Traditional
Food – Kookii (Shark Liver Sausage)
Kookii(pronounced
“core-key”) is
made from the liver and stomach lining of a shark and was a part of our
ancestors’ traditional diet since kai moana (seafood) was in abundance. Preparing
Kookii was another form of preserving food as it could hang for three days to
as long a six months . It had to be cooked before eating and a favourite method
was cooking it in a hangi (pit oven).
Kookii
is still made today but with less frequency, as kai moana is not so plentiful
anymore. These days popular methods of cooking the Kookii include frying and
baking.
The
following steps describe how we were instructed by our kaumatua (elders) to
prepare Kookii:
-1-
Take one mango (shark)
-2-
Cut down in front of the fin
down towards the stomach and along the belly to expose the entrails (guts).
-3-
Pull
out and separate the liver and the stomach lining. Clean out and rinse the
stomach lining thoroughly.
-4-
Look
carefully for a green pouch in the liver and remove it. It this is not removed
the Kookii will be very bitter.
-5-
Open
the stomach lining and push in the liver until the stomach lining is full.
-6-
Tie off with dried flax. Dried flax is preferable since the taste will be affected if fresh flax is used.
-7-
Make sure that flax is fastened securely so that pouch will not fall when it is hung.
-8-
Fasten to a tree, or suitable place, facing towards the sun, which will help dry the Kookii. Can be usually can be eaten with in three days or left to dry for six months.
-9-
Kookii hanging on a tree
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