{"id":101282,"date":"2025-10-26T02:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T02:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101282\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T02:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T02:14:13","slug":"temuera-morrison-gets-down-and-dirty-in-new-tv-series-taking-him-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101282\/","title":{"rendered":"Temuera Morrison gets down and dirty in new TV series taking him around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earth Oven presenter Temuera Morrison: “Go around the world eating h\u0101ng\u012b? I’m in!\u201dPhoto \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

By his own account, Temuera Morrison did not need any persuading when a friend told him there was a presenter role up for grabs in a show called Earth Oven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Oh gee, go around the world eating h\u0101ng\u012b?\u201d he recalls. \u201cI\u2019m in!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s what Earth Oven is: Tem
\n travelling to meet indigenous people linked by their traditions of cooking in the earth over hot rocks and learning about their cultures in the process.\n <\/p>\n

The first challenge, he admits, was that he has made his way in the universe as an actor, not a presenter or a foodie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing was just contending with myself now there\u2019s no character to hide behind,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s Temuera Morrison, unplugged \u2013 or un-something! Here he is for real!\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrison for real turns out to be a free spirit on camera (also, for that matter, in our interview \u2013 the Listener\u2019s transcription software basically gave up on trying to insert full stops) and in the episode on Mexico\u2019s Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula, the spirit is in full flight. He randomly adopts a Spanish accent, hams it up wildly and hurls himself into a cenote, one of the natural wells that dot the region\u2019s jungle. He\u2019s generally pretty loose. It all serves to cut through any language barriers.<\/p>\n

\"AA feast in the desert in Jordan. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

His host Mar\u00eda del Carmen Pech Cano introduces \u201cMr Tem\u201d to Roque, their jungle guide, who, to his guest\u2019s obvious excitement, steers them away from what might have been a prowling jaguar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy with him,\u201d declares Roque in Yucat\u00e1n Maya. \u201cLet\u2019s call him \u2018Big Brother\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe common thing is we\u2019ve got to dig a hole,\u201d says Morrison. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to feed people at the end of the day, so no matter what language you speak, you\u2019ve got to dig the hole, light the fire, put the food in there \u2013 and away you go. And then bring all the family together to help you eat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hole in this case is a piib, the traditional Mayan version of an earth oven, which differs from a h\u0101ng\u012b in a number of ways, including in its use of seasonings (the pork flavoured with wild oregano paste looks sensational) and the oven is capped with banana leaves and trunks, not soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s got a bit of air,\u201d says Morrison. \u201cYou\u2019re really looking at an indigenous air fryer!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KaiKai & k\u014drero in Hawai’i. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

It turns out the actual practice of earth oven cooking varies markedly from place to place. In the Jordan desert, where the Earth Oven journey begins, the Bedouins bury a barrel in the sand to form their traditional oven, the zarb. <\/p>\n

\u201cI tried digging a bloody hole in the sand and then the sand just goes back in the hole again,\u201d Morrison wails. \u201cWhose idea was that?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Chilean island of Chilo\u00e9, which has been occupied for 7000 years, seafood is a mainstay of the Mapuche people\u2019s diet, and, in their version, the curanto, the food goes in for just an hour.<\/p>\n

In Hawai\u2019i, where Morrison is shown around by his friend Jason Momoa (\u201che\u2019s been so generous to me, he puts me in all his movies\u201d), the imu is a different affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put the pig down at six o\u2019clock at night in a lightning storm and went back the next day and took it out at six o\u2019clock. So 24 hours the thing was in the ground \u2013 and man, what pork. It just melted off the bone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also featuring in the Hawaiian episode is Kaina Makua, Momoa and Morrison\u2019s co-star in this year\u2019s Momoa-produced television series Chief of War. Makua played the major role of his ancestor, King Kamehameha. His usual job is taro farming.<\/p>\n

\"PreparingPreparing for the 24-hour imu in Hawai\u2019i. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

After a visit to Australia\u2019s Top End (where they cover their oven with bark), the series concludes at home in Aotearoa, which is also where it began. A \u201csizzle reel\u201d shot by series cinematographer Mike Jonathan (the friend who tipped off Tem in the first place) when Morrison invited Momoa to Rotorua for a h\u0101ng\u012b helped the production company Hi Mama! secure funding for the show. Jonathan had also directed Morrison as Rewi Maniapoto in his 2024 NZ Wars movie Ka Whawhai Tonu.<\/p>\n

Each episode of Earth Oven culminates in a family meal and a mihi from Morrison to his hosts. It\u2019s far from the only time a link to te ao M\u0101ori emerges. In Yucat\u00e1n, the Maya, too, have fought for their language, as have the Mapuche in Chile. And before anything happens, he must be welcomed with their equivalent of a p\u014dwhiri.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, you go around the world and things are the same,\u201d says Morrison. \u201cI draw parallels along the way. I go, \u2018oh, what\u2019s your word for that?\u2019 They acknowledge their sky father, who we call Rangi. They acknowledge their earth mother, who we call Papat\u016b\u0101nuku. I just got blown away and it actually made me a little bit more appreciative of my indigenousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think us M\u0101ori generally, when we travel overseas, compare a lot of things to what we do at home, and it\u2019s warming to note the similarities. The big thing was the family, though. They\u2019re all big families, and there\u2019s food. Just those universal themes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GettingGetting dirty: \u201cIt\u2019s hard work \u2013 a bit different from doing movies. Everyone works. I was actually up early. I wanted to lead from the front.” Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all kai and k\u014drero. Even away from the digging of holes and the various stunts the producers put him up to, Morrison worked up a sweat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard work \u2013 a bit different from doing movies. Everyone works. I was actually up early. I wanted to lead from the front, and I didn\u2019t want them waiting around for me. There are no trailers for me out there and I\u2019m carrying the legs of the camera or carrying my wardrobe and make-up. Actually, I had to do my own make-up!\u201d<\/p>\n

After it all, he feels pretty good about Morrison unplugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of my gifts, probably from my Morrison side and Uncle Howard [Morrison], we\u2019re good with people, we kind of can charm our way through something, even if we don\u2019t know anything about it. I think my ability is just to relate to everybody and be a good listener, to see what people have to say. And have fun. A bit of loose fun. But yeah, always try and have fun.\u201d <\/p>\n

Earth Oven begins on Sky Open and Neon at 8.30pm on November 5.<\/p>\n

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