Food to share with the stars
Reflections on Matariki kai, another pantry-staple is discontinued and an evening of puppets and food.
Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to The Boil Up, The Spinoff’s weekly food newsletter produced in partnership with Boring Oat Milk. Written by me, Charlotte Muru-Lanning. It’s lovely to have you here!
As revitalisations around language, tikanga and history continue to flourish, te ao Māori is becoming increasingly visible in our everyday lives. Matariki is just one of the many manifestations of mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa, and 2022 marks the first year that Matariki is being recognised with a national public holiday. In fact, today's instalment is so late (sorry!) because I was taking part in The Spinoff’s Matariki celebrations, which included a hāngi cooked this morning at local school, and my primary school, Newton Central Primary School.
I didn’t grow up marking Matariki in any way and so this year is the first time I’ve properly engaged with the cluster and its links to our traditional knowledge. Because food is always the main thing on my mind and because Matariki is so tied to food, unsurprisingly my initial thoughts revolved around what I could gather and cook.
I’ve spent a lot of time this week talking to historians and researchers, and reading any books or papers I could find discussing kai Māori – mostly with the aim of figuring out some kind of definitive Matariki menu. At the end of it all I’ve come to the conclusion that for this year at least, I have no clear idea of what to eat over Matariki – there are local nuances to Matariki traditions and plenty of challenges to fulfilling those traditions that do exist. Some experts I spoke to were certain that massive hāngī feasts would have taken place, others I spoke to believed that our ancestors would have been eating preserved foods and rationing their winter stocks. In that respect, I wondered if a modern interpretation might be to eat the stuff in our freezer or the back of our fridge.
As it is now, I’m still not sure. And I think that’s OK. When it comes to food, I’m taking this Matariki as a reminder to engage with Māori food more broadly, learning more about our ingredients, cooking practices and seasonal knowledge, and continuing to read and talk to people who hold that knowledge and are working to revive our culinary traditions. Mānawatia a Matariki!
Sometimes boring is nice.
Keep an eye out for the launch of something special from Boring and Parrotdog. Coming soon.
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Weekly bites
Alex Casey writes on (yet another!) item discontinued from our grocery shelves – the beloved smoko break favourite, Ernest Adams slices. Ernest Adams’s madeira cake, fruit loaf and raspberry slice have been mainstays in the pantries of New Zealanders for decades. Things have been shaky for the company for a while, it seems. After years of poor financial performance and amid much internal tension, in 2000 the company was sold to Hong Kong/Singapore-based bread behemoth Goodman Fielder, which owns other familiar New Zealand brands like Edmonds, Meadow Fresh, Molenberg and Vogel’s. As our expectations of cakes and baked goods evolve and diversify it will be interesting to see how similar brands hold up.
With the ongoing spread of Covid-19, changing restrictions, inflation, newly-opened borders and staffing shortages, I’ve been curious about how those working in our restaurants, cafes and bars are feeling at the moment. Last week, I chatted with owner operators and workers from eateries across the country about the good and the bad of being in hospo at the moment.
New Zealand is in the midst of negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU, and local cheese makers are worried it will mean they’ll be stripped of the right to use common cheese names like feta, parmesan and gruyere. RNZ reported this week that the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association is urging both the government and European Union to recognise our shared cheese-making heritage, saying the results of not being able to use those names could be disastrous for the industry. On the other hand, perhaps it’s an opportunity to create our own local terms for the cheeses we produce?
In more shortage news, Stuff reported that chicken brand Tegel has warned it may not be able to produce some chicken products because of a shortage of carbon dioxide gas in New Zealand. The shortage is also apparently threatening brewers and fizzy drink makers. The Food and Grocery Council said the availability of cheese, preserved meats, sparkling wine and ready-to-eat meals could also suffer, with price rises possible.
Word on the street is that it looks like Whittakers might be launching an oat milk chocolate bar. As a dairy eater, it changes absolutely nothing in my life – but I’m extremely excited for all my dairy-free or dairy-avoidant friends and whānau. Congratulations!
KidsCan, which helps feed 44,000 children each day in more than 1000 schools and early childhood centres nationwide, has launched an urgent appeal for donations to help the record number of children needing support this winter. Reflective of the burden the cost of living crisis has on low-income families, at the moment, the charity says there are 2000 children on the waiting list.
I’m a big fan of this piece by Jean Teng over at Metro magazine on her love of hainan chicken, and why the dish can be so hard to get right.
A meal a week
I have vague memories of watching the quintessential puppet show Punch and Judy with my grandma in the park when I was little. On Saturday, I went to my first puppet show since, and it was worlds away from what I’d have expected. Performed at Auckland gallery Objectspace, it was a collaboration between Tom Tuke’s of Paloma Puppet Theatre and Freya de beer Smith of Pomona Deli – it was an instance of performance and food combining in the best of ways. The whole show revolved around food politics, sparked by workers revolting in response to the lack of milo in the tea room, and the whimsical dishes like potted oyster chowder and ritz crackers or bloody mary jelly with devilled eggs that accompanied the show were designed to reference each act. My friend and I agreed that it was the first time in a very long time that either of us have felt surprised by the plates of food put in front of us. Lesson learnt: puppets and food are a perfect match.
The weekly snack
Tigak Tegak Chilli Pepper Crisps from H Mart City: Lotus chips, pea pod chips, sliced beetroot chips: when foods somewhat hold their original form despite being transformed in a chip, it’s a good time. For this reason, and the drawcard of looking as though they’d be spicy, I was eager to try these chips. They were poised for greatness in my mind. While texturally they’re great, with a bold crunch, I found them far too sweet for a pre-dinner snack – they need a bit more salt. In saying that, I did eat half the bag and ruin my dinner. 4.5/10
Talk next week!
Hei kōnā mai, Charlotte