I have always been fascinated with native edible plants so it seems fitting to focus this last installment about the story of horopito around the use of horopito leaves in cooking. Horopito has a long history of use in Maori food and now interestingly enough this flavour has entered modern cuisine.

Horopito has a hot spicy flavour that slowly grows stronger and is used as an alternative to pepper or chilli. It is used to smoke fish, as a seasoning, an infusion for olive oil, a rub for meat, fish and vegetables, or to add to sauces and marinades.

A couple of years ago the head of Maori research at Crop & Food in Palmerston North was leading a million-dollar research programme looking into the use of traditional Maori foods in contemporary cuisine. The programme explored the flavours of native New Zealand plants with the hope of continuing the movement that has seen native plants like horopito appearing on the menus of upmarket restaurants. Interesting stuff!

I have found a few recipes using horopito leaves, but this one from the NZ Herald looks delicious as I love hummus!

Horopito Hummus

Makes 170g

Time: Six minutes to prepare but best when refrigerated for 2-3 hours. A good pinch of salt

Horopito pepper

Clove of garlic

2 teaspoons of oil

170g of your favourite prepared hummus 1 Add a pinch of salt and horopito pepper to the oil and whisk well. 2 Heat the oil mixture gently for about 5 minutes. This releases the citric flavours and aromatic oils from the horopito pepper. Cool to room temperature. 3 Pour the horopito infused oil into the prepared hummus and stir it through until well mixed. 4 Cover the hummus and refrigerate, allowing the horopito pepper to infuse for 2-3 hours. 5 For a smoother consistency, slowly drizzle in more oil to taste. Here is a link to where you can purchase Horopito pepper: http://www.edibleplanet.co.nz/edible-planet-ground-horopito.html Photo Source: Pseudowintera colorata