All posts tagged: hangi

Fire smoke land and sea

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Heading west on Friday afternoon, we drive into a brilliant lilac sunset. My “fork buddy” Aimee is at the wheel and our spirits are high. We’ve been looking forward to this for months. We are going to Hiakai and hiakai means hungry in Māori. However, the weather soon sours. By the time we arrive at Vineyard Cottages in the heart of Kumeu, it is dusk and both sky and earth are wet. Typical Auckland. A couple of fire pits and glowing tents are beacons in the dark, confirming our destination. One bell tent with a warming wood stove burner is to be our dining room and the other canvas tent to serve as the camp kitchen and kitchen pass. I first cottoned on to chef Monique Fiso on the recommendation of fellow blogger Bri DiMattina. @momofiso’s brand of honest, humble humour track her explorations and experiments into a new standard of fiercely Māori cuisine. Having spent 7 years working in some of New York’s best kitchens, Wellington-born, Māori-Samoan chef Fiso returned to New Zealand in 2016 …

What to eat and see at Taste of Auckland 2015

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Taste of Auckland starts on this Thursday! Running Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 November 2015, this will be their second year at the new location of Western Springs. A haven for foodies, this festival is now in it’s 7th year. Consider it a walking, living, breathing, build-your-own degustation. Tickets are available online or if you prefer to wait and see what the weather is doing, there are also door sales. I haven’t missed a single Taste festival yet. Yup. You could say I’m a fan. Gourmet Hangi For the first time at Taste, there will be a gourmet hangi. Each session a different chef or restaurant team will be offering a gourmet take on the Māori hangi. Be in quick, portions are limited and on first in first serve basis. I grew up in Rotorua where hangi feasts were fairly common but since moving to Auckland 20+ years ago, there’s been a distinct absence of hangi from my life. You can bet I’ll be trying as much gourmet hangi as I can! The Gourmet Hangi will be …

Kai to Pie and World on your Plate: Maori

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Kai to Pie “Kai to Pie — Pie to Chai — Nosh to Posh. Whatever way you slice it, Auckland’s stories can be told through food: from the extraordinary wealth of people and cultures, to its fertile abundance of land, sun and sea, come up to the Museum for a serving of Auckland on your plate.” If you haven’t already been, check out the Kai to Pie exhibition at the Auckland Museum. There’s still 3 weeks until it ends and it’s free to all Aucklanders. 12 June – 25 October 2010 Special Exhibitions Hall Auckland Museum Free entry Here are some of my photos from the exhibition. World On Your Plate: Maori Running in conjunction with this exhibition is World On Your Plate – Saturday demonstrations of cuisine from around the world. I attended the Maori food demonstration by Charles Royal and his family in July. Charles is “a fierce advocate of sustainable local cuisine, indigenous produce”. Sadly, Maori dishes and native ingredients don’t feature in the day to day cuisine of the majority of New Zealanders. …