Overview
Your typical hāngi requires fire, bare earth and at least three to four hours cooking time. At hāngi master Rewi Spraggon's new eatery he will be serving up the traditional meal within minutes and in the middle of Auckland waterfront.
The Māori Kitchen is set to be Auckland's first in-ground hāngī cafe. Currently operating out of a shipping container on Queens Wharf, Rewi says the space will eventually feature a raised in-ground hāngi pit outside the shop so visitors can experience the process of a traditional hāngī.
The menu at The Māori Kitchen features your traditional hāngi feast comprising smoke-infused pork, chicken, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage, stuffing and watercress salad. The traditional lineup is also presented in more contemporary formats from breakfast wraps to hāngi pies and sandwiches. To wash it all down there's kawa kawa tea served with manuka honey.
Rewi Spraggon
Rewi was taught the art of hāngi by his father, with some of his prized cooking rocks tracing back generations. He says that with The Māori Kitchen he wants manuhiri (visitors) to see, smell, taste and feel our history, first hand. "When manuhiri come to New Zealand the biggest thing missing is Māori kai (food). Not only for our manuhiri, but also for our own people of Aotearoa who are slowly losing their connection with the art of real hāngi. We want to educate New Zealanders and visitors about traditional Māori cooking techniques, but more importantly, give Kiwis a sense of pride about our indigenous food, which is over a thousand years old."
The Māori Kitchen is a collaboration with Ganesh Raj of Kumeu's The Tasting Shed.
Find The Māori Kitchen at 89 Quay Street, Queens Wharf Village. It's open seven days: 6.30am-3pm, Monday to Friday and 7.30am-4pm, Saturday to Sunday.
Image: The Māori Kitchen.