Matariki recipes: the food and stories of Uncle Paré
Prepare your Matariki kai with Uncle Pare. Photo / Te Papa
Matariki food you can cook with your whānau.
Matariki is a time to come together to say goodbye to the dead, spend time with loved ones, share kai, stories, waiata and celebrate the Māori New Year.
The theme of Matariki 2024 is Matariki Heri Kai: Matariki Festival. It comes from the Maori proverb Matariki whetū heri kai, which means Matariki, the one who brings food.
To celebrate this year’s theme, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa has shared some special Uncle Pare Matariki recipes that you can cook with your whānau.
Learn more: Theme for Matariki 2024 announced – “Matariki Heri Kai”
Uncle Paré’s first kai memory is parāoa koroua (“old man’s bread”) cooked over hot embers. Growing up, he had many kai influences, mainly from the women of his village – his aunts and grandmothers.
Follow his simple recipes below to learn how to cook some of his favorite kai or watch him demonstrate and describe how kai has shaped his life at tepapa.nz/matariki.
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My name is Parekura Tureia. I am a descendant of Rongowhakata.
Manutukē is my real home, my home.
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Old Man’s Bread: ‘Old Man’s Bread’ recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- A pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
Method
- Preheat your oven to 200°C.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup self-rising flour, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar.
- With a knife, “cut” the flour. Add enough warm water (usually half a cup) to make a soft dough.
- Turn onto a lightly floured board. Using your fingertips, pull the dough outward to form the shape.
- Flatten to desired thickness.
- Transfer to a floured baking sheet and place in a hot oven. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- You may need to flip the bread three-quarters of the way through baking to crisp the top.
Note: You can double, triple or quadruple this basic recipe – adjust your cooking time accordingly.
Anything Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (I used a size 22 because that’s what I had)
- 1 can liquid chicken broth (I used Campbell’s)
- 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 4 stalks of celery, cut into large pieces
- 1 onion cut into quarters (I used a large red onion)
Method
- Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker, either before bed or before going to work. Turn on low.
- The next morning or after work, remove the skin and bones from the chicken. Grate the chicken into the broth. (Optional: Add a few extra vegetables, such as parsnips, rutabaga, kūmara, fennel and corn kernels. Add half a can or more of liquid chicken broth to top off. Return the heat to high and cook the additions until softened.)
- Finally, add some coriander, spinach, puha or watercress.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with parāoa koroua or your favorite crust in a large bowl as is, or with cracked pepper, or drizzle with olive oil and lemon zest, or flavored olive oil with your choice, or chili oil, or kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) with fried shallots or overcooked ramen noodles.
Cake Ingredients
- 375g butter (or substitute with Olivani or similar – I used Olivani), softened
- 1¾ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons lemon, orange or lime zest – or a combination
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 cups plain flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1½ cups sour cream or yogurt
- Candied fruit, to serve
Syrup Ingredients
- ½ cup orange juice
- 4 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- A little grated citrus zest
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180°C. Prepare a large cake pan.
- Cream the butter (or marg) and sugar. Add the eggs one by one and continue beating. Grate the crust and add it to the mixture. (Option: If you have lemon or orange extract, you can add a few drops to intensify the flavor.)
- Add the vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, mix together the plain flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift together or stir with a whisk to combine.
- Stir half of the dry ingredients into the wet cake batter along with half of the sour cream/yogurt. Stir in remaining dry ingredients and sour cream/yogurt.
- Pour into prepared cake pan and place in hot oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through again. To cool, invert onto a serving dish.
- For the syrup, I heated the syrup from my candied tamarillos and garnished with caramel almonds. Or you can make your own citrus syrup by heating all the syrup ingredients over medium heat to boiling point (2-3 minutes).
- Pour the hot syrup over the cooled cake.
- Slice and serve with whipped cream or yogurt and candied fruit.
Ordered by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaMatariki’s house.
