Southland Cheese Rolls

Recipes for a cheese roll appear in Otago and Southland community cookbooks from the 1930s onward, and the form has barely changed: a slice of soft white bread, spread with a mixture of grated cheese, evaporated milk and dried onion soup mix, rolled up, buttered on the outside and grilled or toasted until the outside browns and the inside melts. They are called southern sushi, mostly by people from further north, and they are a genuine regional marker - available in essentially every cafe in Southland and Otago and almost nowhere above the Waitaki. They are also the standard school and sports-club fundraiser, sold frozen by the dozen. The dish is unashamedly of its period: processed, salty, cheap and enormously comforting, and nobody in Southland has ever claimed otherwise. Two or three is a serving; more is ambitious.

The main sights

• The construction - white bread rolled around cheese, evaporated milk and onion soup mix.
• The grill - buttered outside, browned, melted inside.
• The geography - everywhere in Southland and Otago, rare north of the Waitaki.
• The fundraisers - sold frozen by the dozen for school and club funds.

When to go

Any time; winter, when Southland is cold, is when they make most sense. Cafes serve them all day; fundraiser batches appear seasonally.

What to expect

Unapologetically processed food - soup mix and white bread. Very rich; two or three is enough. Almost impossible to find in the North Island.

Nearby

Invercargill, Gore and Dunedin cafes; the Catlins is on the same road.