Puha & Kumara

Puha or Rauriki is a green vegetable native to New Zealand. It was one of the staple green vegetables of the Maori people and is still eaten today. Puha can be found growing wild. The ‘smooth’ leaved puha is the most popular. The slightly bitter and ‘prickly’ leaved puha is also eaten. Whilst it is not grown commercially it is occasionally available and there is certainly demand for it in some areas.



Kumara is also known as sweet potato. It has been grown and eaten in New Zealand since Kupe brought it here from Hawaiki in the tenth century. The earliest variety was bushy with very small tubers, but a bigger sweet potato was introduced later. Growing on a creeping vine, it became known as kumara and is the one we now eat. The majority of our kumara is grown in Northland in the Northern Wairoa region where soil type and climatic conditions suit kumara perfectly.

The most common kumara variety is Owairaka Red - red-skinned with creamy white flesh (also sold as Red).
Gold kumara (also sold as Toka Toka Gold) has golden skin and flesh and a sweeter taste. Orange kumara (sometimes sold as Beauregarde) is the sweetest, with rich orange flesh.