Matty Dives into Māori Food & Culture | Dead Set on Life Season 3 Episode 6

We've got it down to an art, this is some beautiful

food

, right, let's hit some mud, one thing left to do, slide in the old mud pool, heal up, couple of big dogs about to dunk us in a little mud, incredible, we have the mud. I'm going to heal the inside which will make the outside stronger and the outside as strong as possible will make the inside stronger if I do your back let's get in there this is good next here in New Zealand, What's happening? What's happening? You know, let's get your T, little Mai, Little M, too, yeah, okay, how do you feel about that?

We'll see, let's do it, so M, we're here with a hit and I wanted you to see, you know you should get it. a moco Town Moko is a maie tattoo and ma have been tattooed for centuries. The design was originally chiseled with bone which left ridges on the surface of the skin historically a sign of status. Tal Moko was once reserved for the highest ranking men and women. in the tribe most of the time m is to represent family or genealogy uh it's information so when people look at J M they should be able to tell where you're from okay so if you're ready we'll stop by Becky and start drawing .

Okay, I don't have much space, so we'll have to find a nice little place first. What do you want to represent? You know, I have a son, MacArthur. I think by putting my wife there, my parents. I have two brothers and a sister. I had a heart attack. Yes, a few years ago. I have something that represents coming out in a new kind of light. Yes. I stopped using drugs and alcohol about three and a half years ago. Oh I'm sorry. Listen to that, yeah, me too, okay, so this bottom point that we have at the bottom is your wife and right above it will be your son, that's the smart man, yeah buddy, I'm eating

food

, get me a tattoo mai .

I love my

life

right now oh it looks beautiful man it's really cool it's so sick it's really an honor you know to come here and let Morgan bring me here and get something that means a lot to me and to someone I can tell that story. You're one of us now, yes you are, I mean, we're brothers, we're brothers, okay, sore leg, let's go to our last meal. I wanted to have another traditional mauy experience, so Morgan took me to grow muscles with his uncle. Fabian on a muscle barge Maui has been harvesting and eating local green husk muscles for over 500 years.

Today, muscle is a huge industry here in New Zealand employing over 3,000 people and generating over $250 million each year. Fabian has been in the muscle business. since 1990 and in 2000 he started his own company Muscle Madness, which draws on his experience at Maie and his years of seafood experience. How long have you been in the muscle business? and as I grew up, I was always involved in aqua

culture

. Morgi was telling me that you're a pretty bad donut, eh, brawny, we should cook a little IMO, yeah, let's cook, yeah, let's go eat some donuts Legend of Uncle Fabian New Zealand number one nature baby oh yeah mom look this just a couple of big dogs they are going to eat 300 oysters each so we went out to the muscle bars this morning we came back with a lot of muscles fabiyan soles were having a good time I caught a big old fish, I gave it T, we have oysters, we are here in the batch, so now we have to cook, make some sevich, maybe whole roast, here you go, morgi, here on the griddle, brother, I'm coming.

To put a lot of butter on this Fabián, what do you have there? Oh I just made a few corando muscle attacks, all I did guys was just make a beer batter, added some eggs to it, chopped up some onions and some fresh raw muscles. Today's harvest and some tomato fritters aren't exactly old school Maui, but Fabian has them down to a science. Hungry Morgan and his family used new ingredients the old-fashioned way, but Fabian did the opposite by taking on a traditional Maui meal. a modern twist I want this Buñuelo I want the Buñuelo I'm going to dip some of that in your butter, yeah, that's the good thing right there, they're good.

I can E A lot of these fritters, yeah, oh yeah M I hope you had a really good week this week, it's really amazing to see where you come from and what you've accomplished and how strong the Maui family and traditions are still alive in all my experiences with Morgan of the last few days. It is impressive to see how vibrant and pervasive Mauie

culture

remains even after more than 200 years of colonization. Some of their tools and ingredients have changed, but the meaning and heart behind everything they make remains strong. Mal's ability to incorporate these new influences and make them her own.

The same comes from a powerful sense of who they are and their unbroken connection to their land. New Zealand, the best island, truly unbeatable.