Making kai for a feast at Matariki
Te Awamutu restaurant Station 32 has come to the party with an entry in the Matariki Dish Challenge.
The competition is run by hospitality promotion co-operative Waikato Food Inc. It challenges Waikato chefs to create a dish using native, local ingredients inspired by Matariki.
Matariki is the celebration of the Ma¯ ori New Year and is the Ma¯ ori name for a group of seven stars otherwise known as the Pleiades. It signals a time for giving thanks to the land, sea and sky.
Station 32 head chef Vineet Arora has created a dish called Tu¯ Taki Whenua Ki Te Moana (Land Meets the Sea).
He says the dish is created from Waipa¯ and North Island produce and aims to celebrate a time of plentiful harvest.
“The dish is a combination of duroc pork belly sourced from Waratah Farms, seared scallops and pikopiko with a broth of wakame and shiitake mushroom.
The dish is available until Saturday, July 14.