Pork and Puha

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Pork and Puha

The "boil-up" is a Maori method of cooking that boils root vegetables such as kumara and potatoes, puha (watercress) and spinach in a pork stock. Dumplings, also known as "doughboys", or Maori bread usually accompany the meal to soak up the soupy goodness.

Traditionally, puha (also known as Sow Thistle) was one of the staple green vegetables of the Maori and is still eaten today.

Puha can be found growing wild. The smell was strong and it was long and stringy in appearance.

More commonly known as a 'boil-up' in Maori circles, pork bones and puha for this malcontent usually involved eating the pork, shifting the potatoes around the plate and then fruitlessly compressing the puha into smaller piles.

It's the perfect winter meal - warming, flavoursome and very comforting. Puha lends the meal a sharpness, lifting the rounded flavours of the pork and potatoes. Puha also has considerable health benefits, being rich in antioxidants and iron.