Māori / Pasifika Kai

Rongoā Māori

Kumarahou

Māori vocabulary:

Rongoa - medicine and wellbeing

Karakia - prayer

Tohunga - expert

Tapu - holy

Te Urewera - an ancient forest in the North Island

True or false?

1. Totara bark was used to heal broken bones.

2. Kumarahou is taken for coughs.

3. Tohunga were able to cure many diseases that came with colonists.

4. Tohunga had supernatural powers.

5. Wiremu Doherty was raised by his mother.

6. Rongoa is used in the public health system.

Rongoā Māori making a comeback

Language used:

to go underground

to make a comeback

a fountain of knowledge

a resurgence

to overuse

to show signs of infection

sustenance

deadly diseases

supernatural powers

to bring in a law

to keep a secret

an exhaustive knowledge

so and so

the outside world

calls for

lesser

to be richer for

Totara bark

He Tui

p 190-191 The Natural World of the Maori

Why were Tuis kept in cages some distance from a village (kianga)?

Listen twice and record the significance of the following items (mentioned in order):

Winter
Poetry and oratory
40-50
Males
Brush
Nectar
Cage
Guests
Oven
Genealogies
War

Tui song

Tui mimicry

Lead in

1. Are you from a family that loves to cook? 

2. Are any techniques of cooking or creating food in your family you would "traditional"?

3. What kinds of food grow naturally in your country?

4. Do you ever go out collecting food in the wild? (foraging, fishing, hunting)

5. Do you know of any foods that are native to New Zealand?

A wāhanga kai - food stage

Kai laid out for a hākari

Matariki in New Zealand - A time to feast

Waitā:

Waitī:

Tupu-ā-nuku:

Tupu-ā-rangi:

Matariki occurs during which season?

Pipiri means:

It is a time to:            on the past and                 for the year ahead

What is the significance of the steam rising from the hāngī? 

The Matariki feast

Reading:

Indigenous food in Aotearoa

Maori use of indigenous ingredients goes back _____

early migrant peoples brought ____ to Aotearoa 

Bird that were hunted:  ____, _____ and _____

Plants that were gathered: ____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Flax seeds contain ____

Europeans introduced: _____ ____ _____ _____

Manuka trees were called ________ by Captain Cook and Joseph Banks

Manuka honey has _____

only ___ varieties of native fern root are edible

Fern root adds a _____ flavour to a dish

Korengo (seaweed) is eaten raw or used to _____ various dishes

Horopito is a good substitute for _____

Kowhitwhiti (watercress) has a mild ______ flavour

Hangi uses ____ to cook the food

Rewena Paraoa is a fermented _____ (a kind of sourdough)

Paua are famous for their ______ shell

Kina is usually eaten ___

Scallops are popular with people who usually ______ shellfish

Kumara can be ___ ___ and _____ in colour

Kawakawa is a anesthetic and has a ___ flavour

Huhu grubs live in rotten logs and taste like _____

Titi (mutton birds) are very rare and very ______

Māori people have been cooking with ingredients from New Zealand's native forests for more than a thousand years.

Pre-European Māori Ingredients

Māori brought edible plants from their homeland, including kūmara, yam and taro.  Along with root vegetables they also introduced kiore (the Polynesian rat) and kurī (the Polynesian dog), both valuable sources of meat.

Maori hunted a wide range of birds (i.e. mutton bird and moa), collected seafood and gathered native ferns, vines, palms, fungi, berries, fruit and seeds.

Introduced ingredients

When Pākehā  (European) settlers arrived in New Zealand, Māori embraced the new foods they brought, and began cultivating them. These crops included wheat, potatoes, maize, carrots, cabbage and other vegetables. Māori also began raising sheep, pigs, goats and poultry.

Since the late 20th century traditional Māori foods have been prepared in new ways to suit the modern palette, enduring Māori cuisine continues to be enjoyed.

Flaxseed oil

Cold pressed flaxseed oil, made from the native New Zealand flax, is an unrefined oil, nothing is added or removed. It is a great source of Omega 3 and six essential fatty acids, Omega 9 antioxidants and vitamins.

Mānuka

Mānuka was named 'tea tree' by Captain James Cook and English botanist Joseph Banks when they found it in Mercury Bay in 1769. Mānuka wood chips can be used to add flavour when smoking food, but it is best known as the source of mānuka honey which is used to produce a growing list of products with outstanding medicinal and antiseptic properties.

Manuka flowers, which produce New Zealand's famous manuka honey, renowned for its medicinal benefits.

Pikopiko (fern shoots)

Most of the wild fern varieties that grow in damp shady areas of New Zealand’s native bush are carcinogenic - of 312 different varieties, only seven varieties are edible. The edible fern fronds, known as bush asparagus, are pale green with brown speckles. Picked before the leaves unfold, the fronds add a unique 'forest' flavour to dishes.

Korengo

Korengo is seaweed which is either used in its raw state, or dried and used to season various dishes.

Pūhā

Pūhā, also known as sow thistle, is a green-dark green plant often found growing as a weed. The stem contains a milky coloured sap. Eaten raw, the stem and leaves have a bitter taste. Cooking does not remove the bitterness but it can be reduced by rubbing the puha plants together (vigorously) under running water. Pūhā is traditionally served cooked with pork.

Horopito

Horopito, also known as the New Zealand pepper tree, can be used to replace conventional pepper in cooked dishes.

Kawakawa

Kawakawa trees are mostly found in coastal areas of New Zealand in damp bush. The heart shaped leaves are dried, ground and then used to season, adding a rich forest aroma with a light minted flavour.

Kōwhitiwhiti (watercress)

Kōwhitiwhiti or watercress grows on the edge of fresh water rivers and creeks around New Zealand. Eaten raw or cooked, it has a mild mustard flavour.

Hāngi

Māori still follow the traditional Polynesian practice of cooking for large numbers in a hāngi. This earth oven or pit uses hot stones to create steam which cooks the food.

īnanga (Whitebait)

Whitebait fishing was a well-established tradition before European settlement. To this day eager anglers wade in the water during spring to net fish. Try a whitebait patty to taste this delicacy.

Rēwena bread

Rēwena paraoa (potato bread) tastes sweet and has a slight sour/tang flavour to it, a result of the long period of fermentation it undergoes. The bread wonderfully textured and flavoursome.

Kūtai (mussels)

Green Lipped Mussels

Hailed as a super food and delicious in taste, green lipped mussels are a delight.

Pāua (abalone)

Pāua is recognisable for its beautiful blue/green, iridescent shell and thin, black surface covering its creamy-white flesh in its natural state.  Pāua is considered taonga (treasure), a gift from the god of the sea. It is highly valued for its firm meaty flesh and savoury, sea flavour. Its shell is used for jewellery and incorporated in traditional Maori carvings, usually to represent the eyes.

Tio (oysters)

Bluff Oysters are a prized delicacy in New Zealand and many of the fishers who catch them have lived on the sea for generations. The season to try these tasty morsels is from March until August.

Oysters

Oysters are a New Zealand specialty and have been enjoyed by the indigenous people for decades.

Kina (sea urchin)

Kina is a traditional food of the Māori, eaten raw this is a delicacy. The traditional method to eat a kina is to crack open the kina shell with a rock and take out the roe by hand.

Tipa (scallops)

Scallops are more than 80 percent protein – which makes them another healthy food choice. The soft fleshy texture and delicately mild sweet flavour of scallops are enjoyed by even those who are not particularly fond of fish or other shellfish. The season for fresh scallops in New Zealand runs from October through to March.

Kōura

Kōura are fresh water crayfish closer in size to a king prawn than lobster.

Kūmara

Known elsewhere as sweet potato, New Zealand kūmara is particularly sweet and grows in the semi-tropical regions of the North Island. It is available in red, gold or orange varieties. Long a favourite in New Zealand households, the kūmara is both tasty and versatile. Its sweet taste and buttery texture make it popular.

Tītī (muttonbird)

The origin of the name refers to the mutton-like taste of the flesh, and possibly the woolly appearance of its young. The bird is the size of a very small duck. Due to a very short season (1st April until 31st May) these birds are very expensive to purchase and are only available for a short period of time.

Kānga kōpiro (fermented corn)

Also known colloquially as “Māori porridge”, Kānga Pīrau is decidedly an acquired taste. Kānga Pīrau is prepared by putting corn cobs into sacks which are left in a clean running stream for up to six weeks until they have fermented. The corn kernels are then stripped from the cob, mashed and then cooked just like porridge and served either hot or cold.

Huhu grubs

Huhu grubs were part of a traditional Māori diet. A good fossick in fallen logs may reveal a wriggling colony. When eaten raw huhu grubs have the taste and consistency of peanut butter.

Listening / watching / speaking

Monique Fiso is from Māori, Samoan and Pakeha heritage. She and fellow Māori chef, Kane Bambery have set up HiaKai, a restaurant and food company that is revolutionising fine dining in New Zealand. 

Manuka flowers

Gathering flax flowers and seeds used to make flax oil.

Pikopiko

Paua

Ti



Kiamoana




Karamu berries

Tio (Oysters) with Karamu berries

Hāngi

Traditionally, Māori cooked in a pit under the ground in ovens

called 'Hāngi'. In traditional Hāngi cooking, food such as fish and chicken, and root vegetables such as kumara (sweet potato), are cooked in a pit dug in the ground.

Monique Fiso


1. When did Monique decide to become a chef?

2. "When I cook I sort of _________________ in my head."

3. Where did she work for seven years?

4. Why did she leave?

5. Why did she form Hiakai?

6. What does she want to do with Maori cooking?

7. "I think a lot of _________________ is Maori ingredients but __________________ from the order sheet.

8. "Foraging is a ________ of what I do."

9. Where does she cook?

10. "Hangi s the ____ of the cuisine."

11. What do diners get besides a good meal?

12. (Hiakai) "is ______ in the bush with knives and __________."

Hiakai





Further listening:


Monique Fiso talks Māori Kai

1. What dish has Monique been experimenting with recently?
2. Which dish is "in" at the moment?
3. What consistency does the dish need to have?
4. How long does the dish take to prepare?
5. What is special about the way Maori use fish?
6. How did Monique eat mussels as a kid? What did she not know?
7. How long did it take Monique to find a job in New York?
8. Why did she used to avoid telling people her mum's maiden name?
9. Why did she "whitewash" herself?
10. What is a pop-up?

Stop at 9.20

Hiakai Wellington

The Māori Kitchen 

The Maori Kitchen - Quay street

Ika Bowl

Charles Royal on Lake Rotoiti. Charles gathers wild ingredients in the area around Rotorua for local chefs. 

Te Ahi Kaa talks with Māori Chefs