October 30, 2020
Te Ahi Komau festival fires up Maori cuisine
Māngere’s Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae is drawing on the region’s volcanic past to celebrate Māori and Pacific cuisine with this weekend's Te Ahi Kōmau – Food, Fire Festival.
Healthy kai advocate Mason Ngawhika says the spark for came from a Michelin chef who advised Auckland Tourism and Events the city needed to develop its own food story, starting with its unique Māori and Pacific food story.
He says Te Ahi Komau – the eternal flame, refers to the volcanic fires that enriched the soils of the region and created an abundance of food that forms the basis for what will be available at the marae tonight and tomorrow.
“We cook with fire so we cook with hāngi, we cook umu, we cook matahi which is pig on a spit and other versions as well, we have smoked fish and many other vendors,” he says.
You can book a hangi now on the festival website, and Te Ahi Kōmau will also include a marae market, the Origins of Fire light show, kapa haka, fire dancing and waiata.
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