Citrus Kumara

March 25, 2005

When I was at boarding school, blight struck the potato crops, and the cooks turned to kumara as a substitute. I don't know what they did to the poor tubers, but the result was a nasty gluey grey substance that made the school's dreaded caramel dumplings look almost edible by comparison.

It wasn't until I visited the States 20 years later and saw some of the interesting things they did with sweet potatoes that I was persuaded to give our local kumara a second chance. In San Diego I was served sweet potatoes halved lengthwise, baked till tender, the cut surface sprinkled with spiced brown sugar which bubbled and caramelised under the grill.

The early Maori settlers brought the first kumara to New Zealand more than a thousand years ago. These were very small "bush‚" kumara. The kumara we eat today evolved from the American variety, introduced here in the 1850s.

Dargaville is the main kumara-growing area and these days we can buy three varieties of kumara - red, gold and orange, which is the sweetest of the lot.

Kumara should be stored in a cool dry place, not in the refrigerator. When buying, look for a smooth, unbroken skin. Handle carefully to prevent bruising. You don't have to peel them. A scrub will do. The skins contain a type of fibre which has a protective role against cancer.

A good serving of kumara will give you your day's requirement of Vitamins A and E. They are also a good source of Vitamin C, have more fibre than oatmeal and contain only 141 calories per 500g, in spite of their sweet taste. I made today's dish when the sons visited us from overseas recently and I noticed one of them, who would never touch the vegetable as a child returned for seconds. I recommend the gold kumara as they tend to keep their colour better than the red-skinned variety.

Citrus Kumara

4-6 gold kumara
juice and rind of two oranges
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
fresh sage leaves
1/4 cup water

Peel or scrub the kumara and cut each into two or three chunks. Place in a shallow ovenproof dish. Dot with butter. Whisk together the rind, juice, water and mustard and pour over the kumara. Poke in a few sage leaves, reserving a few for presentation. Cover the dish with a lid or foil and bake at 160C for 45 minutes, basting once or twice and adding a little water if the liquid is evaporating too fast. Remove the foil or lid and cook for a further five minutes. Baste again and add strew over a few more sage leaves for serving. Serves six.