Ngā tohutohu tao kai me kōrero mō MatarikiMatariki recipes, discussions, and stories

Find inspiration for your own Matariki feasts with these recipes – and the kōrero behind them.

This is an ongoing project, and will be updated with new pages and recipes.

Uncle Pare stands in his kitchen. He wear a black and white striped shirt, black scarf, glasses, and a black brimmed hat. His kitchen is overflowing with a well organised array of bottles, utensils, plates, and jars

Matariki kai: chicken soup, parāoa koroua, citrus and syrup cake recipes

Uncle Pare’s earliest kai memory is parāoa koroua cooked on hot embers. Watch his simple recipe as he describes how kai has shaped his life.

Screenshot from a video, showing an older woman in a green T-shirt icing a cake in her kitchen as a young boy looks on

Matariki kai: ginger crunch recipe

‘A sweet treat for Matariki.’ A whānau favourite that will be a hit with everyone: a particularly crunchy ginger crunch.

Tuna (eel) with blue eyes staring into the camera.

Watch: Matariki Kōrero – Waitī

Throughout the weeks leading up to Matariki, 2024, guest speakers give a series of talks about kai Māori (Māori food) practices connected to taonga (treasures) from our collection.

This kōrero talk is about Waitī – the whetū (star) associated with fresh water.

A pigeon with a white front is sitting in a tree.

Watch: Matariki Kōrero: Tipuārangi

Throughout the weeks leading up to Matariki, 2024, guest speakers give a series of talks about kai Māori (Maori food) practices connected to taonga (treasures) from our collection.

This kōrero is about Tipuārangi – the whetū (star) associated with all that lives and grows in the trees.

Four views of the same digging implement with a carved top and a step strapped on with cord.

Matariki kōrero with Aroha Matchitt-Millar

Public Programming Specialist, Kaupapa Māori Aroha Matchitt-Millar (Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāi Tūhoe) talks about her connection to Matariki and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and shares her kōrero (talk) about the 2024 theme, Matariki Heri Kai, the feast of Matariki.

A man in a wetsuit is holding a crayfish up in front of himself. He is looking at the camera.

Traditional knowledge and the kōura nursery cycle

Exhibition experience developer Dan Parke spoke with Tamati Stevens a kairangahau (researcher), kairuku (diver) and educator specialising in rocky reef ecosystems.

A man and a woman stand outside. It’s early morning and the sky is still dark. The man lifts food out of the pot, releasing steam.

Hautapu: the ceremonial oven and offerings to the stars

All you need to know about the whāngai i te hautapu – the ceremonial offering to Matariki – including how to host your own.

Tutaekuri. Image courtesy of Nick Roskruge.

Māori potatoes

Taewa (or rīwai) is a collective name for the varieties of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) cultivated by Māori.

Manuka, Leptospermum scoparium J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., collected 02 Apr 2009, southern Wairarapa, New Zealand. CC BY-NC-NDCC licence. Te Papa (SP087325)

Rongoā Māori

Rongoā Māori is the traditional Māori healing system. Ailments are treated in a holistic manner.

Tāruke (crayfish pot), 2000, by John Puketapu. Te Papa (ME022091)

Traditional Māori food gathering

Before the arrival of metal tools and the gun, Māori used natural resources to make tools for hunting, fishing, eeling, and cultivating crops.

Māori woman gardening with a tool called a timo

Māori gardening tools

Traditionally, Māori were essentially an agricultural people, with a large portion of their time and attention being given to cultivation.