Marae Master Chef
Located out in the heart of Counties Manukau, the hard working team at Huakina Development Trust run a Marae Hauora programme. While this keeps them busy earlier this year they decided to run a Marae Master Chef programme to complement the focus they have on physical activity, nutrition and lifestyle changes.
“Really Marae Master Chef was just a fun, innovative way for us to deliver nutrition from another perspective” explained Livaine Ratu, programme manager.
“Initially we had a slow response but once we went out to the whānau, gave them a flyer and had a korero about what it was all about and painted the picture for them they were keen. Once they came to the first one they were hooked”
“We wanted to target a different part of the marae whānau, the whānau who were not already engaged in our activity programmes but did have a lot to do with the marae kitchen. Such as those who worked in the whare kai, those who did the prep work, the chefs and all of the different whānau who contribute to the makeup of the marae kitchen. In the end about 90% of the participants were cooks at their own marae”.
The level of work expected from the participants was high as they were guided through four nutrition sessions including our cultural connection to kai, label reading and recipe modification. There was also a practical cooking session, where they cooked what they wanted and lastly the final.
The participants really did step up and presented some great dishes on finals day. Along with this they all worked in their teams to complete everything from table setting to prep, cooking, serving and even giving a korero about the dishes as they were delivered to the judges.
All this hard mahi did not go unnoticed and to raise the bar even further the Huakina Kaiwhakahaere ensured that there were plenty of gifts for each participants and sharp local judges, who the contestants were announced to as they walked through the door. Also the whare kai was decked out with covered tables, chairs, decorations – even a band was hired for the occasion.
“The participants didn’t know what to expect on the other side of the kitchen door and once they walked through it was like woah!. They had no idea their whare kai could look like that, it really stepped it up and made them feel proud, excited and scared.”
“One thing we have learnt about our whānau is that they need to be pushed a little in terms of engagement”. By transforming the whare kai the participants engaged more, felt prouder about what they were doing and felt valued.
“One of the biggest outcomes that we saw was the increased confidence of the participants. We have some very shy whānau who don’t normally get involved in much but by the end of this programme and on the day of the final their confidence had increased. It increased with their team, the other participants, with us and in their cooking ability. Now they are getting themselves out there and involved with other activities both with us and on their own”.
The feedback that the participants got from the judges was also impressive with three differing culinary perspectives there were complements all around with claims of serving the dishes at a local restaurant or job opportunities in the future. So really all of this leaves us asking when is the next one is and how do we sign up!
For more information:
Email: livaine@haukina.co.nz
