Wai kāuru — sweet drink from the heart of tī kōuka
The trunk and root of the cabbage tree (tī kōuka) cooked very long in the earth oven: heat transforms the fiber into sugar. From this comes kāuru, which is sucked or steeped in water to obtain a sweet, fragrant drink — a precious rarity in a cuisine with little sweetness.
The trunk and root of the cabbage tree (tī kōuka) cooked very long in the earth oven: heat transforms the fiber into sugar. From this comes kāuru, which is sucked or steeped in water to obtain a sweet, fragrant drink — a precious rarity in a cuisine with little sweetness.
To sweeten my old mouth, mokopuna, bring me the heart of the tī kōuka. Lay it in the earth oven and forget it there for a day and a night: the heat melts the wood into honey. Then steep it in clear water, and drink — it is the only sweetness in these lands, and it is what is offered to me so that my teeth let you pass.
- •Kāuru (heart of tī kōuka, cabbage tree, long-cooked) — one piece (source of sugar)
- •Spring water — a bowl (to infuse the sweetness)
Wai kāuru — sweet drink from the heart of tī kōuka
The trunk and root of the cabbage tree (tī kōuka) cooked very long in the earth oven: heat transforms the fiber into sugar. From this comes kāuru, which is sucked or steeped in water to obtain a sweet, fragrant drink — a precious rarity in a cuisine with little sweetness.
Why this dish? To the devouring grandmother, sweetness is offered to appease her. The kāuru, sweet heart of the tī kōuka tree long-cooked in the earth, gives one of the rare sweet drinks of the Māori world: an offering of tenderness to Muri-ranga-whenua, so that her jaw remains benevolent.
To sweeten my old mouth, mokopuna, bring me the heart of the tī kōuka. Lay it in the earth oven and forget it there for a day and a night: the heat melts the wood into honey. Then steep it in clear water, and drink — it is the only sweetness in these lands, and it is what is offered to me so that my teeth let you pass.
Ingredients (period version)
- Kāuru (heart of tī kōuka, cabbage tree, long-cooked) — one piece (source of sugar)
- Spring water — a bowl (to infuse the sweetness)
Ingredients
- Agave or rice syrup (neutral plant sweetness) — 2 tbsp (evokes kāuru sugar)
- Spring water — 500 ml (base of the drink)
- Fresh ginger root (woody note) — 1 small piece (warm fragrance)
- Fresh edible leaves (verbena, lemongrass) — a few (to recall the vegetal perfume)
Method
- Heat the spring water without boiling, with the crushed ginger.
- Remove from heat, add the fragrant leaves, and steep covered for 10 minutes.
- Strain, then dissolve the agave syrup into the still-warm infusion.
- Let cool: the drink should be sweet, light, and woody.
- Serve cool in a bowl or gourd, as a symbolic offering before drinking.
How it was made : The Māori extracted sugar from tī kōuka (Cordyline australis, the cabbage tree) and tī para: the rhizomes and trunks were cooked very long in the hāngī (up to 24 hours), which converts inulin into sugars. The resulting kāuru was chewed as is or steeped to flavor water — one of the very few sources of sweetness in a cuisine that had no cane sugar and no bees before European arrival.
The contemporary twist : Serve iced as an 'Aotearoa infusion', with an ice cube and a fresh leaf on top.
Muri-ranga-whenua · Charactorium
