The boil up is one of the great home dishes of Māori cooking, a single pot that joins foods brought by Polynesian voyagers, such as kūmara, with pork and potatoes introduced in the nineteenth century. Traditionally the greens are pūhā, a wild sow thistle with a pleasant bitterness, or watercress gathered from streams. Pork bones, often the meaty bones left after butchering, give the broth its body. Doughboys, simple flour dumplings, are dropped in at the end to steam.

It is cooked for whānau, for tangi and for cold nights, and it is meant to feed whoever turns up. That makes it ideal for a race weekend with guests of uncertain number: the pot simply grows another dumpling.

The broth

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lb (1.6 kg) meaty pork bones
• 1 large yellow onion
• 12 cups (2.8 liters) cold water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The vegetables and greens

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb (680 g) potatoes
• 1 1/2 lb (680 g) kūmara
• 8 oz (225 g) pumpkin or butternut squash
• 2 large bunches (about 12 oz or 340 g) watercress or pūhā

The doughboys

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 g) self rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• about 3/4 cup (180 ml) cold water

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