Tasty toasties vie for top honours

Kiwis’ love of a toasted sandwich is continuing to surprise with entries in this year’s Great NZ Toastie Takeover doubling.

There has been a 53% increase in entries in the annual competition from all sorts of venues from a boutique hotel to food trucks.

This year, 185 venues have entered, including about 10 in the South.

The rules are the same this year — each toastie must be sandwiched between two slices of bread and able to be eaten by hand if necessary. The toasted sandwich must also contain cheese (or an acceptable vegan substitute) and pickles from the McClure’s Pickles range. Everything else is up to the toastie maker’s imagination.

Dunedin’s Hungry Hobos is looking to reclaim its title of the best (which it won in 2020) with this year’s entry of "The Wild South"— South African-spiced Fiordland venison, scalloped potatoes and its own barbecue sauce.

Around Otago and Southland entries have come from Queenstown, Wanaka, Dunedin and even Lumsden and Waipiata.

Hero ingredients include smoked ham, homemade merino lamb sausages and corned beef. The most "out there" filling for a toasted sandwich may be the apple-wood smoked green-lip mussels with wild samphire by Mikey's KAI food truck in Dunedin.

Although Lumsden’s pickle-brined Stewart Island blue cod with venison salami could come a close second.

Judging is under way by 30 judges overseen by head judge Kerry Tyack. Each toastie will be scored on a set criteria, including presentation, effectiveness of preparation technique, eatability, taste, innovation and originality.

The 12 finalists from each of the six competition regions will be revealed on June 22. The supreme winner will be revealed on July 27 after the competition’s grand toastmaster and McClure’s Pickles founder, Detroit-based Joe McClure, visits the finalists to sample the entries and liaise with Tyack to determine New Zealand’s top toastie for 2022.

Otago-Southland entrants are:

 - Bespoke Kitchen, Queenstown — Croque McClure: Manuka smoked ham, brie, parmesan, caramelised onion, chipotle chilli butter, wholegrain mustard and McClure's Garlic & Dill Pickles.

 - Cargo Gantley's Pub, Queenstown — The Merino Melt: Sourdough ciabatta stuffed with our homemade spiced Merino lamb sausage, McClure's Sweet & Spicy pickles, mozzarella, aged cheddar, fennel kraut, and Cargo-grown Cascade hop pesto.

 - Hungry Hobos, Dunedin — The Wild South: South African spiced Fiordland venison, scalloped potatoes and our homemade barbecue sauce, topped with McClure's Pickles, aged cheddar and mozzarella, toasted in our herb buttered ciabatta.

 - Johnny Crema (Food Truck), Queenstown — Reubie Roll: Corned beef, horseradish bechamel, McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles all rolled up on a divine slice of European Bakery jumbo loaf.

 - Love Chicken, Queenstown — The Mac & Cheese Toastie: Crispy organic free-range chicken, three cheese mac n cheese, McClure's Pickles and caramelised onions.

 - Mikey's KAI (Food Truck), Dunedin — Capt. McClure's: Apple wood smoked green lip mussels, zesty lemon cream cheese cheddar melt, McClure's Pickles and wild samphire toasted on ciabatta with dill butter.

 - Morning Magpie, Dunedin (Vege) - Tickle My Pickle: Organic sourdough, McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles with our house pickles & a big slab of evansdale cheese served with a dipper of tomato soup.

 - Roasted × Toasted, Lumsden — Pickle brined Stewart Island blue cod, local venison salami, Swiss cheese, McClure's Bread & Butter Pickles and kalamata olives.

 - The Waipiata Country Hotel, Waipiata — Coneys Creek Corned Beef: Thick cut corned beef, creamed cheese, Gibbston Valley soft cheddar cheese, McClure's Pickles and picklenaise.

 - The Wanaka ‘Wich Project, Wanaka — Italian Grilled Cheese: Italian salami, pepperoni, house three-cheese blend, McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles, Italian peppers and garlic herb on marble rye.