Saturday, July 30, 2011

The hangi

Some of the guys put down a hangi in the garden at work to celebrate Matariki weeks ago.  I don't have pictures so you'll have to imagine.

A hangi is a roast meat-and-vegetable dinner cooked on hot rocks in an underground earth oven.  There's a certain way to prepare the fire, to assemble baskets of food for cooking, for arranging the rocks and food in the pit, and to cover it all with moistened fabric and soil.  And then for opening it up after a few hours to uncover beautifully tender food.

Our hangi featured a big beef roast and several whole chickens (I was kind of expecting pork but there wasn't any), kumara, potatoes, carrots, succulent bite-sized fried bread bites, salads and lots of gorgeous desserts.  The hosts portioned everything out onto small plates for everyone who turned up, and we all ate with our hands.  Some of our clients led some songs.  It was a great way to celebrate. 
 

1 comment:

Mom said...

Lovely! Wish I could have been there. I'm going to attend a Pow Wow of the Potawatomie Nation in a few weeks with my friend Angie. First time...really looking forward to it.