Māori fine dining, vegan conflicts, and giving rotten corn a go 🌽
Nau mai, hoki mai e te whānau,
We’re back with a brand new website as well as instagram, facey, and linked in accounts! Follow us on socials for more great content, a space to wānanga/discuss recommendations, and behind-the-scenes antics (yes we will be exploiting our office kurī/dog for Friday afternoon likes. He pīwari ia/He’s cute, you’ll love it).
In celebration of all this, today’s newsletter is a virtual hākari/feast of recommendations. Āe, finally, it’s kai week.
We’ve got four finger-licking options lined up for you, exploring food and its special place in Māori culture. Whether you’re an adventurous eater or like to stick to the classics, traditional or modern, a carnivore or vego, into foraging or attending fine-dining restaurants, there’s something on this menu for you.
“I started to discuss Māori cuisine with people and the general feedback centered around hāngi, fry bread, and boil-up. I knew this didn’t represent people whose ancestors were so deeply connected to the land and natural environment.”
-Monique Fiso explains the motivation behind her work as a chef and author
Hiakai isn’t just a cookbook. It’s a lesson in history, science, culture, and innovation and every foodie in Aotearoa must read it.
Firstly, world-famous kaitunu kai/chef, Monique Fiso, introduces herself and her ‘why’, before covering the traditional ways Māori foraged, caught, grew, and cooked kai as well as the surrounding tikanga.
Then she takes a deep-dive into native ingredients and the conditions required for optimum growth. This is where we learned that Māori had names for more than 50 types of soil and 60 types of earthworm. 60 TYPES.
Finally her amazing recipes are sold through stunning photography. By the end we were craving fried huhu grubs and keen to try aihikirīmi kuku/green lipped mussel ice cream. If that doesn’t convince you of the power of this pukapuka/book, we don’t know what will.
Find it: on the Hiakai website and at all good bookstores
Time: 272 solid pages, give yourself a good month
Cost: $65
“Come kai time, all the women stood around in amazement watching me eat a kai with no meat.”
-Ross Himona describes awkward vegan moments at an east coast hotel in the 80s
One of the most important features of kai in the Māori world is its ability to lift a state of tapu/to be sacred or restricted and restore it to noa/to be ordinary or free.
At tangihanga/funerals, it’s particularly important and an expectation that we all sit down for a kai after formalities. Delicious mīti/meat and buttery meals line the tēpu/table. But what if you can’t dig in because of your lifestyle?
In this podcast, reporter Joel Maxwell (vegan of eight years), offers his opinion and interviews others, including Tame Iti, to hear theirs.
It might feel a bit left-field for some but we found the wānanga/discussion on how our cultural and individual values can conflict and, on the flip side, potentially complement each other to be truly fascinating fodder.
Find it: on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts
Time: 23mins
Cost: free with your account
“I feel like I need another karakia.”
- Rangatahi/young adults face a challenging plate.
This series introduces a traditional Māori food every episode and records the (crack-up) reactions of rangatahi/young adults, as they give them a go.
On the menu are a number of kai considered delicacies by older generations, including kānga pirau/fermented corn, tītī/muttonbird, kina, and fish heads.
The younger generation seem to have a slightly different take… Their commentaries and facial expressions as they chow down—sometimes happily, but mostly reluctantly—are hilarious.
Beyond the laughs are real learns. For instance, we now know that making kānga pirau involves putting corn in a bag and leaving it in a stream for up to six weeks—though that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re about to do it…
The series is all in te reo Māori with English subtitles (so about the funnest homework out there for language learners). Enjoy.
Find it: on youtube
Time: 4mins an episode
Cost: free
“What I love to do is entice you with my kai, teach you how to bake, and along the way I hope you can learn some reo as well.”
-Naomi Toilalo on WhānauKai
WhānauKai is full of delicious, bilingual recipes. Even the most culinarily-challenged of us were keen to don an apron and have a crack at a quick keke tiakarete/chocolate cake after researching this pick.
Though the recipes themselves aren’t traditionally Māori, Naomi’s approach certainly is. Aroha seeps out of her as she shows us how to make her scrumptious treats and she’s clearly all about the koha/gifting.
Karawhiua/Have a go at her recipes and you’ll find kupu/words like parāoa/bread, and pata/butter firmly embedded in your vocab, after very little time.
We suggest you start with ngā pihikete parana/brandy snaps, then try out this pae rēmana me te kahu tāhungahunga/lemon meringue pie, finish it off with some porotiti hāpiripiri/sticky scrolls and quickly send us the evidence.
Find: the instagram page here and the book on her website and in all good bookstores
Time: there’s enough to keep you busy for a year
Cost: free for insta, $47.50 for the book
We hope this newsy has you feeling satiated and inspired for summer feasts with friends and whānau. As Christmas approaches, we’re definitely looking forward to the BBQs and evenings out…but we’re also thinking about the pūtea/money, honey!
That’s what next week is all about. See ya then.
Got a recommendation you think we should share? Reply to this email and let us know.
