Long ago Mäori people had no stoves or pots. They made a Hängi or earth oven to cook their food. Today, a Hängi is still used to cook food.

I’m going to describe how to make a Hängi.

	The vegetables and meat are usually prepared the night before, or in the morning (depending on how early the meal will be held). Both men and women help to get the food ready.
	In the morning the men dig a pit in the ground.
	The men make a fire with logs of wood, and stones are placed among the wood in the hot embers. The fire is fed with wood for a few hours to heat up the stones.
	The food is put in trays before it goes into the Hängi. The food that takes longest to cook – usually the meat – is placed at the bottom. Food that cooks more quickly, such as vegetables, is placed at the top.
	The hot stones are placed at the bottom of the pit. Water is then sprinkled over the stones to make steam. Then the trays of food are quickly put on top of the stones. The food is covered with several layers of clean cloth, then layers of sacks. Dirt is then shovelled over the sacks.
	After three hours the dirt is scraped away, the cloth coverings are carefully taken off, and the trays of food are lifted out of the pit. The pit is then filled in, and the Hängi stones are kept nearby so that they can be used again for another Hängi.