I lived in New Zealand for a year(2023-2024). I went to supermarkets regularly and ate what I cooked all the time. I found some differences in veggies and fruits than Japan, my home country. New Zealand ones tend to less sweet.
Onion
Both look the same. You can tell the difference when you cut one and make a stir fry. The New Zealand one is hard, less juicy, and less sweet. I like Japanese ones.
What is interesting about onions in New Zealand is that at every store, even small stores there are purple ones besides normal ones. People are more aware of their health, I guess.
Apple
Japanese apples are bigger, sweeter and juicier. I have never thought of eating one while walking. If I did that, I would make my hand dirty. The juice contains more sugar so my hands would be sticky and I would feel uncomfortable. Because they are big, we usually peel and cut it into wedges, and share them with family members.
Definitely, I prefer Japanese one. However, they are expensive so cheap people like me would not buy even one daily. In New Zealand, prices are higher than Japan. But, apples are cheaper. We can get it all the time at a low cost. I feel like this is the most popular fruit in Aotearoa. When you feel hungry, you can take one from your fridge and take a bite without making a mess.
Sweet potato(Kumara)
New Zealand sweet potatoes are not sweet. There are 3 choices, orange, gold and red. Japanese ones are none of them. The color is rather yellow and it is so sweet like a fruit. We have red non sweet ones, but they are not popular.
Cucumber
In New Zealand, cucumber telegraph is the most popular. They are big and beautiful. They are covered with plastic film one by one. When eaten raw, it is juicy and soft. People use them to make a salad. But, for me, the salad is not so nice. I think it is good for soup.
In Japan, it is hard to find these big cucumbers. We pick cucumbers from plants when they are young. We eat small cucumbers. They are crunchy. Big cucumbers are not crunchy and thought as ugly, so avoided.
Leek
You can see this for a whole year in New Zealand. I am in Japan for longer than 20 years. I have never seen this. Instead, we have green onions. It is rare in new Zealand. They look similar but are small. The texture is almost the same. However, when it is cooked, it gets sweet. Leeks o the other hand never get sweet. We chop green onion and put it on our food like natto as garnish.
I like sweet veggies and fruits. I think it is because I am a Japanese. Japanese cuisines contains sugar and our bread is sweet.
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