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Story: Te hopu tuna – eeling

Eels in a smoking chamber

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Eels in a smoking chamber

Dried or smoked eel was known as tuna pāwhara. These eels have been smoked in a smoking chamber. Traditionally, Māori preserved them by partial cooking on a grating of green rods over a fire.

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Wairewa Runanga Group

by Iaean Cranwell

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How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Te hopu tuna – eeling – Cooking, preserving and storing eels, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13988/eels-in-a-smoking-chamber (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 2 March 2009.