A Greytown cafe’s toastie has been named among 13 finalists in the Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover, a competition to uncover the nation’s ultimate toasted sandwich.
The Offering impressed judges with its “Beef Greytown”, scoring more than 90 out of 100 to gain a spot in the contest’s final round.
Owner Bevan Morland said he was stoked with the result.
“It was hard work to keep mum on it, I’ll tell you that.”
The Offering had narrowly missed out on the finals in previous years. However, Morland had used this as a learning opportunity, asking judges what the cafe could do to up its game.
Criteria included presentation, effectiveness of preparation technique, “eatability”, taste, provenance, and innovation.
This year, Morland had opted for a “take on a classic”, riffing on the English steak dish “Beef Wellington”.
The Greytown interpretation contained Parkvale mushrooms, onion, baby spinach, thyme and parsley spread, French mustard, pulled hot smoked rump beef with a chipotle BBQ sauce, McClure’s bread and butter pickles, and white cheese sauce between toasted marble rye bread.
The entire package oozed with The Offering’s four-cheese blend.
“It comes out like an awesome steak and cheese pie,” Morland said.
Now came the most challenging part of the competition – waiting on tenterhooks for judges to announce the overall winner.
“It would be cool to bring it home for Wairarapa,” Morland said.
“But the most important thing for us is that people enjoy it and don’t walk away too hungry.”
Masterton’s 10 O’Clock Bakery Cafe missed out on this year’s finals with its Hawaiian pulled pork toastie but received a special mention for scoring at least 90 points.
Head judge Kerry Tyack said imaginations ran wild this year, presenting his team of 30-plus judges with a challenging task.
“It feels like this year, amid all the covid chaos, the toastie has reached the lofty heights of the great Kiwi pie, the whitebait fritter, the perfect pav, and the cheese roll, and can now be accorded the status of national treasure,” Tyack said.
“The judging team assessed many, many standouts in this year’s entries.
“Chefs tackling the toastie have clearly got the hang of making sure it is well toasted, easy to eat – even on the run – and has the right balance of complementary ingredients to keep customers coming back time and again.”
- Finalist judging would begin in July, with the supreme winner announced on July 27.
