Air New Zealand's new Taste of Aotearoa menu features crayfish bisque and wild venison from Fiordland

Air New Zealand this week launched its new Taste of Aotearoa menu in the premium cabins of long-haul flights departing New Zealand, with ambitious new offerings including crayfish, wild venison and snapper. The airline describes the new food items as contemporary cuisine with a focus on showcasing the country’s finest regional produce and "unique" New Zealand flavours. "I'm extremely proud of this menu, I think it's what New Zealand cuisine is all about," Justin Koen, head of culinary at Air NZ, told Newshub. "It's about our regions and the wonderful produce that we have the luxury of working with as chefs. We have incredible produce all around the country, and we believe that if we can get it locally, we should." Among the items being discontinued in favour of the new menu is an amuse-bouche made with paua. "Unfortunately, the process behind getting the paua - the supplier can't do it for us anymore. Hopefully we can work with them again in the future and bring it back to life, because that was excellent and we loved using it," said Koen. While it may not present the supply challenges of paua, the wild venison dish on the menu was far from easy to get right. Air NZ has served venison inflight before, but not wild venison, with a previous attempt to do so around a decade ago proving unsuccessful, according to Koen.<br/>