Home Economics - Maori Preservation

 The Maori used to use different preserving methods to preserve food. This matters because it helped the Maori evolve into who they are today. One method they used to preserve food was drying it. The Maori used to preserve things like Shellfish, Kumara, and fish as they would be able to use it at later dates. Another way the Maori preserved food was fermenting. The Maori used to ferment things like fish and crayfish with a method they called Mara kai. They would place the food in a flax basked, which is also called a Kete, and steeped in very slow running water for days or week until the inner flesh settled to the bottom of the Kete. There would be a pungent smell but the fish would still be safe to eat and was considered a delicacy to those who liked the taste. Preserving food is extremely important because it helps also preserve our culture if we stopped preserving items people will forget about these methods and it also won’t be marked in our history later on. It is important to preserve our culture as people are starting to forget who and what the Maori did in history at the moment, we need to preserve our history for future generations so that they can learn and improve these ideas. These are some different ways the Maori preserved their food. Some of these methods are still being used today while others have been forgotten. It is important to remember these methods as later generations could learn from them.