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Cereals and bread from Aotearoa New Zealand

Kānga pirau (Māori fermented corn)kānga pirau

Kānga pirau is Māori fermented corn. Whole maize cobs in woven baskets are left in a running stream for up to six weeks, until the kernels have settled to the bottom of the basket; the corn is then mashed and often eaten with cream and sugar. The ferment has a pungent aroma.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Kānga pirau itself.

Short entryCereals and bread42 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source gives amounts; whole cobs are fermented by the basket.
Whole maize cobs[wp]
Running stream water[wp]

Total time across the recorded steps: 42 days

Start
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What changes: Maize cobs are packed into woven baskets

Step 1 of 4
Pack cobs in baskets
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: basketed cobs.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Kānga pirau is Māori fermented corn. Whole maize cobs in woven baskets are left in a running stream for up to six weeks, until the kernels have settled to the bottom of the basket; the corn is then mashed and often eaten with cream and sugar. The ferment has a pungent aroma. Made in 4 steps over 42 days. The longest step, leave in running water to ferment, takes up to 42 days (Wikipedia 2013). Not identified; a HACCP study of Māori elders' descriptions judged kānga kōpiro an acid fermentation does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 42 daysReported[wp]Leave in running water to ferment

What makes this one different

Kānga pirau ferments whole cobs in running water for weeks, much longer than African steeped maize foods such as ogi, which are soaked for a few days and wet-milled.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kānga pungarehu (boundary)Not fermented: maize boiled with wood ash (today often baking soda), an alkali treatment.

Safety

A HACCP-based study of traditional Māori food preparation judged kānga kōpiro likely to produce a safe food because it undergoes an acid fermentation. Modern versions ferment the cobs in containers of water.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Maize reached Māori after European contact; the dish dates back to at least the 19th century.

  1. [whyte2001] Whyte R., Hudson J.A., Hasell S., Gray M., O'Reilly R. 2001, Traditional Maori food preparation methods and food safety, International Journal of Food Microbiology 69(3):183–190, doi:10.1016/s0168-1605(01)00547-5 (abstract)paper
  2. [wp] Wikipedia, Kānga pirau (citing Royal and Kaka-Scott 2013, Te Ara)wiki