Story: Māori foods – kai Māori

The geothermal region around Rotorua supplied endless boiling water and super-heated steam for cooking. These 1901 photos show residents of Whakarewarewa village cooking by two methods. Those on the left boil food by suspending it in baskets lowered into a hot pool on cords. On the right, a hangi has been cooked by digging a hole in the earth and steaming the food with geothermal heat. Both methods are still used in this region.