For those looking to celebrate Mataraki, two of our foodie favourites – super talented sisters Karena and Kasey Bird – have put together three delicious recipes inspired by the Matariki constellation and the meanings of the stars within the constellation.
And to help motivate you to get cooking, we’re giving away three very special Matariki meat packs from Silver Fern Farms, each with vouchers for one free retail pack of premium, lean red meat from Silver Fern Farms (each valued at $70), so you can recreate Kasey and Karena’s recipes at home. Enter via our Facebook or Instagram pages.
“To have a public holiday which acknowledges and celebrates a part of our culture with the whole country is special and makes us excited for what the future holds,” say the sisters.
“To celebrate the first official Matariki holiday, we will be cooking for 750 people over two days in Wellington. We will also attend several hautapu – a ceremony that’s done in the early hours of the morning when Matariki rises in the sky."
“Once our events are done we will head back to Maketu and have a delicious feast with everyone. Gathering around the table and sharing kai is always something we do during this special time of year. Matariki is about reflection and gratitude and future planning, but more than anything it is about aroha, spending time together and sharing food. We hope these recipes help people celebrate in their own way at home.”
“If you’re celebrating Matariki for the first time, spend time together to reflect, plan and celebrate. It’s always great to do this around the dinner table, sharing food. Having food that celebrates our unique landscape and ingredients available in Aotearoa is a great way to celebrate Matariki and we’ve created these recipes with that in mind."
“When it comes to food, Tipuānuku, Tipuārangi, Waitī and Waitā are the stars we acknowledge the most when choosing ingredients to create our dishes,” say the sisters.
“In each of the recipes created, we’ve noted what stars inspired the creation of those recipes.
“Tupuānuku is connected to all food grown in the ground, cultivated and uncultivated. It indicates the right time to plant and harvest crops for the coming year. Tupuārangi is connected to food that comes from the sky. It is an indicator for foods such as birds, berries and fruit. Indicating when to harvest these things. Waitī is connected to fresh water and the food that grows there. Things such as whitebait, eels, watercress, koura etc. Waitā is connected to the food that comes from the ocean. Mussels, fish, crayfish, pāua, kina etc.”
Click on the below links for each recipe:
Beef eye fillet with crayfish gratine, kūmara and pūhā
Venison medallions and watercress salad with rewena croutons and kawakawa dressing