Okere Falls

2022 - 7 - 26

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Stuff.co.nz"

Rotorua chef smokes competition to be crowned top of the toasties ... (Stuff.co.nz)

Three years of South Island dominance have come to an end with the crowning of Rotorua's Okere Falls Store's chef Rich Johns as the winner of the 2022 Great ...

Their juice lifted the sour cream to a pickle and dill inspired high.” The Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover competition criteria required sandwiches to be toasted between two slices of bread and able to be eaten by hand. The toasties also needed to contain cheese and McClure’s pickles, with all the other ingredients entirely up to the entrant’s imagination. “The Okere Falls Store is a craft beer café, and it was great to see they maxed out the influence of craft brewing. “It reinforces the love and care we put into the creations at Okere Falls - we get lots of compliments from our diners on the food.” Three years of South Island dominance have come to an end with the crowning of Rotorua’s Okere Falls Store’s chef Rich Johns as the winner of the 2022 Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover.

Title of NZ's top toastie of 2022 awarded to untrained Rotorua chef (1 News)

The sandwich is all about 24-hour smoked brisket, cheesy goodness, and the zing of horseradish and pickles.

It’s then topped off with some watercress and hop-salted mozzarella. The sandwich is coated in a layer of cheese and brisket, followed by a dash of horseradish and a generous helping of McClure’s pickles. One of the key ingredients in the winning toastie is the 24-hour smoked brisket, which is brined in the lager and rubbed with a blend of secret spices before going in the pellet smoker.

Where to find New Zealand's best toastie (New Zealand Herald)

Fans of toasted sandwiches packed with hot, unctuous cheese, tangy pickles and, in this case, beer-brined smoked brisket, will want to stop in at Okere Falls ...

(Also a finalist in 2021) Johns' win also marks the first time in three years that the top toastie title has gone to a North Island eatery. We've had so many rave reviews about the toastie and to win, it means a lot." BEERS (Christchurch): Lamb Margera: Smoked lamb shoulder, Swiss cheese, McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles, kimchi and onion rings on sourdough. The Public Office (Ngatea, Coromandel): The Smoky Pork & Pickle: Cider braised pork, smoky wood sauce, melted gouda and McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles, topped with crispy fried pickles. No ingredient was superfluous, we gave it a perfect score for taste," said head judge, Kerry Tyack.

SunLive - Okere Falls Store café smokes competition - The Bay's ... (SunLive)

The winning sandwich consists of house-smoked, beer-brined brisket, McClure's Pickles, hop-salted mozzarella, smoked cheddar, watercress, and horseradish on ...

When brothers Bob and Joe McClure were first given the recipe for their Grandma Lala’s legendary pickles, they decided to share her genius with the world and produced a range of small-batch pickles under the McClure name. The Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover competition criteria required sandwiches to be toasted between two slices of bread and able to be eaten by hand. Their product range includes Seedlip, McClures Pickles, Noble Maple Syrup, Huffman’s Sauces, Lillie’s Q sauces, 5 Olive Oil, Tony’s Chocolonely and Welly First Aid. Cook and Nelson is owned and operated by husband and wife team – Nick Brown and Becs Caughey. Cook & Nelson’s HQ boasts one of the most inspiring views in town, located in a small boat shed in Orakei. For more info: www.cookandnelson.com. The winning toasted sandwich remains on their menu seven days a week (from 10am – 4pm) until the end of August – and potentially beyond! The trophy, made in 3D resembles a jar of pickles with a pickle riding a bike and flying a McClure’s flag – duplicating the branding created for this year’s campaign. Previous winners include Steve MacDougall from Mollies, Hotel D’Urville in Blenheim (2021), Romeo Dowling Mitchell from Hungry Hobos Dunedin (2020) and Joseph Walker from the Hokitika Sandwich Company (2019). For full info see www.toastietakeover.com. Their juice lifted the sour cream to a pickle and dill inspired high. We’ve had so many rave reviews about the toastie and to win, it means a lot.” The brisket was brined in a house lager from local brewer Lumberjack Brewing, then spritzed with McClure’s pickle brine and smoked for 24 hours on site using a special rub. They search the globe to find individuals who share a passion for crafting extraordinary food and who innovate with exciting new processes and recipes resulting in remarkable and unexpected fare. The Great NZ Toastie Takeover, New Zealand’s only national toasted sandwich competition, was established in 2018 by McClure’s Pickles and local distributors Cook & Nelson. Now in its fifth year, the competition is run over the winter period in two phases. Undeterred, he returned for another attempt, proving that second time can also be the charm.

Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover: Bay of Plenty café lays claim ... (Newshub)