Meals

Meals usually consisted of two. Work in the cultivation and elsewhere was done in the early cool hours of the morning. The day's supply was brought in, and sufficient food cooked for both meals in the late morning. A hot forenoon meal was partaken of and the remainder left cold for the evening. The evening meal was hurried through before sunset to enable the people to seek their refuges while it was light enough to see. This custom is said to date from the period when the Aitu tribe (Ngati-Tane) surprised whole-families at their meals and took their heads to fill in the marae of Maputu. Hence the proverb (12, p. 51), "Hasten our meal, or the Aitu will be upon us, bringing terror, chilliness, and death."

The requisites for a comfortable meal are taro, cooked taro leaves (paka), fish and sauce (tai 'akari). A piece of fish and some paka are held together, dipped in the sauce, and conveyed to the mouth. Such a mouthful is known as a po'ona paka. The usual beverage in the Keia district was noted for its excellence and is often alluded to as "te vai o Marua."

The simplest meal consists of a taro baked on the embers (papa paka) and a draught of water. Among the exploits of the legendary hero Ngaru was his descent to the realm of Miru. Miru, the devourer of souls, prepared an oven. Ngaru asked, "E umu a'a teia e Miru?" (What is this oven for, O Miru?) Miru replied, "E tao i a'au e kai naku." (To cook you as food for me.) Ngaru then spoke as follows:

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Kare a Moko i no'o ake e Miru	Not where Moko dwells, O Miru,
E umu tangata tana.	Has he an oven for human beings.
No'o ake Moko e Miru,	Where Moko dwells, O Miru,
Papa paka a inu i te vai o Marua,	A baked taro, a draught of the water of Marua,
Tukua kia 'aere.	And freedom to depart.

Note: The last two lines are often quoted as symbolical of hospitality, food, water, and freedom. Moko was the grandfather of Ngaru.

Kava was drunk by the older members of the upper classes, usually at family gatherings or feasts.

At feasts the kava was drunk before the eating commenced. At lesser meetings the food eaten after drinking the kava was termed 'ono. The word is also used as a verb in the phrase ei 'ono i te kava (to form a relish with the kava). The food was usually fish, which included eels. The priest, Tangiia, asked for human flesh as the 'ono for his kava. After the priest demanded his son, the chief Marere brewed a poisonous draught of kava, 'ora maunga (Tephrosia piscatoria), 'utu (Barringtonia), and po'utukava (?), and therewith killed Tangiia.

Kava was drunk by the priests to get into touch with their gods. The green kava root was used and not the dried root, as in Samoa. The root was either grated or chewed, but the chewed kava gave a greater stimulating effect. Kava was not surrounded by the social ceremonial that is characteristic of western Polynesia.

A special meal (a'i kavere) was deemed appropriate when learned men ('are korero) met to discuss history and traditional lore. The meal takes its name from the kavere (fresh-water eel), but other fresh-water fish such as the tiovi are appropriate. The host at whose house the meeting is to take place provides the kavere and the a'i (cooking fire). When my two aged informants had their first meal in my house after a historical session, I informed them that the meal was a modern a'i kavere. They took the remark as the compliment which was intended.