I ordered a box of snacks from Kiwi Grub Box, which included was a package of Maggi bacon onion soup mix. I could have just made myself a nice warm bowl of soup, but turns out this brand of onion soup mix is worth its weight in gold for Kiwi ex-pats – it’s one half of Kiwi onion dip. Using onion soup mix to make a dip isn’t unique to New Zealand, but this is so beloved that the ingredients are often shipped out to Kiwis abroad.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the other ingredient – a can of reduced cream. In fact, I have no idea what reduced cream is – it’s only sold in NZ. A bit of searching comes up with some options – table cream or would have the same butterfat amount and looks like a similar consistency. However, Kiwi sources recommend using sour cream. Almost all say nothing tastes the same as reduced cream, but I’ll have to make do.

I’m going to split the package in half and do a little experiment – one dip made with table cream, the other with sour cream. Each then gets a dash of lemon juice (vinegar is alternately used in recipes) and then into the fridge for half an hour.

Okay, sour cream wins hands down, no question. It’s delicious – flavourful and tangy, went perfect with some carrots. The table cream one was far too thin and less tangy. The good news is I’m not going to let it go to waste – I’ll simmer it down into a pasta sauce.

I set some of the dip aside so I can use it to make another Kiwi recipe: cheese rolls. It’s a South Island snack – you grate some cheese into the onion dip, spread it on the verso of buttered bread, roll it up and toast it in the oven! I used brown bread, so a bit less authentic, but yum, these are good – and messy!