From the traditional hangi (earth oven) to foraging for ingredients harvested from the land and water, there are many ways to experience the culinary traditions of New Zealand’s Maori people.
New Zealand is known for incredible restaurants that draw their influences from around the world, but the indigenous Maori people also possess a tradition of food and hospitality that is uniquely their own and which boasts flavours found nowhere else in the world.
Waka on the Waitemata – Auckland
Long before Auckland became New Zealand's largest and most cosmopolitan city, it was a haven of plenty for the Maori tribes who inhabited its gentle coastline. It’s on the beautiful Waitemata Harbour that a new cultural experience – Waka on the Waitemata – blends history and tradition with an authentically inspired combo featuring a waka (traditional canoe) voyage and Maori cuisine experience, hosted by
The Big Foody.
As the hosts tell tales of the ancient waka migration across the vast Pacific Ocean to the shores of Aotearoa (New Zealand), their guests enjoy spectacular views of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park and dine on Maori cuisine featuring hangi (earth oven) and seafood seasoned with native herbs and #.
Charles Royal’s Maori Food Tour – Rotorua
As the original supplier of Maori herbs and # in New Zealand, Maori chef Charles Royal is an expert when it comes to New Zealand's unique flavours.
Royal’s Maori Food Tour transports travellers into a foraging tradition stretching back into time, gathering pikopiko (fern fronds), horopito (Maori bush pepper) and kawakawa (Maori bush basil) from the bush encircling beautiful Lake Rotoiti as he demonstrates how Maori lived and survived on the bounty of the land.
It all comes together in a delicious array of kawakawa shortbread, forest-infused dips, freshly trapped eel, kawakawa chicken and horopito hot smoked beef, followed by a visit to the geo-thermally heated Soda Springs pools for a relaxing soak.
Treetops Estate Wild Food Cooking – Rotorua
Nestled in the heart of a vast 2500-acre estate, exploring
Treetops Estate is a four-wheel drive trip through a forest filled with wild deer, pigs and game birds, streams and waterways teeming with trout, freshwater crayfish and eels. It is deep in the heart of this estate that guests can experience living Maori culture on a one-hour bush walk foraging for native bush delicacies, herbs and # to take back to the Treetops kitchen where world-class chefs combine the ingredients into memorable meals.
NativConnectionz – Whakatane
NativConnectionz tours originate in a place that is hugely significant in the history of Maori cuisine and manaakitanga (hospitality) and traces back to very early Maori settlement. Guests are invited to a family homestead in the Maori village of Wairaka, an ancient site of the garden of Matirerau and the place where New Zealand's first kumara (sweet potato) was planted nearly 800 years ago. Visitors can roll up their sleeves and help create a hangi (earth oven) then, while it steams to perfection, they will hear ancestral tales of nearby Whakatane's ancient history before returning to savour an unforgettable meal of slow-cooked pork, chicken and beef with kumara, potatoes, pumpkin and stuffing.
Pounamu Lodge – Lake Tarawera
Nestled on the western edge of the clear waters of sacred Lake Tarawera,
Pounamu Lodge provides a window into the ancient traditions of Maori manaakitanga (hospitality) through authentic home-cooked Maori kai (food) in a charmingly rustic location. Host Karen Walmsley shows off a green-thumb, growing a range of Maori herbs and #, which she uses to prepare breakfasts each day, and when guests return from the nearby streams with fresh trout she is happy to share some tried and true ways of using those fresh Maori herbs to create one-of-a-kind culinary experiences such as smoked trout and kawakawa bread.
Amazing new experiences are just one flight away. Air New Zealand (
www.airnewzealand.ca) has direct non-stop flights from Vancouver to Auckland and offers flights from many other North American cities.
Waka on the Maori Food Experience
Treetops Estate Wild Food Trail Outdoor preparation
NativConnectionz Welcome
For more information on New Zealand or to create your unique adventure, please visit
www.NewZealand.com and check out the “Wishlist” handy vacation planner.
