Chefs Kārena and Kasey Bird on their new Te ao Māori project, weaving storytelling with ‘delicious kai’

Chefs Kasey Bird (left) and Karena Bird. Photo / Stephen Parker

In the nine years since Bay of Plenty sisters Kārena and Kasey Bird won their Masterchef title, they’ve travelled the globe showcasing their kai, have a third cookbook in the works and have become the queens of degustation dinners created through a Māori lens. They will present their next degustation dinner, Ki Tua, this March and April for acclaimed Tauranga pop-up restaurant Kitchen Takeover during the Flavours of Plenty Festival. Carly Gibbs asks the sisters about preserving Maori kai traditions, what they cook at home, and tips for food and whānau wellness.

Your new foodie experience Ki Tua will take diners into the immersive world of Māori Atua through influential edible storytelling, all set in a secret location. What message do you hope diners take away from this experience?

Kārena: First and foremost, we want the food to be delicious. Food is such an emotive medium - you use all five senses when you eat. If there is a feeling I hope our guests leave with, it would be a sense of pride for our unique country and culture, and the feeling that we are all connected.

Kasey: An enjoyable evening, and [guests] having felt the connection from the food on the plate to the story we are trying to portray. Ki Tua means ‘beyond’. It will be more than just a dinner. We have five courses themed around a different Māori atua [god]. Our guests will not only get to taste the food, but also learn about each deity and their influence on the kai.

What can you tell us about your new dishes for Ki Tua and the process and preparation that went into creating them?

Kārena: When we create these storytelling menus, we start with the kōrero first and brainstorm the ingredients and the method of cooking that best represents the concept, taking into account seasonality, memory-triggering flavour combinations, executability, and balance.

Kasey: We discuss the theme, and how we envision that would taste. The flavours, textures and ingredients. We throw around ideas, and when we are both happy, we start the testing phase.

The sisters will present their next degustation dinner, Ki Tua, this March and April for acclaimed pop-up restaurant Kitchen Takeover during the Flavours of Plenty Festival. Photo / Ilk Photography

Kitchen Takeover delivers out-of-the-ordinary experiences for foodies. Last year, you won New Zealand’s Best Arts and Culture Event 2022 for Kitchen Takeover’s Taiao: Food of the Gods. Why do you think that event resonated with diners? And in what way will this year’s event be similar or different?

Kārena: In the event feedback forms, diners said that they felt like they were transported to another place. It was a culmination of the storytelling element, food, lighting, menu design, and styling. Personally, I think the biggest reason is that te ao Māori is compelling. We love sharing our culture with our guests.

Kasey: With eating food, you are using all of your senses, but if you can add other dimensions to the experience like storytelling, you can create a really special dining experience, which I think resonated for guests with Taiao.

Last year, you participated in the inaugural Flavours of Plenty Festival by headlining Kitchen Takeover’s Hāngī with Kārena and Kasey. What potential does this festival have to emulate the success of New Zealand’s most successful food festival, Visa Wellington on a Plate?

Kārena: Wellington on a Plate is such an amazing festival that has been successfully championing the culinary scene in Wellington for many years now. However, we think we can have our own unique twist on a food festival in the Bay of Plenty. Each year, we will see the food culture here shift, and with Flavours of Plenty, it helps and inspires our local food heroes to experiment and further figure out what kind of food we like to cook and eat in the Bay.

Hāngī with Kārena and Kasey was a huge success. Photo / Ilk Photography

As chefs, you’re known to preserve and blend traditional Māori cooking techniques with modern twists. What, if any, challenges have you come up against when putting a modern spin on old-school cuisine?

Kārena: The biggest question we ask ourselves when modernising a dish is, ‘Will this innovation improve the dish?’ If it is a ‘yes’, we then focus on making sure the dish still has the same wairua as the original.

Kasey: One of the biggest challenges is around the use of certain ingredients, especially when it comes to using any of our endemic species of plants or proteins. ‘If we have an ingredient apart from this dinner series, can we use it in a sustainable way?’ If the answer is ‘no’, then we will find an alternative, which can be challenging at times.

The two of you are always pushing boundaries and inspiring diners. Have any of your guests ever inspired you? If so, how?

Kārena: Definitely. We try to get out and talk to our guests after the dinners. A lot of our food will remind people of things they have eaten in their childhood. Their memories and the way their family would have eaten it spark inspiration all the time. We even have guests who bring us ingredients or products for us to try, too.

Kasey: The great thing about food is that it’s about connection. Meeting guests and making new connections always provides fresh inspiration.

As well as self-publishing two sell-out cookbooks, you have a third book in the works that will be written entirely in te reo Māori. How far away are you from completing this book? And what is unique about it?

Kārena: It has been seven years since we published our last cookbook, Hungry. We have learned a lot since then and it will be reflected in the latest book.

Kasey: We still have some work to do on our latest cookbook, but we’re hopefully going to get it done soon. This next book is a reflection of where we are now in our lives, and I think it’s different as it showcases our unique perspective on food and life, which is that our language, family, and career, are all intertwined.

The Bird sisters grew up, and still live, in the plentiful coastal village of Maketū, east of Tauranga. Photo / Doug Sherring

You grew up, and still live, in the coastal village Maketū (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Manawa), surrounded by fertile land and the sea. How much of your own kai do you grow or catch yourself?

Kārena: To be completely honest, I am a terrible gardener. I am very lucky I have aunties all around Maketū who grow everything from tomatoes, passionfruit, all the herbs, chilis, lettuce, turmeric, capsicum, rhubarb, avocados, spring onions, beans, corn, kūmara, to rīwai and more - not to mention all of the divers and hunters in Maketū as well. Very lucky.

Kasey: We are fortunate to still live in a place where sharing kai is still the norm. The latest crops getting dropped off to our whare at the moment are kamokamo, which is one of our favourite vegetables. My husband [Patuara Biel] is also keen on collecting kaimoana, so we have pipi and tuatua if he goes out to the estuary or surf to gather, and he is well known for catching tuna [eels] in the local creeks and rivers.

As one of the life forces for our bodies, kai plays an important part in physical and mental wellness. During an average week at home, what are your go-to meals?

Kārena: I honestly just eat whatever Kasey makes. She makes the nicest dinners for us. We have separate houses but we live in the same cul-de-sac, and our family has dinner together most nights at our parents’ house in Maketū.

Kasey: We have a variety of kai. Some dishes are inspired by our travels, but also classic traditional meals. Our weeks can look like a Madras curry the first night of the week, a classic barbecue the next day, a Thai beef salad, a boil-up the next night, and a classic lamb or pork roast on the weekend. We love variety and different flavours from night to night.

Dishes cooked by the sisters. Photo / Ilk Photography

Kasey, you are now a mum after the arrival of your baby boy Koaretaia Bird-Biel in November 2021. Do you have any wellness tips for other new mums on balancing work and home life, while also ensuring the whānau eats well?

Kasey: I have really enjoyed becoming a mum, and to see the joy it brings my whānau has been so amazing. My best advice would be to give yourself some grace and treat yourself gently as you navigate all the changes that having a new baby can bring to your life. Mums can be so hard on themselves, but remembering to treat yourself with kindness is one of the most important things you can do for your wellbeing during this time.

Having a village in the early days is important to help support you at home and with making meals, but if you are alone, doing things that are easy, whether it’s chucking something in the crockpot for the end of the day, or something as simple as avocado or eggs on toast to keep you going. If you don’t have a village to support you, there are some amazing providers in the Bay of Plenty willing to help new mums and their whānau, such as Mama Maia and Hāpai Māmā.

Balancing whānau time with mahi is important for the sisters. Photo / Ilk Photography

What’s next for the two of you after Kitchen Takeover?

Kārena: Have a rest, more events, finish the cookbook, iwi mahi, kura reo [language school], spend time with Koaretaia, more rest, and some other things we are working on - we’ll let you know when we can.

Kasey: Spending time with my whānau is always a priority for me, and making time to do things with my son before we head straight back into more mahi.

The Details:

What: Ki Tua: five-course degustation, plus a welcome cocktail by culinary superstars Kārena and Kasey Bird

When: March 11 - April 2. The five-course adventure can be experienced as dinner (7-10pm) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights or a long Sunday lunch (12:30-3:30pm)

Where: A secret location in the Tauranga CBD

How much: $159pp

Tickets are available now at www.kitchentakeover.co.nz/kitua.

About Kitchen Takeover

Kitchen Takeover was born with a clear goal in mind - to create unforgettable, edible experiences for foodies on the hunt for adventure. The brand was recently awarded two NZ event awards for Best Lifestyle and Best Arts and Culture, beating events such as Cuba Dupa and the Wānaka Food and Wine Festival.

About Flavours of Plenty Festival

Now in its second year, the festival brings together events from right across the coastal Bay of Plenty to celebrate the rising foodie destination. For a full programme, visit flavoursofplentyfestival.com.