nothing could have completed the commonwealth experience better then the entertainment just outside the cafe. Yes, that's really a street-corner bagpiper, and he was really quite good.
When I was working in Auckland, a local took a look at the headlines on the paper on my desk (provided by the hotel) and sighed deeply. "That's not the real news," he said "we just put that out to amuse the tourists."
ReplyDeleteThe headline news? The queen mother's corgis, and their jigsaw-puzzle eating habits, plus a man who had just been denied parole on the grounds that he posed a risk to the community "and its livestock" due to his conviction for immoral acts with cows. They weren't even his cows. Several people pointed out defensively that the livestock in question were not sheep.