After several years in Christchurch, the superbly organised event moved to Auckland and the Langham Hotel and spread over three days.
The 48 masterclasses, a symposium, lunches and a degustation dinner ranged from (almost) getting dirt under the fingernails (it is, after all, the year of the potato and potatoes appeared almost everywhere) with Christchurch chef Jonny Schwass of Restaurant Schwass demonstrating his innovative use of heirloom vegetables and Australian Stephanie Alexander, author of the magisterial Cook's Companion, talking about her Kitchen Garden Foundation for teaching gardening, cooking and eating skills to children.
At the other end of the spectrum was the rarefied, cutting-edge cuisine of chefs like Michael Meredith, of Meredith's in Auckland, Andrew Brown, of the George Hotel in Christchurch and Paul Jobin, of Pure Tastes in Pahia.
Inspired by molecular gastronomy techniques by such chefs as Ferran Adria of the acclaimed El Bulli restaurant in Spain and Heston Blumenthal, of The Fat Duck in the UK, they use stabilisers, emulsifiers and thickeners from the food-processing industry to create foams and jellies.
Some chefs like Schwass used only what was in season, others like Meredith rejoiced in being able to get passionfruit all year round now.
In between the food and wine classes were lunches, including a "Great New Zealand Lunch" of finger food, created by platinum Beef and Lamb ambassador, Dunedin chef Michael Coughlin, of Bell Pepper Blues.
For inspiration he looked back to traditional New Zealand favourites like roast lamb, steak and kidney pie and burgers.
He marinated lamb rump in mint and garlic, roasted it medium rare and served it in a crisp dinner roll with beetroot pickle and rocket leaves.
A mini beef burger with confit onions and rocket aioli was served in rye bread, little cornish pasties were filled with rich oxtail and kidney, and tiny pavlovas topped with cream and strawberry rounded off the meal.
Working in the vast hotel kitchens, he enjoyed sharing ideas and tastes with other leading chefs from around the country, Australia, California and Italy.
"In a situation like this, no matter how high-profile you are, every chef still requires a second opinion.
It was good, working in a section with Tony Tan [Australian culinary teacher and chef]. He'd say 'come and try this'.
No matter how far you regard your celebrity status, you still like a second opinion and have to have approval," he said.
He was interested to see some of the new techniques of molecular gastronomy, but says that being in Dunedin he doesn't feel an obligation to keep up with the Joneses in the latest food trends like these.
Instead he prefers to retain the true flavours of good ingredients.
"There are different approaches and sometimes I want to tell a story, and other times I want to highlight and project a certain opinion through using food.
"Sometimes there are such wonderful products, and I just think what can I do with it, to serve it as naturally as possible," he said.
It's easy to bury yourself in your own kitchen and attending events like Savour New Zealand restores your confidence in what you do, he said.
Next year's Savour New Zealand will be held at the Langham in Auckland from April 2 to 5, 2009.
Information will be available on www.savournewzealand.co.nz
