Aoraki Pōhutukawa Hot Smoked Salmon is back and Fiona Hugues goes next-level luxe with a savoury salmon celebration cake – smoked salmon layered with toasted brioche, frosted with a tangy cream cheese and topped with caviar pearls and herbs. See the Aoraki Salmon Celebration Cake recipe, then get creative as we hunt for the best savoury salmon cakes. See @cuisinemagazine and aorakisalmon.co.nz for competition details.

Get ready for a sweeter festive season! We’ve teamed up with the talented Maxine Scheckter from Sugar Flour Pastry School to bring you an exclusive collection of holiday desserts (see these here in our Sweet Stunners feature). Want to learn from the best? Maxine has classes featuring the cherry chocolate mousse alongside other summer recipes on 6 and 12 December 2026. Find out more about these and other classes at sugarflour.nz

Greytown Distilling Co – New Zealand’s 2025 Distillery of the Year – opens its first Christchurch store, Blackwell Trading Post, to stock its full range of gins and gift packs along with a pantry range of spreads, sauces and chocolates made with Greytown gin. The store opens with a very special release: Rainshadow, a classic London Dry gin created for Canterbury and sold nowhere else in the country. blackwelltradingpost.com

GOING DUTCH

New Zealand makers The Ironclad Co. have collaborated with Australian fire-specialist chef Lennox Hastie to offer a limited edition of their cast-iron cookware, launching the Ironclad Fire Set by Lennox Hastie: Universal Dutch Oven. Use it to bake, roast, smoke, grill, fry, stew, slow-cook or barbecue, on a campfire or woodfired oven, or induction, gas or electric stovetop. The set consists of a cast-iron Dutch oven as its base, a cast-iron lid doubling as a skillet, an iron bale handle and a trivet that doubles as a smoker. $750. ironcladpan.com