to, can we get ingredients regularly and reliably? NO, according to Monique Fiso, a US-based chef formerly from Porirua who visited her homeland earlier this year to open pop-up Mãori restaurant Hiakai at the International Food Design Conference and Studio which offered plates of kina on toast, pickled mussels, old-school Mãori pickle, blue cod fish collars, steamed fish with cockles, bull kelp, corn icecream, paua porridge and kumara curd with a traditional steamed helpers who harvest wild foods from family lands - a scheme that he says helps those in underdeveloped communities. With the developing use of native herbs in kitchens all over New Zealand, the required quantity of wild foods has increased markedly and manufacturers are requesting more than a tonne of dry herbs a year. That requires three times the amount in fresh product so harvesting has to be a well-managed business. Royal says it’s a sustainable process and the crop is carefully picked so re-growth occurs constantly. The whole operation has been based at a marae on the East Coast, but suppliers now send the fresh herbs to a small processing factory and distribution centre located in Rotorua. THE TIDE is now turning, though, as Mãoriowned food and beverage manufacturers using indigenous ingredients attempt to gain prized access to overseas markets. One example is Haukai Cuisine, a cluster of more than 30 companies ranging from modest and artisanal enterprises to vigorous, growth-oriented exporters. Collectively, they represent turnover of $90 million and earlier this year a group of them exhibited at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Food Expo… Northland honey producer Kare, Auckland piemakers Luv’a’pie, Blenheim winery te Pa and Otorohanga non-alcoholic beverage producer Taha. The latter sells a ginger, Manuka honey and kawakawa drink. It is selling into Hong Kong but the indigenous kawakawa ingredient – largely unknown beyond New Zealand – has curbed market access in China and Taiwan. Haukai is working to ensure Taha has the best possible chance of gaining access to North Asia. Haukai Cuisine (formerly known as the Indigenous New Zealand Cuisine Cluster) was formed with 12 members in 2012 when Poutama Trust, a charitable organisations utilising the interest from a robust investment fund to develop Mãori businesses, recognised that many of the businesses it was working with were food producers. As it has grown, four sub-clusters have formed to support specific industries - Miere (honey), Miti (meat), Moana (seafood) and Miraka (dairy). A Miere delegation – where producers were joined by iwi investors, beekeepers, government officials and researchers - visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo and Shanghai in 2014 and a Miti delegation was due to visit China and Hong Kong this year. Business adviser Rachel Maidment says Haukai is a success because Mãori are philosophically aligned to collaboration. “It’s a very natural fit for Mãori to leverage collectivity and collaborate.” pudding on its menu. Sourcing ingredients for the pop-up restaurant was hard, the former chef at the Michelin starred The Musket Room in New York says. “You can’t find the ingredients easily,” she says. “We are a Mãori food pop-up in Aotearoa, and we can’t even get the food. “In New York, I had my spreadsheet and made a simple phonecall to suppliers who delivered ingredients by calling a guy who called a guy, or was told someone had ingredients in their garden and would drop it off, or went somewhere odd and gave a koha.” New Zealand, Fiso says, should be growing its own indigenous crops widely. Since the late 20th century, traditional Mãori foods have been prepared and presented in new ways to suit the modern palette. But a University of Otago study has found that loss of traditional kai gathering places and practices following colonisation and urbanisation has impacted negatively on food security for Mãori. ONE OF New Zealand’s most wellknown Mãori chefs is Charles Pipi Tukukino Royal, who runs a thriving business based on indigenous treats from New Zealand’s native forests where he has been a leading figure in the rediscovery of the wild herbs and edible ferns - generally overlooked since early Mãori settlement - that have now been elevated to contemporary fine food status. Indigenous plants such as horopito, pikopiko and kawakawa appear on menus in many of New Zealand’s top restaurants, and are causing a stir with international culinary enthusiasts. Not only are the unique flavours of these wild plants adding extra spice to already world-renowned local produce, they’re now also firmly establishing a distinct New Zealand food identity. Royal, who has been experimenting for years, has played a leading role in establishing that Kiwi food identity. He masterminds the harvest, operates Mãori food trails and cooking classes, and promotes New Zealand’s indigenous foods internationally, and has also produced a cook book and launched a range of wild herb sausages. His bid to develop a New Zealand cuisine was supported by growing awareness of the uniqueness, novelty and intrinsic value of New Zealand native flora and fauna. “I love organics and making something out of nothing, but you have to know what you are looking for,” he says. New Zealand is one of the few countries with such a high density of ferns - there are 312 varieties, but only seven are edible. Finding wild foods in New Zealand’s native bush isn’t difficult but identifying the edible varieties requires some education. Royal has a team of family members and
FT-Nov16
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