My first HANGI!

So anyone I talk to about the things I need to make sure that I do before I leave NZ the tell me to eat the food from a hangi. It is food cooked in the ground. Well the organization that I am working for had one planned for the first weekend I was here!! Well they didn’t plan it for me specifically it was a gathering for the community, called Stone Soup. So I was lucky enough to help prepare it, eat its goodness and then clean up!:) Here are the steps of my first hangi☺

Friday we cut vegetables (carrots, potatoes bigger than my foot, pumpkin cut with a big cleaver, cabbage as big as my head) There was about 6 of us who cut up veggies to feed about 350 people. A real nice Maori lady, you can see her in the back in the black jacket, taught me a lot!

























Then we made a whole heap load of stuffing!





Then we loaded each food into separate muslin bags (this is Shria with her prized stuffing bag!) Also prepared chicken and mutton! to go in the bags mmmmmmmm........










Lined the baskets with cabbage leaves and tin foil (an ancient Maori trick) and then loaded the baskets full of each type of food.






The men dug a square hole in the ground about 2-3 feet deep, loaded planks of wood and then on the top stones and iron. They covered it with a tarp because it was going to rain during the night.





Friday morning at 3:00 the men woke up and lit the fire. Shir and I joined at 6 when they were getting ready to put the food in and the iron and stone were hot.









They then loaded the hole with the food baskets, covered the baskets with tin foil, wet sheets, wet potato sacks, a tarp, then dirt. This process was done very quickly.
























The pile of dirt had to be watched to make sure steam didn’t come out. And when it did more dirt had to be thrown on that part.





The food cook for about 4-5 hours while we went over to the park to get things set up for the Stone Soup Gathering.



Some people went back dug it all up (I didn’t get to see this process) and then brought it back and served it up.






And then I got to taste its goodness!! It’s a unique smoked ground flavor. I especially loved the potatoes (surprise, surprise!), the chicken, mutton and stuffing! What a process huh?! It was quite the experience! Mmmmmmmmm!!!!