Cooking up some Maori treats

By RENEE KIRIONA

When Rotorua chef Peter Peeti is not in the kitchen he will either be in the bush hunting wild pig or in the paddock picking puha.

And that's what viewers can expect to see him and co-presenter Ngarue Ratapu do when the travelling cooking show, Kai Time, screens on Maori Television this Sunday.

Mr Peeti is a qualified chef with more than 12 years' experience under his apron. But it is the skills he learned as a child which he believes will appeal to viewers.

"My cooking course never taught me how to hunt, dive or fish - that was something I learned growing up in a whanau and iwi who relied on the land and sea for our food."

The 30-minute show, produced by Rotorua-based television production company Maui Productions, follows the two presenters as they travel the country in search of Maori kai (food).

On their journeys they enlist the help of locals and enter secret food patches known only to those communities.

"What we've realised is that every iwi is different. They all have their own unique foods, their own unique ways of harvesting and cooking. And of course their own prized patches," Mr Peeti said.

Maui Productions director Reuben Collier said Kai Time had some significant messages for viewers.

"There's more to this then just cooking because its actually a lesson in conservation, a chance to learn about these local people and everything they value, like the environment."

Because the show was bilingual, Mr Collier said it should appeal to all New Zealanders.

What's cooking

What: Kai Time, Maori Television

When: Sunday March 28, 12pm