Māori cuisineEdit
Putting down a hāngi (earth oven)
Māori cuisine was historically derived from that of tropical Polynesia, adapted for New Zealand's colder climate. Key ingredients included kūmara (sweet potato), fern root, taro, birds and fish. Food was cooked in hāngi (earth ovens) and roasted, and in geothermal areas was boiled or steamed using natural hot springs and pools. Various means of preserving birds and other foods were also employed. Māori were one of the few peoples to have no form ofalcoholic beverage.[citation needed]
Following the arrival of British settlers, Māori adopted many of their foods, especially pork and potatoes, the latter of which transformed the Māori agricultural economy. Many traditional food sources became scarce as introduced predators dramatically reduced bird populations, and forests were cleared for farming and timber. Traditional seafoods such as toheroaand whitebait were over-harvested. Present day Māori cuisine is a mixture of Māori tradition, old fashioned English cookery, and contemporary dishes. In everyday life the two foods of Māori origin are "the boil up" (boiled up left over food meat and vegetable scraps sometimes thickened with flour), and the hāngi which is associated with special occasions.