Good Food Good Talk
Food like music is a universal language. It speaks and people understand. Our taste sense is enlivened by it and it brings people together in ways that seem less contrived. People relax when they share food together. It’s that time now for us as we move from the wharenui (literally long house) into the whare kai (dining room) at Haranui Marae, the formalities are all but over.
The Whare Kai
“Most marae (tribal meeting places) have a whare kai, a dedicated area or building for eating. Inside there is always a festive atmosphere and sense of informality. Depending on the location of the marae seafood, land grown, river and lake caught fish and fowl may be offered to the visitors.
From an early age I was taught that one should only take enough food to feed one’s whanau (family). As different types of food would only be in season at certain periods of the year, this allowed time for food resources to replenish.
Another practice that helped to ensure seafood resources were maintained was the ritual of giving the first fish of a catch back to the sea. The range of this practice ran to delicacies like: kina (sea urchins or Evechinus chloroticus), paua (Haliotis iris) Pipi (Paphies australis), Cockles (Tuangi or Austrovenus stutchburyi), Tuatua (Paphies subtriangulata) and Mussels (kuku or kūtai, Perna cnaliculus).
Others also included: Freshwater mussels (kākahi or Hyridella menziesi), Tio (native rock oysters or Saccostrea cucullata), Toheroa (Paphies ventricosa), Pūpū (cat’s eyes or Turbo smaragdus), Whetiko (mud snails or Amphibola crenata), Kaikaikaroro (triangle shells or Spisula aequilatera), Kōura (red crayfish or red rock lobsters), Packhorse crayfish or Green crayfish (Sagmariasus verreauxi) or harvesting smaller amounts of karengo seaweed.” My uncle a keen fisherman and diver always did this.
The Significance of the Ritual
“The significance of this ritual held spiritual connotations for Maori as well as conservation aspects. Spiritually it was a way of giving thanks to Tangaroa, the god of the sea. From a conservationist’s perspective, it ensured that breeding stock and gravid fish (pregnant female livebearer or a female who is ready to lay eggs) were not taken. There were also protocols in place to monitor the control of waste from shellfish, e.g. it was prohibited to shell, prepare or eat pipi, mussel, kina, and fish in gathering areas or on the beach.
Hakari is the act of ritual feasting that is traditionally applied to the eating of cooked food. Symbolically, the hakari recognises the transition from the spiritual realm of the powhiri back into the physical world where food is shared and celebrates unity and a time to get to know each other. Everyone on the marae is now part of the one family or tangata whenua (the people of the land).
Hangi
Food cooked over hot stones in an earth oven is known as a hangi and is a favourite, traditional way for maori to cook food. The cooks and kitchen workers, known as the ringawera, are revered on every marae.
You can always identify the ‘Number One Cook’ since s/he usually scans the tables making sure that no one has an empty plate. The whare kai or main eating house is usually the domain of the women and is symbolic of women and food being the neutralising elements of tapu (spiritual restrictions).” In these modern times there is not quite the same strict adherence to such protocols and you will also find men in the kitchens. There is a saying, “Good food ends with good talk” and so it was my experience at Haranui Marae.
