Kawhia Maori Kai Festival

Mana 81 April / May 2008

The sweet aroma of sizzling kaimoana filled the air and the sight of sauces dripping, scallops browning, riwai boiling and bread frying forced a growl from the deepest pits of my puku.

This was the day of the Kawhia Traditional Maori Kai Festival, an event that provided thousands of hungry attendees with a tasty selection of Maori delicacies from kutai and prawns, to raw fish, hangi, chowder, whitebait fritters, kumara, toroi and more. Juicy watermelon and ice-cream soothed the heat stricken and doughnuts and hot chips were at hand for the less adventurous eaters.

Held in the coastal village of Kawhia, Waikato, the festival is in its fourth year. And as the township boasts food-rich sea and bush, the event celebrates kai harvested from both.

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Photos by Qiane Corfield-Matata