TRY NATIVE FOODS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 19 January 1926, Page 2

TRY NATIVE FOODS

ADVICE FOR PICNICKERS SIR MAUI POAIARE TELLS HOW TO COOK AIOCK TOHEROA SOUP A chat with Sir Alaui Pomare, Alinister .for Health, by a New Zealand Times representative, brought forth information from him regarding a few dishes from natural sources wtiich are available to the people of New Zealand, and especially to holiday-makers and picnic parties, whether at the seaside or inland. The Alinister emphasised his opinion that there are extensive food supplies which are hardly touched upon, and some of them very nutritious. Families often spend holidays in places remote from town, and they take large supplies of food with them. Those stocks can be supplemented and varied by those that nature has placed close to their hands, and which afford some very tasty dishes. At the seaside, apart from the fish which require rod, line, or net to catch them, there are several varieties of shell fish, mussels, and paua or mutton fish —•heliotus is the name, of its species. Inland, of course, there are trout —for which a license is necessary—eels, and in most of the streams there are fresh-water crayfish. The last are three or four inches long, and all that is necessary is to boil them like the ordinary crayfish. When cooked they go red, and are quite good to eat. SELECT FOUR AIUSSELS In describing the method of treating mussels for culinary purposes, Sir Alaui stressed the point that they should not be taken Irorn the wharves, where they came in contact with the copper sheathing on the, piles, nor .should mussels be eaten which have been exposed to the sun. Those washed up on the beach from the deep sea are quite good, so long as they are alive and fresh. They should be cooked in boiling water until the shells are well opened, after which the first tiling to do is to' remove the beard. This is easy to find, being very like a piece of fibre attached toi the bivalve. Tile mussels should then be minced, and by the addition of onions and other vegetables they can be made into soup or fritters in the ordinary way. They can ttlso be made into fritters without mincing. If for thick soup or stew is being made a little thickening should be added, and for clear soup the liquor just requires straining. This, said Sir Alaui, is equal to the famous toheroa soup. I’AUA AND SEA-EGGS

In using the patia, the liver should rfist be removed. Wash the rest of the fish, and put into a frying-pan with dripping. After from five to. ten minutes, turn it over, covering again with the plate. Served with onions, cababge, or other vegetables, they are equal to- the tendevesfc steak. The paua may also be used like the mussel for soup or fritters, whole or minced. Then there are sea eggs or echinus. These should he put in fresh, water over-night, and can be eaten raw from the sheel or cooked or fried in batter. VEGETABLES, TOO “But how do you go. 011 for vegetables?” was the next question put Sir Maui smiled, and replied that there was the sow-thistle, which is plentiful in all parts of the country. The natives call it puha; its book-name is scjuclms oleraceous. Take the succulent young growths and put- it into boiling water with plenty of dripping in it, or it may be cooked with corned beef or pork for not less than half an hour. The water should be changed once when conking, to remove the bitterness. It is then like beet spinach, and it is difficult to tell the difference. Ordinary watercress is very wholesome when boiled as a vegetable. It is not necessary to change the water h> cooking it. There is also the root of tiie para fern, which can be boiled and eaten, and the tender shoots of the cabbagetree, which make a quite excellent vegetable, either as salad or boiled. “With bread, butter, and tea, fish arid vegetables, what more do you want for a good camp holiday?” asked the Minisaway to lunch. IN THE. OLD COUNTRY Although some of the vegetables mentioned may seem strange to- white people it is a fact that plenty of people in the Old Country eat dandelion leaves, cultivating the plants—sometimes under glasses—and taking the succulent young leaves, often using them in salads. The leaves of the nasturtium are also eaten, and the seeds of this plant are used in making pickles. Lettuce are aiso used as a boiled vegetable, and are very much like* spinach, Another thing which does not appear to be greatly used in New Zealand, and is particularly rice in making salads, is mustard. This is very cheap, and is usually sold by grocers for using in pickles. If this is sown thickly and cut when about two inches high*— it requires water fairly freely—it can he used in salad, eaten like watercress, and in hot weather makes a very nice accompaniment to hard boiled eggs.