“It looks like porridge but it doesn’t smell like it!”
Before your standard fridge-freezer was around, traditional food preservation methods were important in preventing spoilage and increasing food supply. When corn came to the shores of Aotearoa, our tīpuna utilised ways of preserving and preparing it and one method was kānga pirau, also known as rotten corn.
We can’t say too many kai these days have the word “rotten” in it, so we have to give a big mihi to those that tried it. Maybe next time we’ll add more cream and brown sugar.
Kai o Nehe is a new mini-series where rangatahi Māori try the delicacies of their ancestors.
For a long time kuia and koroua have enjoyed and devoured some pretty interesting delicacies across the country.
But do we still hold them in such high esteem today?
And can rangatahi in the 21st century hack the full on flavours of traditional kai?
This is part of our reo Māori series, Ohinga, created by Mahi Tahi Media, with funding from Te Māngai Pāho.
Stay tuned for a new episode every week.