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“Roll up your pants, take off your shoes and socks,” John Panoho directs as he hands me a pair of rubberized beach waders. A Maori, born and raised in New Zealand, silver-haired John doesn't seem to be aware of my shock .

I'd been expecting an uncomplicated day learning about Maori cooking and ingredients. Now I'm about to get ankle-deep in mud. Hesitantly, I ask why. “We're going hunting,” he tells me, completely unfazed by my startled look.

There's no turning back, so I nod. The tide is out and picking pigis (pronounced “pipis”) is tide-dependent. “The waters must be just the right temperature for the sweet and succulent shellfish,” John says as my shoes fill with more mud. But he continues marching through the puddles without noticing that I'm now a few metres behind him.

“My ancestors arrived when there were only birds, fish and trees. They had to find ways of adapting to this new environment by using what they had around them. Remember, we've been here for over 1,000 years,” he shouts, finally looking back. “They were dependent on plants, roots, berries and anything that came out of the sea.”

Before arriving at this beach on the Matakana Coast of New Zealand's North Island, we had stopped at the home of caterer Wendy Bennett, who would join us for the day. Bennett specializes in Maori cooking and talks about the important medicinal properties of the local spices. She has prepared a food hamper filled with Maori appetizers. “People aren't educated about the abundance of indigenous food, but the good news is that there is a renewed interest,” she explains, squelching along beside me in her own beach shoes.

As John looks for our first “dig,” he tells me that most people who are interested in Maori food know about hangi (food cooked underground over coals). “But we're more sophisticated with our recipes now,” he says.

We walk about 100 metres until John suddenly stops. Yellow bucket in hand, he bends down, as does Wendy, and both start to diginto the mud with their hands. Soon I, too, soon have my hands wrist-deep in mud, searching for pigis, round shellfish that taste a bit like oysters and only exist in clean waters.

A large sign at the shore cautions that only 50 can be taken by each person. I am soon so addicted to finding them that I quickly reach the maximum. Now the search for cockles begins. Again there's a limit to the amount we can collect.

With beginner's luck, I hit the mother lode, and with my bucket almost filled there's just enough space for green-shelled clams, unique to New Zealand waters. Here, size matters, and both Merv and John Panoho keep only the larger shells.

Although we've collected nowhere near our total allotment, John decides that between us, we have enough. We wash our catch, swishing our buckets through the ocean water, which filters through holes at the bottom, then carry our buckets back to the car.

Merv Panoho's home is nearby in Matheson Bay, and that is where the group-effort lunch, aptly named “slow food,” is about to be cooked.

“The slow-food movement is all about spending time preparing meals, sitting down with family, good conversation, good wine. Food comes to the table when it's ready,” Wendy Bennett tells me as she places her prepared goodies on colourful platters on the verandah's large wooden table.

As John prepares our meal in the open kitchen, Taakawa Beer, made from kawakawa, a wild bush herb, is passed around. It's light and tasty. “We're now re-learning how herbs were used and turning our food into more contemporary dishes,” John explains.

“We haven't done enough to introduce visitors to Maori culture,” he says as he chops some freshly picked tomatoes. He's been working on several ideas and has a range of food tours that emphasize indigenous culture.

Our slow-food meal starts off with purple potatoes (peruperu, also known as Maori potato), which are the size of small zucchinis but much uglier, flavourful but not starchy. Next are succulent tamarillos, native to Peru and Chile but now grown commercially in New Zealand.

Wendy's box yields mashed kumara cakes with puha and kawakawa leaves, topped with wild boar that's been marinated in avocado oil and liqueur made from the berry of the titoki tree, garnished with a fresh puha leaf, and served with tamarillo and piko piko chutney, made from fern tips.

I marvel at the amount of time this must have taken, although Wendy assures me that with all the ingredients handy, “it's a snap.” I savour each morsel but I hesitate to overindulge, knowing there are several other dishes to come.

The fresh pigis have been mashed with a batter of eggs and a bit of flour, mixed with seaweed (karengo). Since I literally had a hand in this, I eat several, finding they have a pleasant tang, while the lightly seared sea urchins (kina) and tuna are less spicy.

There's a stunning aroma from trays that have yet to be uncovered. The day before, John had smoked a mullet with the sawdust and bark of the flowering manuka tree, “absolutely essential to get flavour,” marinated it in sea salt, karengo seasoning, and then rubbed it with kawakawa leaves to give it a peppery taste.

There is also a smoked-at-home salmon, which John has infused with manuka honey. Both these fish are unforgettable, each with a delicate smoky taste. Mussels seared in olive oil and then lamb cutlets — marinated in mixture of horopito (a native pepper tree), piripiri, garlic and rock salt — are brought to the table.

Our glasses are filled with Tohu, an award-winning Marlborough riesling.

As we sit around the groaning table, John explains that Maori is a living culture within a Western society. “The Maoris are totally integrated,” he says, but “there's been a real renaissance rediscovering our language and kids are now studying it in school.”

The next day, I leave for Rotorua, about a 45-minute flight from Auckland, to continue my Maori cuisine experience with root-and-herb expert Charles Royal.

The 42-year-old native is celebrated throughout the country as a chef with a vast knowledge of edible and poisonous greens. On contract at the celebrated Treetops Luxury Lodge & Estate, Charles doesn't have to travel very far to give me my introductory course, Herbs 101. Right outside the stunning hilltop hotel is a rainforest with acres of various species.

“We don't have to go into the bush and climb over vines,” he says, observing that I'm not exactly the hiking type.

A slim man with huge loop earrings which have expanded his lobes (a Maori custom), he has a pronounced Kiwi accent. Until I adjust to it, I have to ask him to repeat names of plants, like “ferns,” which sounds like “fears.” “There are 312 fern varieties but only seven are edible,” he says, pulling off a leaf. “Some won't kill you right away.” From a ponga, a silvery fern, he pulls off a leaf for me to taste. It contains carcinogens but can be safely used in stir fries and stews.

Next is the edible mouki. Again I'm offered a bite, which I gingerly accept. The crown fern is for pharmaceuticals. He then points to the koromiko plant, “in the old days” boiled into a tea and used to cure stomach pain.

The lodge employs Charles to work with their chef Craig Martin to spice up meals with indigenous herbs and roots.

The rituals of the past are very meaningful for Charles, who is trying to preserve traditional cooking techniques and search out secret recipes that the “old women” have, which are being lost.

With the resurgence of interest in Maori food and culture, Charles now packages traditional herbs and spices under the label Kinaki Wild Herbs, which are sold throughout the country and will soon to be exported.

Getting there Air New Zealand, Air Canada and United, connecting with Qantas, fly to Auckland from Canada. Air New Zealand begins direct flights to Auckland from Vancouver in November. The author travelled as a guest of New Zealand Tourism Board.

WHERE TO STAY

The Langham Hotel: 83 Symonds St., Auckland, 64 (9) 379-5132, http://auckland.langhamhotels.com. Rooms from $427.

Mollies: 6 Tweed St., Auckland, 64 (9) 376-3489, mollies.co.nz. Suites from $1,058.

Museum Hotel: 90 Cable Street, Wellington, 6 (4) 802-8900, www.museumhotel.co.nz. Rates from $162.

Treetops Lodge and Estate: 351 Kearoa RoadRD1, Horohoro, Rotorua, 64 (7) 333-2066, www.treetops.co.nz. Rates from $287.

Lodge at 199: 199 Spencer RoadLake Tarawera, Rotorua, 64 (7) 362-8122, www.199.co.nz. From $570.

TOURS

John Panoho's Navigator Tours: 64 (9) 817 1191, www.navigatortours.co.nz.

Kinaki NZ Maorifood Tour: 64 (7) 345-3122, www.maorifood.com.

INFORMATION

New Zealand Tourism Bureau: www.purenz.com.

Special to The Globe and Mail