
KAANGA
WAI AND ROROI |
RECIPE
BY TALLYRAND |
 |

Kia
ora! Last
week I introduced you to some traditional New Zealand
cuisine, from both the indigenous Maori and those of
European descent. Both were for meats, so this week
I will look and explain some vegetable dishes, all of
these dishes will culminate in a few weeks time in how
to prepare a ‘hangi’; the Maori version of the Hawaiian
laua feast, where large amounts of foods are cooked
in a large pit in the ground. All of these dishes leading
up to it can be made and used to add to the hangi food,
for a feast of epic proportions!
Most
vegetables were introduced to New Zealand by the European
‘settlers’, so many of the Maori vegetable dishes are
fairly new in historical terms. The main ones adopted
and used most though are the potato, cabbage, carrot
and pumpkin. But there are a few native ones that were
used such as:
- puha
or rauriki (a sowthistle): which has all cooking properties
of spinach
- five
finger tree (cordyline australis): the young outer
leaves were used
- aruhe:
a fern root which requires labour intensive work to
be edible
- mamaku
tree fern: from which the pith was used
- ti-tree
or cabbage tree: from which the pith was also used
and
some native flora were surprisingly not used until after
the early ‘settlers’ arrived like the native, wild New
Zealand spinach.
I
have tried this first dish many times and I am afraid
to report I have not been able to get past the smell
and appreciate this dish. Join me next week for a selection
of seafood dishes and recipes, until then . . . bon
appetit!

KAANGA
WAI

This
literally translates as ‘corn water’, but means a water
cured corn dish. Maori food has its roots in their tradition,
culture and also out of necessity; making use of foods
readily available, in season or finding ways of preserving
them for future use.‘Kaanga wai’ certainly comes under
the latter, it is also known as ‘rotten corn’. It has
a very strong and unpleasant smell to it, which if you
can get passed (and most non Maori can’t), it is not
a totally unpleasant flavour.
Originally
the shelled white corn was placed in flour sacks and
tied to stakes in running streams, but these days it
is more often than not just placed into a drum of water
and the water changed daily, for two months. By then
the corn is really soft and mushy (not to mention smelling
very ripe!) This is then cleaned, mashed or minced.
Two
parts corn to 6 parts water is then simmered on the
stove until a porridge / grits / oatmeal type dish is
produced (best done outdoors or with the windows open
very wide!) This is then served with cream and sugar
added to taste. A baked custard is also made with it
by adding cream, eggs and sugar to the Kaanga wai and
baking in the oven. If you are ever game to try it .
. . bon appetit!

ROROI

A
more palatable dish is Roroi, which can be eaten as
a vegetable dish or as a dessert, much the same way
as pumpkin pie with whipped cream is. It uses kumara,
which is a New Zealand sweet potato, but any variety
of sweet potato can be substituted
Ingredients
kumara
|
6
|
pc
|
brown
sugar
|
|
sq
|
butter
|
|
sq
|
Method
- Peel
and wash the kumara
-
Grate 4 of them and thinly slice the remaining two
-
Butter a shallow baking dish, cover the bottom of
the dish neatly with some of the kumara slices and
sprinkle with a little water
-
Cover with some of the grated kumara, sprinkle with
sugar and flecks of butter to taste
- Complete
another layer of each and finish with a layer of sliced
kumara, lightly sprinkled with sugar and butter
- Cover
with tinfoil and bake at 180ºC for 45 – 60 minutes
Chef's
Tip
Personally
I like to add some freshly grated nutmeg or some mixed
spice to each layer.
Enjoy
and bon appetit . . . . .

Chef's
terminology:

|
|
lt |
=
|
litres |
|
tsp |
= |
teaspoon |
|
ml |
=
|
millelitres |
|
tbs |
= |
tablespoon |
|
kg |
=
|
kilograms |
|
sq |
= |
sufficient
quantity (add to taste) |
|
gm |
=
|
grams |
|
pc |
= |
piece,
meaning a whole one of |
 |

Recipe
from professional
Chef Tallyrand
|