Famous in the South ,Cheeserolls
It’s simple and cheesy, and you’ve probably never heard of it, but the much-loved cheese roll – a dish beloved of students and shearers in New Zealand’s ‘Deep South’ – is undergoing a renaissance.
The roll has its origins in the 1930s and by the 1950s, they were commonplace around the south. Inventive housewives spiced up bland, local cheddar with vinegar: New Zealand's Deep South was colonised by Scottish Presbyterians with a love of thrift, and you get the sense the cheese roll was the perfect expression of that. Later still they added chopped onion and by the 1970s, a version using grated cheese, condensed milk and powdered onion soup had appeared.
In the days when you might be required to whip out something for visitors, most hospitable Southern housewives had a tray in the freezer, ready to go under the grill at a moment’s notice and so they fed shearing gangs and sports teams alike.
Helen Leach, the University of Otago academic who has researched the history of the mighty cheese roll at length as part of her investigations of regionalism, theorises that the cheese roll grew in appeal because the south of New Zealand is so much colder than the north. “Soup was very common in southern lunches,” she says. “There was always a big pot of soup – it helps us get through winter. And you don’t want to eat cold sandwiches with your soup: you want something hot and crunchy.”
The glories of the cheese roll are many, and manifest: sliced white bread, filled with a gooey cheese mixture, rolled and then grilled before being rubbed with a generous smear of butter. And yet, until recently they were virtually unknown outside New Zealand’s southern regions of Southland and Otago.
It’s the perfect thing to have with soup. It’s perfect for afternoon tea. It’s perfect for morning tea. Many would even argue it’s perfect for breakfast. It’s great for dinner – or post-dinner, in fact. In France you’d have it on top of onion soup.
The classic New Zealand cheese roll is a variation on that most classic of combinations: bread, cheese, a little bit of flavouring, a grill – it’s part of the same impulse as the Welsh rarebit and the French croque monsieur.
Though as far as anyone can tell, only in the south of New Zealand do they have a tradition of grilling the whole thing rolled up, sometimes with toothpicks, and to this day the cheese roll is almost unheard of in the North Island, despite having being a mainstay of southern cuisine for more than half a century.
These days, they’re known as “Southern Sushi” and they are an intrinsic part of the fiercely proud local culture. Dunedin has an emerging food scene and a quirky sense of its own history, and so you’ll find cheese rolls for as little as $2.00 – most memorably at Governors Café on George Street, which has been feeding hungry students at Formica tables for decades, though they also make for a hearty pick-me-up on Saturdays at the outdoor Otago Farmers’ Market. You’ll even find them on the menus of some of the city’s hip new cafés – like the Vogel Street Kitchen in the city’s regenerating warehouse precinct.
Venture beyond Dunedin and you’ll find cheese rolls on the menu just about everywhere you look in New Zealand’s southern regions – from the southern city of Invercargill to seaside Oamaru on the northern Otago coast where the ‘Cheese Roll Lady’ Sue Harvey parks up her van in the Oamaru Farmers Market held every Sunday in the town’s heritage precinct. Sue’s been making cheese rolls for many years for festivals and community fundraisers and her rolls have earned a dedicated following.
Wherever you find it, the perfect cheese roll will have a gooey, melted cheese inside and a crunchy outside – usually aided with a generous spread of butter before it goes under the grill, though not, local cheese roll enthusiast Hamish Saxton notes, into a sandwich press. “It’s completely pointless to take a roll and put it into a sandwich machine,” he says. “You end up with a cheese flat.”
In some of the cafés, you’ll even find ones using artisan cheese and bread – local artisan cheese maker Whitestone Cheese has developed one using their cheddar for Forsyth Barr Stadium along with their own shop in Oamaru. There has even been one using farmhouse brie and sourdough, though Leach still thinks you should look out for the traditional version. “It’s nice to have a taste tucked inside the roll,” she says. “You bite into it and it oozes into your mouth and releases onto your taste buds.”
Best time to visit
Dunedin is actually at its most vibrant during the cooler months (March and November), when 20,000 full-time students at the University of Otago are in residence. Oyster lovers head to Invercargill for the annual Bluff Oyster amd Food Festival each May. This also, just quietly, happens to be the best time of year to eat cheese rolls.
Where can you find the best cheese rolls in good old Dunedin
A Dunedin institution since 1977, Quirky and Eclectic with Rustic tantilising Cabinet Food and Full Menu , they have such amazing Staff , you will find them on George Street opposite Knox Church.
Nicholls Garden Centre , Dunedin
Huddled amongest the plants and giftware a perfect meet up in weekends for many Dunedinites .
Alto Cafe , Dunedin
This Mornington beauty has a sunny, retro-styled interior with chrome stools that make a perfect spot for a cheeky roll.
Mailer Street , Mornington , Dunedin
Long Dog Cafe , St Clair
Where you can get a fabulous view of the Stunning coastline and the Famous Hot Salt Water Pools , to go with your roll.
St Clair Esplanade, St Clair
Wingatui Farmers Artisan Market
The market is new but has some famous food trucks and well known Suppliers.
Held the first Sunday of each month 10am till 2pm Winagtui Racecourse , Otago Racing , Mosgiel
Vogel Street Kitchen, Dunedin
A brilliant large open café in a gorgeous rustic building with brick interior walls wooden floors has a very New York feel to it vibe … one of Dunedin’s more trendy places for brunches and lunches
76 Vogel Street, Dunedin
