Pūhā Green Sauce
#EatNZKaitaki Ella Cameron-Smith shares a recipe for her family's foraged pūhā green sauce to celebrate Food Diversity Day on Friday 13th January.
Ko te Rāmere tēnei rā, te 13 o Kohitātea. Today is Friday, the 13th of January, and I am honouring the incredible international Food Diversity kaupapa through a recipe. Here is a recipe that truly celebrates the wonderfulness of food here in Aotearoa and the uniqueness of our food systems.
Pūhā Green Sauce
Pūhā green sauce is a family recipe from my mum’s cousin Fi, aka aunty Fi, pictured below foraging for pūhā, also known as rauriki.
Pūhā is a traditional leafy green vegetable that grows abundantly in the wildness of Aotearoa throughout the seasons. It is uncommon to find pūhā commercially sold; however, you can happily forage for smooth or prickly-leaved pūhā pictured above.
The smooth-leaved pūhā is the pūhā aunty Fi, and I found in her backyard in early autumn. The younger pūhā leaves are extra delicious ones to pick when foraging as they are typically less bitter.
Pūhā Green Sauce Recipe:
To make our pūhā green sauce, forage three large handfuls of pūhā. Wash, rub and squeeze the pūhā quite vigorously under running water to release any of the bitterness within the sap in the stems. Then, shake dry.
The pūhā should amount to one and a half to two cups worth.
Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 cups prepared pūhā, finely sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
A pinch of salt or two
Pepper
One clove of garlic, very finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped/blitzed nuts (almonds or walnuts are good)
1/2 cup finely grated pecorino cheese (romano)
More olive oil
Method
Heat a small frying pan until quite hot but not smoking. Add the pepper, pūhā, and salt, and shake/stir until just wilted and still bright green (usually less than a minute).
Quickly take off the heat, stir in the garlic and blitz the mixture. Add more olive oil (often needed to keep the mixture moving).
When sufficiently small, take out of the blender. Gently mix in the nuts, then the cheese. The nuts will absorb some of the olive oil, so add more until you get the consistency you want.
It can be used as a sauce, topping, stirred into soups or as a dip. If you don't have enough pūhā, you can use watercress, dandelion leaves, or other wild herbs.
My serving suggestion is to accompany our pūhā green sauce with a vegetarian frittata, rye and mind salad, tzatziki and a Pinot Gris for maximum deliciousness, as pictured above.
To see more from Ella head over to Instagram @ellacameronsmith