The Hangi

What, you may ask, is a Hangi? Well, read on. Saturday was the big day for the Hangi, held at Seatoun (pronounced See-tune) by the sea on the grounds of a traditional Maori elementary school. We were invited by Desmond and his family to this event. At the Hangi, food trays containing lamb, pork, beef, potatoes, pumpkin, and various other things are packaged and placed in the ground for cooking. To heat up the "oven", timber is burned on coals in a large hole, then the fire is put out and the food trays are wrapped in large white cloths and lowered into the ground. The whole thing is then covered with earth again. Depending of the type of wood burned, the flavor of the food varies from Hangi to Hangi...Everything is then cooked for about 6-8 hours.

What, you may ask, do you do while the food is cooking? Well, you are entertained by children, of course. They had a Seatoun Idol contest, and different groups of children danced and performed traditional Maori songs....We paid a fee per plate to benefit the school, strolled around shopping for crafts, and then sat on the lawn listening to all of the entertainment. It was so much fun, the hours rolled by.

There was also the short little hop to the beach through the archway on the school grounds! Unbelievable. The kids were all very happy and passionate about singing...The boys impressed us a great deal because they were so full of zest in the performance.

We went back to Desmond's house in the afternoon (he lives in Seatoun) and hung out with his wife Lorna and the rest of the family. It was a very very lovely day, and a uniquely wonderful experience!!!!!