On the 7th June, Mapua School will be making our very own hangi for you to buy and try at our Matariki Celebration.

Meat Parcel – wild pork, chicken drumstick, pumpkin, cabbage, 2-3 potatoes, kumara and stuffing

Vegetarian Parcel – falafel burger, carrots, pumpkin, cabbage, 2-3 potatoes, kumara and stuffing

$7.30  each (will feed an adult or two smaller children)

Please pre-order online at https://www.lunchonline.co.nz/

(Look for delivery date 7 June and Hangi should appear as a menu option)

On the 7th June at 5.30pm you can come up to the Mapua School Community Hall kitchen and collect your packs. After we have eaten, we can enjoy the performances and art displays and have our candle ceremony.

Mapua School are now proud owners of gear/equipment to set up our own hangi!

A Brief Hangi History (www.teara.govt.nz)

Māori never cooked in the same buildings that they slept in. Instead kai (food) was prepared in the open air or in special cooking sheds.

The hāngī or earth oven is a traditional Māori method of cooking, especially suited to preparing food for large numbers of people. Hot rocks and water are used to create steam in a shallow pit dug into the earth. The food is layered on top of the rock (meat first, then vegetables) and covered with leaves, whāriki (flax matting) or, in more recent times, sacking or cloth. The soil is then replaced to trap the steam for a few hours. The exact time depends on the size of the hāngī.

In regions such as Rotorua hāngī have for centuries been cooked using geothermal steam.

Smaller quantities of food such as fish and birds were grilled on sticks over glowing embers. Birds might also be wrapped in clay, or fish in leaves, and placed on the embers.

Since Māori did not make pottery, their only means of boiling food was to place a red-hot stone in a wooden bowl of liquid.