Nā Raurukitahi Mane-Wheoki | Te Ia Ka Oho
Where do we go if you want to buy kai Māori in Taranaki? If you ask New Plymouth locals the answer is simple: Georges in Moturoa.
It is a humble store that has been open since 2018 and is owned by Landon Elder and is named after his late koro George.
"He taught us how to cook and fish and hunt and all that sort of stuff. And more about growing kai and then where you could take it from there and sort of use everything as well,” Landon Elder says.
“It's not a cafe, it's not a restaurant, it's my koro's shop. You just come in and you're welcomed in here and you treat us with respect and you get the same and that's pretty much what this place is," he says.
Customers can expect a rich and savoury fried bread coated with a generous amount of butter served with a steaming bowl of mouthwatering boil up, which is exactly how the restaurant's concept originated a recipe from Koro George.
Landon had to adapt his koro's recipes to suit foreign palates while retaining the comforting flavours of home. He used this information to develop a signature dish he calls "Fried Boil Up."
“I didn't really feel like Ngā Motu anyway or New Zealand as a whole didn't really have that Māori feel when it comes to eating out or just everyday eating, you can get Pizza, you can get Pies, and whatever, which is cool, but it's not what I wanted,” Landon says.
“I know what fried bread is and you probably know what fried bread is, but not everybody knows what fried bread is or they don't understand a lot of the kai that we have and that sort of stuff and then they try it and then they love it," he says.
