New Zealand Comes to New England
A traditional Maori feast of food, music, dance, and camaraderie draws hundreds of Kiwis to a New Hampshire hillside to celebrate the homeland.
In 2000, Simon Leeming, a native New Zealander who arrived in the United States in 1971 at age 18 with his parents and siblings, was named his homeland's honorary consul to New England. Among the many duties of the office are locating and linking New Zealanders abroad, and Leeming soon persuaded his wife, Alice, an American by birth, that they should do something iconic to bring together Kiwis in the region.
"New Zealanders have a tendency to burrow in, and I wanted something that would bring them out. And I wanted to do it in a uniquely New Zealand way," says Leeming, a lawyer with Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios in Concord, New Hampshire. He assured Alice it "would be our one consular event all year."
So, in 2001, they sent out invitations to their first traditional Maori hangi. Since then, attendance has blossomed from 200 to the estimated 500 who were expected at this year's event. And Alice and the Leemings' five children, now ages 9 to 19, have taken its growth in stride.
Held on the Saturday before Columbus Day - when the Granite State belies its name and bursts into color, and the small herd of border Cheviot sheep grazing on the Leemings' 5-acre property in the hills of historic Canterbury create a picture that Leeming says "looks like New Zealand" - the festivities have served to remind those with Kiwi roots of their homeland, culture, traditions, and history.
Although it has its own distinctive characteristics, a hangi is not unlike a New England clambake. The menu, of course, is dramatically different, and seaweed is conspicuously absent, but the food is essentially steamed in a covered pit filled with rocks, steeping for hours in its own juices and intensifying its flavors.
Like the clambake, preparing for a hangi involves many traditions, some of which require adjustments when translated to the foothills of the White Mountains. For example, a true New Zealand hangi cooking pit is lined with volcanic rocks that have been properly dried so they won't crack. Since these are in short supply in New Hampshire, the Leemings use special firebricks, pulled into the pit on a wire grate.
Hangis originated in the native Maori community as feasts. Increasingly, Maori and mainstream culture in New Zealand have become one, and hangis are now considered quintessential New Zealander celebrations.
"People always know when a good hangi is on," says Tama Huata, director and founder of Kahurangi Maori Dance Company, a group based in Hastings, New Zealand, that is dedicated to preserving the unique culture of the Maori. Members helped Leeming launch his first hangi, and each year, a troupe moves in with the Leeming family for the week around the event and performs traditional songs and dances at the celebration.
The hangi itinerary has evolved over time, and activities that tie the party to other New Zealand traditions have been added. One example was last year's first annual rugby game - the party moved at midday to the playing field behind Canterbury Elementary School, where the Consul's XV challenged amateur teams from Maine.
Preparation for the extravaganza begins early. By 8 a.m., the fire is started near the 4-by4-by-8-foot pit, which is protected by a traditional hangi whare (house), built by Simon and his 13-year-old son, Charlie, after the near rainout of the event in 2005. A massive pyre of wood, which holds the firebricks within, is set ablaze. Four hours later, the bricks will be fiery hot, the wood nothing but ash. Nearby, in plastic garbage cans filled with water, sheets and burlap bags that will cover the food are soaking.
Meanwhile, the Leemings' friend and neighbor Nicholas Toumpas is washing, cutting, and seasoning hundreds of pounds of onions, kumara (sweet potatoes), white potatoes, cabbage, and carrots. Lamb and flank steak are wrapped in cabbage leaves to prevent burning and add flavor. Toumpas directs a cheerful crew, including his daughter Leah, 19, lifelong friend of the Leemings' oldest daughter, Juliet, also 19, in the walkout basement of the Leemings' Colonial-style house. Alice Leeming and several friends spread paper tablecloths on the long tables set up under large white tents and decorate them with small Maori dolls they have made from straw.
At about noon, the call goes out for the hangi to be "put down," a moment when speed is of the essence. A crew of a dozen or so guests, including five of the Maori dancers, move quickly to pull the hot bricks into the pit, then rapidly deposit dozens of wire baskets full of meat and vegetables, and cover them with wet cotton sheets, burlap bags, and, finally, a canvas tarp. Steam rises - and then disappears as Leeming maneuvers his tractor to cover the hole with earth.
While the food cooks, guests from around the world have a chance to connect. Some have flown in from New Zealand just for the event. New Zealand embassy and consular officials as well as consular officials from Britain and Ireland come from Boston, New York, and Washington. In addition to Kiwis who are away from home in the States and have traveled from as far away as California and Washington state, there is a smattering of guests from British Commonwealth countries, including South Africa and Australia.
"Hangis are very elemental," says Ian Hill, deputy chief of mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, noting that they reach into New Zealand's natural and social history. The island nation has some 4 million citizens, and at any one time, says Hill, 1 million are abroad, seeking "to stretch themselves on a wider canvas." To them, a hangi speaks of home, and Hill, a frequent hangi guest, compliments Leeming's effort as "a tremendous idea to reach out to all New Zealanders."
For the entire afternoon, the hangi cooks, out of sight but never out of mind. Just before sunset, the same crew that put it down swiftly and efficiently lifts the food from the pit. The hundreds of guests wait patiently in lines that snake down the hill for their share of a feast with traditions as familiar and as foreign as New Zealand culture itself.
Sweet competition
At the 2006 hangi, the Leemings introduced another tradition to the festivities: a Pavlova bake-off. Pavlova is a traditional New Zealand dessert, named to honor the renowned Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who visited the country in 1926 on her world tour. The dessert has also generated some controversy among food enthusiasts in New Zealand and its neighboring island nation, Australia. The dancer visited both countries that year, and both claim the dessert as a national dish, each arguing that a chef created (or at least adapted) the recipe in her honor.
Like the ballerina, Pavlova is the lightest of desserts, made of meringue and usually decorated with fruit and whipped cream. While 14 daring cooks tried their hands at this dessert, the first competition was won by the host's mother, June Leeming, a native of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island.
JUNE LEEMING'S PAVLOVA
Serves 10
June Leeming says that preheating the oven is absolutely critical to a successful Pavlova.
9 eggs, at room temperature
1 pound superfine sugar
1 pint whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh fruit of your choice, such as berries, kiwi, or peaches
Set the oven at 300 degrees, with a rack adjusted to the middle. Heat the oven for two hours. Just before you start to make the Pavlova, turn the oven up to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Separate the eggs and reserve the yolks for another purpose. In a bowl of a standing mixer with a whip attachment, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and pull away from the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on high speed, add the sugar in a slow, steady stream and beat for 2 to 3 more minutes, until the peaks are glossy and smooth.
Spoon the meringue into a mounded circle (approximately 10 inches in diameter) on the baking sheet. With the back of the spoon, level off the top and sides to form a smooth disk. Set the meringue in the oven and turn it off. Leave the meringue there until it is crisp and cold, about 2 1/2 hours. It is preferable to leave it overnight. Don't open the oven door while the Pavlova cooks.
Remove the meringue from the oven and let it sit in a cool, dry place a bit before adding the toppings.
Whip the cream with the vanilla until soft peaks form. Decorate the top of the Pavlova with the whipped cream and fresh fruit. New Zealand cooks favor such native fruits as kiwi and passion fruit, but you can also use fruits such as strawberries and peaches.
Adapted from a recipe from June Leeming.
Hangi know-how
Entertaining a large crowd requires an enormous amount of work and planning. Each year, Simon and Alice Leeming and their children hold a hangi post-mortem and review what worked and what didn't in an effort to streamline the preparations for the next annual event. They also brainstorm ideas to spice up the activities list. Suggestions have included adding rotisseries, so guests can see some of the food cooking, and holding a sheepherding exhibition. Here are some of the lessons learned:
Delegate The Leemings request that half of their guests bring dessert and half bring appetizers, dividing the guest list alphabetically. After the first hangi, many friends offered to take over food preparation, the drinks table, parking, the desserts table, setup, cleanup, and other essential functions. A committee of sorts was formed, and tasks were assigned, with the Leemings gratefully accepting all offers of help. For example, each year, Nicholas Toumpas arrives early to begin food preparation. Exception: A hired bartender oversees the serving of beer and New Zealand wine to help enforce the Leeming policy (and New Hampshire laws) about alcohol consumption.
Adapt After multiple trips to the town dump to haul off the trash from the first hangi, the Leemings decided an on-site dumpster was a better option for subsequent events. When rains bedeviled the 2005 hangi, the Maori guests helped design a traditional whare, or house, over the cooking pit. Simon and his son Charlie built the structure and finished it with a traditional teko teko figure carved by Simon.
Include the neighbors Of course, the Leemings invite them, but they also enlist their support. For instance, their next-door neighbor lends her field for parking. Just before the hangi, the Leemings mow it, and the day of the event, volunteers direct traffic, keeping the hundreds of cars off the street.
Draw the line The Leemings open their home to the Maori dance troupe and those few who have traveled halfway around the world from the homeland for the occasion, but they simply can't accommodate anyone else overnight. They also ask guests to use the rented toilet stalls set up on the property.
The two-for-one rule Count on more guests than RSVPs. Over the years, the Leemings have found that for every one reply, they can expect two guests. This is important for meal planning.
Lora Sharpe is a freelance writer in Marion. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.
LEEMING HANGI INGREDIENTS
130 pounds lamb
130 pounds flank steak
100 pounds carrots
100 pounds onions
100 pounds white potatoes
100 pounds butternut squash
100 pounds cabbage
400 kumara (sweet potatoes) 