Stepping stones towards healthy marae hangi

By JON STOKES

Kiwi kai doesn't come any more traditional than a hangi, and now backyard cooks can get tips on preparing and cooking the marae staple.

The message is simple: clean, cook, cover and chill - the four Cs.

Next week the Food Safety Authority will release Traditional Food Safety Practices in Preparing and Cooking a Hangi, a booklet designed to help budding ground-oven chefs keep it safe.

Last weekend the Weekend Herald revealed New Zealand has the highest rate of food poisoning in the developed world.

The rate of campylobacter alone has risen 18 per cent in the last year to a record 14,786 cases.

Food poisoning costs the country about $55 million a year through days off work, medical treatment and related costs.

The hangi project was sparked by a food-poisoning outbreak at a hui in 1998, when 63 people came down with food poisoning.

It is being overseen by former Auckland Regional Public Health Service co-ordinator Raniera Bassett, a self-confessed hangi fan.

He said various health and food preparation providers were brought together to develop a programme to improve the skills of marae workers - most of whom are volunteers - to reduce the risk of further outbreaks.

The importance in the preparation and cooking of hangi was one of the key elements to come out of the study, following meetings with kaumatua, kuia and marae cooks.

The result is a guide that offers tips on buying, storing and preparing hangi food, the pit, heating the stones and serving the results.

Mr Bassett said he was struck by the need to re-emphasise the importance of tikanga (custom) surrounding the sanctity of food - a concept He believes has waned with the urbanisation of Maori.

"Traditionally, hospitality and the sanctity of food was paramount."

He says food is an integral part of hui and added to the mana of occasions, as are the rituals and protocols surrounding the gathering, preparing, storing and distribution of kai.

"Personal hygiene, and the sanctity of food, are paramount; cleanliness is a must. Kai is more than just food, it is a blessing."

And the Ngati Kahu iwi member, who has "cooked a few hangi" in his day, says the booklet is not just for Maori.

"A lot of Pakeha want to know about putting down a hangi. I tell them it's not just a matter of heating up a few rocks and whacking a bit of kai on it."

The booklet will be released on Tuesday.