Maori Foods about Hangi

Hangi is an ancient food of Maori. They use heated rocks heated in the ground in a pit oven. Heated rocks and ingredients into a basket and steam that for three hours in a pit oven. Ingredients are pork, mutton, lamb, chicken and generous portions of root vegetables such as kumara (it is sweet potato), pumpkin, carrot, potato, onions and cabbage in basket. Hangi still used heated rocks and a pit oven today. These days, there are many different way to cook Hangi. More recently, "hangi machines" have attempted to replicate the style of cooking without need for a wood fire, rocks and a pit. Hangi has no special preparation of the food is needed besides peeling the root vegetables, but adding herbs such as rosemary, garlic. In addition, stuffing the chicken can add exciting flavors. A Polynesian addition of taro leaves wrapped around some of the food gives it a peppery spice.

Maori History and Culture

The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of Aoteroa. (New Zealand). They are Polynesian and comprise about 10% of the country's population. Maoritanga is the native language which is related to Tahitian and Hawaiian.It is believed that legendary navigation man kupe came from Hawaiki. Then he was back to "Hawaiki"(Hawaii) and told about Aoteroa. Maori legend says that the Maori came from "Hawaiki"the legendary homeland about 1000 years ago. When the Maori arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and they found a land of volcanic activity and snow capped mountains. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand and means Land of the long white cloud. In the Maori language the word maori means "normal", "natural" and "ordinary".

Maori has tattoos on their face or all over. The design used by the Maori thought to have been later adopted Polynesians and even in China tattoos. Ta moko was used as a form of rank; genealogy, tribal history and eligibility to marry. Women were traditionally only allowed to be tattooed on their lips, around the chin, and sometimes the nostrils.