Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I have read the comments with great interest. I live in New Zealand and generally there is no tipping. If I take a taxi I round up the amount owing, if the fare is a straight $20, then that is what I give. That is the norm here. There is no tipping of hairdressers for instance, and you might tip a waiter/waitress after having received truly good service and on a special night out. That amount is given as a thank you but it is not expected. The minimum wage here is $12.00 per hour from age 16 and that is before tax. I can't get my head around tipping. I feel that a working person ought to receive a "proper" wage and should not have to rely on tipping (people's mood etc etc) to make a living. Let the price of the meal reflect the true cost of that meal. Having said that, should I travel to the States, I would make an effort to find out how to tip correctly but I would prefer not to have to think about what is appropriate to give and suffer embarrassment through ignorance.

My name is Chris and I live in New Zealand. I came across this site by sheer fluke about two months ago and I enjoy coming here for "blobbing out time" (me time). I am a self taught cook. Meals were very basic when I grew up and I developed an interest in cooking only after I was married - it was a sink or swim affair. I work as a secretary and I am looking forward to more time in the near future to experiment with food and making my own chutneys, preserves etc. I have started baking bread (Zoe Francois' recipes). There is never problem here in New Zealand getting really fresh and good quality produce and because of the huge influx of immigrants here from mainly Asian countries lately, the cuisine is varied and ingredients from all over the world are readily available in the big cities nowadays. I enjoyed very much reading about you all and about the interesting lives you are leading.

Meyer lemons are the lemons most commonly grown in gardens here in the north of the North Island in New Zealand.
They have much less acid than other lemon varieties and are lovely for making lemon drinks because they need much less sugar. Also, like StripeyChef says, they are great in a lemon merengue pie and for lemon syrups to be poured over certain types of cakes.