Christchurch bistro Earl and Lyttelton tapas bar Civil & Naval have been announced as finalists in the 2020 Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover, alongside 10 other eateries from around the country.
Each entrant created a toastie that met strict criteria: filling between two slices of bread, able to be eaten by hand, and containing cheese and McClure’s Pickles. Between the 80 of them, they served up a phenomenal 20,000 cheese toasties in July.
Civil & Naval’s toastie is called The ¼ Pack is Back. It’s full of Civil fried chicken with McClure's Garlic & Dill Pickles, Frank's hot slaw, mashed potato bread and golden ale gravy.
Earl’s entry, the Toastie Muff'aletta, contains shaved salamis & meats, ‘nduja butter, McClure’s Garlic & Dill Pickles, olive, provolone, buffalo mozzarella, winter pesto and house crisps in a milk bun.
The other finalists are a mixture of established cafés, hole-in-the-wall hideaways, tapas bars and container eateries. Some are inspired by Indian cuisine, some inspired by burgers. Ingredients include BBQ jackfruit, peanut butter and meatloaf.
Head judge Kerry Tyack says the team of 20 assessors were wowed by this year’s toastie innovation. “We have seen great results from the ‘less is more brigade’ and equally successful offerings from the ‘go for broke’ crew. Experienced old hands have been matched by entries from pop-ups and food caravans. In all regions, scores were close with many contenders for the finalist spot.”
The competition toast-master royale will visit all 12 finalists in August to sample their creations and then together with Kerry Tyack and McClure’s Pickles co-founder Joe McClure, will determine New Zealand’s best toastie of 2020. They will announce the supreme winner on Wednesday 3 September.