Hangi are a cultural icon to the people who settled in New Zealand circa 700 years prior to the European explorers. The method is essentially stone age, but has survived as a method of cooking for the New Zealand Maori and similar techniques for other Polynesian cultures for cooking for the masses at celebrations.There is strong evidence to suggest that there was contact between the Americas and Polynesia, during the pre-Columbian era as cooking methods and some ingredients - namely the sweet potato, which is indigenous to South America. This vegetable is called kumera in Maori and has significant spiritual meaning to them. Exactly how it arrived in New Zealand is not yet clear and continues to be a topic of discussion.
