The first recipes for a version of cheese rolls (a.k.a. Cheese Roll-ups, Southern Sushi) appeared in South Island cookbooks in the 1930s.They gained popularity in the 1950s and 60s, as sliced bread became more common in New Zealand, becoming a fundraiser for Schools and Sports Groups.
Recently the Community Projects group of our club decided to make and sell Cheese Rolls to raise funds for the redevelopment of Rotary Park.
Orders for 477 dozen rolls were received (5,724 rolls), requiring 275 loaves of bread, 82 kg cheese, 8 kg onion soup mix and 1 kg mustard powder.
Twenty club members, partners, friends and family members were involved in the making, spread over a full day Saturday and Sunday morning.
Net profit was of the order of $1,200 which will be split between The Rotary Foundation (10%) and Rotary Park Redevelopment (90%).
As an aside, the end crusts from the bread were collected by Dunedin Craft Distillers and will be used in the production of Gin!!
