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PŪHĀ

Easy to grow and full of nutrition, this green vegetable, long a part of Māori cuisine, is also becoming a favourite of New Zealand’s other communities. Ka katokato au i te rau pororua I am gathering the bitter leaves of the pororua (pūhā or sow-thistle)

STORY: NICK ROSKRUGE

- Dr Nick Roskruge on the native and exotic varieties of this traditional Māori vege, and how to grow them.

Pūhā is the most easily recognised green vegetable in Māori cuisine. However, it is an exotic plant, though considered naturalised since well before the European contact in Aotearoa. Research has confirmed this through pollen analysis in historic sites. Of course, we speculate about how it arrived here but that is unknown – most likely through the trade winds or similar natural elements which carry seeds and spores across borders.

For many people, pūhā is a generic term for any green vegetable boiled with meat. Specifically though, it refers to a number of plants belonging to the Sonchus genus of the Asteraceae family of plants, which is found worldwide.

The genus Sonchus includes a number of perennial and annual species commonly called sow-thistles that originate from the North African (Mediterranean), Asian and European regions, and now have a cosmopolitan distribution. The generic name Sonchus comes from the Greek sonchos, meaning hollow and refers to the hollow plant stems.

Pūhā is mostly a non-cultivated plant and is consumed on a regular basis in local cuisine by Māori and occasionally other communities. It is also of interest for many people and communities for its nutritional value. From the time of Captain James Cook’s first contact with New Zealand in the mid-18th century, pūhā was reported to be high in vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and was useful in the fight against scurvy.

The ubiquitous pūhā is fast becoming one of the “wild” greens many of us now either grow purposefully or leave to grow for harvest in our gardens.

Pūhā is known by several names which generally apply to different plants of the Sonchus species. The prickly leaf variety is correctly known as pūhā tiotio and colloquially as chorchor, and the more familiar smooth leaf variety as pūhā, pororua or rauriki, depending on where you live in the country. The Pākehā names you might be familiar with are sow-thistle or hare’s lettuce.

As well however, there is the Chatham Island sowthistle (Embergeria grandifolia), which is endemic to that island, and pūhā raurōroa or shore sow-thistle (Sonchus kirkii), which is considered a native plant.

Then there is the perennial pūhā (Sonchus arvensis), another naturalised variety.

Pūhā grows prolifically throughout all of New Zealand and on off-shore islands. It grows freely in a wide range of soils and climates, including sandy sites and disturbed sites. The soil preference for all species is for a welldrained, nutrient rich, slightly acid to alkaline soil (pH 6-6.5). Pūhā germinates at any time of the year in New Zealand and is mostly harvested from recently cultivated ground such as home gardens or cropping paddocks.

It can grow up to 1.5m in height and be harvested yearround but the flavours change as it ages, or when grown in intense hot and dry situations.

Young plants are preferred for most uses as they are milder in flavour. Mature plants regenerate easily if the plant is cut rather than pulled from the ground.

Pūhā can also be found on roadsides, in clearings of bush or scrub or in wasteland.

Historically, pūhā was only ever used as a fresh green vege, especially in spring and early summer, and provided a relish for meals, particularly fish. The young leaves of the plant were traditionally sweated or steeped in boiling water and eaten with the fish. It was also added to the umu or hāngi. The old records mention that the unopened flowers of the plant were also eaten (not pinched out) but that practise is less common today.

For Māori, there are several ways in which pūhā is now used in the diet. Primarily, it is a basis for a meal that includes meat, potatoes and sometimes further relishes

Young plants are preferred for most uses as they are milder in flavour. Mature plants regenerate easily if the plant is cut rather than pulled from the ground.

such as plain dumplings (colloquially termed doughbuoys), as well as pūhā. This meal is well known as kōtutu or the boil-up and is very common. The juice from the boiled meal, known as waipūhā, is also consumed, sometimes as a tonic. For this meal the younger, milder pūhā plants are preferred.

A variation of this is the preparation of pūhā to complement a meal of tītī or muttonbird. This meal is also boiled and substitutes the bird for the meat in kōtutu.

During World War II, soldiers in the Māori Battalion came across pūhā being weeded in gardens in Greece. A 1954 summary in Te Ao Hou magazine wrote: “It was Colonel Bertrand, who as Major Bertrand, 2 I/C 28th (Māori) Battalion, made the discovery that the Māoris were not the only people who recognised the merits of pūhā. The New Zealand Division had landed in Greece and 5th Brigade transport was proceeding by road to its position near Olympus. During a halt for lunch it was observed that the farmers were very busy weeding their crops and Major Bertrand strolled over to get a closer view. The workers were not weeding but gathering pūhā, which they said was a much prized vegetable with them. Very soon, at the rate of a shilling a sugar bag, they were gathering pūhā for the Māori transport drivers.”

A further use for pūhā is as a basis for toroī (bottled/ preserved pūhā and mussels). In this case the older, more astringent or bitter plants are often preferred. The pūhā is first rubbed between the fists, boiled and softened and then bottled with the shellfish before being left to mature for several weeks or months before consumption.

The pūhā may be substituted with other native greens such as watercress or pikopiko.

In traditional times the raw sap or latex (known as tawau), which exudes after the plant stems are snapped and left to dry on the plant in the sun, was collected and rolled into a ball and used as a chewing gum known as pia or ngau. This was considered a beneficial product for teeth and gum health.

Alternatively, the sap was sometimes mixed with the softened gum of trees such as tarata (Pittosporum eugenioides) or kauri (Agathis australis) and then used as a chewing gum.

Growing pūhā in a home garden is becoming more popular and there are also growers looking at commercial production.

The best time to grow is the cooler months (so dodge midsummer as the plants will bolt earlier). Collect the spent flowerheads off old plants. Save the seed which can then be sown in the same way as other green vegetables such as lettuce or spinach. If you direct sow seed into the garden, then space them about 5cm apart following the same regime for spinach and thin later once they come through. In the cooler months, it takes 12-16 weeks to get to a good harvest size. They grow faster in the hotter months but some people say the flavour is less palatable.

It is all up to you to experiment and decide what works best. Harvest criteria is also dependent on personal preference (and volume). So if the crop is new to you then trial it as a cooked green vegetable once it is about 300mm high.

In the cooler months, it takes 12-16 seeks to get to a good harvest size. They grow faster in the hotter months but some people say the flavour is less palatable.

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