The Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge is returning this May, bringing the country’s most unexpected ingredients, plus plenty of new ideas and flavours, to pubs, restaurants and eateries around the country.
Going well beyond simple steak or chicken, this year’s entrants are cooking with wild pig, sheep, goat, deer, duck, salmon, whitebait, wallaby and plenty more.
The idea is for chefs to push themselves with wild, foraged and unconventional ingredients, crafting creations that taste delicious, surprise diners and celebrate Kiwi creativity. Each is intended to perfectly pair with a Monteith’s brew, of course.
With the dishes already finalised and just waiting for kick-off (May 1) to be served, anticipate the unexpected, such as the ‘Tale of Two Tails’ – a pie featuring pulled wallaby and rabbit by Storyteller Eatery and Bar in Te Awamutu, and ‘Foveaux Strait Blackfoot Pāua Arancini’ – golden, crisp risotto spheres filled with wild-caught Blackfoot Pāua, offered by Riverton’s Aparima Restaurant and Bar.
Some dishes may even extend your culinary education. This year Auckland’s The Postman’s Leg is offering a special dish of braised fallow osso bucco served with creamy mashed potato, cashew crumble, red wine jus and chargrilled parsnip as its entry. Originating in Italy, osso buco is a tender, cross-cut shank featuring a central bone filled with marrow, derived from the Italian for “bone with a hole.”
In 2025, the successful revival of the challenge after an 11-year hiatus brought unexpected provenance and ingredient innovation back to the forefront. The inventive dishes created plenty to talking about, and invited diners to confront their preconceived ideas around certain foods.
What’s more, the challenge is just that, a competition, with one dish eventually crowed the winner. Public voting will again shape the competition running from May 1-31, with diners casting votes to determine a shortlist of five dishes, before an expert judging panel chooses the ultimate winner.
That judging panel is this year made up of marine biologist and spear fisherman Sam Wild, Emily Lucas, founder of West Coast Pie Co. and broadcaster and comedian Jeremy Wells.
Last year’s winner was the ‘Wild Pitmasters Smoked Platter’, matched with Monteith’s Phoenix IPA, created by The Smoking Barrel in Motueka. The hunger-busting platter included pōhutukawa smoked reverse seared wild venison with fresh mint and chilli chimichurri, 14-hour cherry smoked Carolina style wild pulled pork shoulder, crispy fried buttermilk duck wings with blackout charcoal mayo and spicy horopito Nashville glaze, house-pickled local kamo-kamo, house-baked cornbread with dry cured wild pork bacon and honey butter and an apple, mint & fennel slaw.
Visit the Wild Food Challenge website to view the dishes available, participating outlets and how to vote.
