High-end restaurants are putting cheffy twists on a regional classic but, for some, fancy fillings defeat the purpose

It could be the cheesiest version yet of the chicken or the egg debate, or trees falling in forests and if they make a sound: if you put a cheese roll on mustard, is it still a cheese roll?

It’s a question at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island, where cheese rolls are, for some, as much a part of identity as wine is in Bordeaux.

Ask Jude Brown, “born and bred” in the area sometimes called the deep south, and the definition of a cheese roll is quite specific: “Melty, cheesy, buttered morsels of rolled bread with a hint of onion, grilled in the oven.”

That’s how Gareth Hamilton and Kate French serve “southern sushi” (as cheese rolls are known by many) at the Batch, a cafe in Invercargill.

“Our customers love the traditional,” Hamilton says.

Yet cheese rolls are changing – hence the existential questions about the dish.

At the Press Club at Fable Dunedin, a boutique luxury hotel in the deep south’s largest city, the head chef, Darren Smith, uses imported dijon mustard, spread on to the plate before cheese rolls are arranged on top.

“The mustard pairs well with pickled cucumber, which adds a nice refreshing element to complement the cheese rolls,” says Smith, adding they’ve been on the menu since the restaurant opened – with bad timing – in March 2020.

“All chefs try to leave their mark on dishes, and for us cheese rolls are no different.”

Serving southern sushi with mustard might sound blasphemous to a purist, but there’s precedence for evolving a food not easily found outside the deep south.

Research from Raelene Inglis and the University of Otago emeritus professor Helen Leach, in the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers’ Pen and Palate from June 2008, found that cheese rolls really took off in the 1950s and 60s – just as sliced bread was becoming more common.

But unlike many of today’s iterations, the first cheese roll recipes, which appeared in South Island cookbooks in the 1930s, didn’t feature pre-sliced bread bought from a shop.

Near Dunedin in Mosgiel, the Aurora Cafe has “regular” cheese rolls and a gourmet variety that includes corn relish, cream cheese, and white bread from Dunedin’s Bakehouse on Bond (formerly Cottage Bakehouse, among other names).

“Consistency is one secret to a good cheese roll,” says the cafe’s co-owner, Alan Carey.

“Also, even though it’s being toasted, for a better quality the bread is important, hence the reason we use a local baker and will never use supermarket bread.”

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Others are taking things even further. In Queenstown, fine-dining restaurant Rātā was – until recently – serving cheese rolls as an entrée with hazelnuts, apricots, truffle oil, and honey.

Key word: was – because the cafe’s owner, Fleur Caulton, says they’re no longer on the menu. She didn’t elaborate why.

The Batch’s Kate French won’t speculate, but says her customers typically like cheese rolls to be simple. “When you start putting things on it, you’re getting close to a cheese toastie.”

It’s something Jude Brown says, too.

“A cheese roll does not lend itself to fanciful fillings,” she says.

“Otherwise, they are ‘formerly a cheese roll’ or ‘based on the perfectly good version.’”

If any place would do “fancy” cheese rolls, it would be Larnach Castle – a hilltop castle and major tourist draw near Dunedin. Cheese rolls are among the most popular items in their cafe.

“We have reverted to the tried-and-true fundraising version: grated cheese, onion, hot water – the only addition is cream cheese,” says the sales and marketing manager, Deborah Price.

“We have also moved away from the fashionable gourmet extra-large roll and gone back to the smaller traditional roll.”

The reason? “The cheese melts better and they are crunchier.”

At the Press Club, Darren Smith says diner response has been positive – some people even come specifically for the restaurant’s take on cheese rolls.

In a head-to-head comparison, Aurora Cafe’s Carey says on some days, their gourmet cheese rolls do outsell the traditional variety.

But what’s a non-native’s view? Originally from the North Island, Noel Peterson hadn’t encountered cheese rolls before moving to the deep south town of Bluff in 2017.

He quickly realised how important they are to regional identity. But he also thinks they could evolve – with one important caveat.

“The main thing about a cheese roll … is the cheese.”