jenita marriott

Born and raised in South Auckland, Jenita and her husband Dion have fond memories growing up in their marae learning and developing their culinary skills in the marae kitchens. Jenita, like many girls her age, started her kitchen training in dining room waiting tables and now is the head baker for Underground Hāngī, responsible for making cakes and steamed puddings.

Her husband Dion learned about hāngī from a very young age, hāngī being the centre of many whanau and neighbourhood occasions. Perfecting his hāngī cooking technique over the years, Dion is head cook for Underground Hāngī and has created his own unique method to bring hāngī into a commercial environment.

Underground Hāngī is a true family business with two of Jenita and Dion’s six children working as assistant chefs and their daughter managing the company’s marketing. The team are passionate about authentic Māori hāngī but love to add their own modern twist.

Traditionally hāngī is known for its large pack style serving portions, however being conscious of the right portion sizes to support the health and well-being of their South Auckland community, Jenita and her team created a bespoke Taco-style item, known as the Hāngī Taakau, a hāngī kumara flat bread stuffed with all their hāngī favourites including pork, stuffing, pumpkin, topped with either a salsa salad or traditional seafood.

With a lack of experience in the hospitality industry, Jenita and the Underground Hāngī team joined the Kitchen Project to become more knowledgeable about the food industry, including understanding food legislation and to perfect their processes. “It was such a supportive environment to learn in and my fellow cohorts were so talented and creative,” says Jenita.

With plans to be at a south Auckland-based market soon, the Underground Hāngī team hope to ultimately have multiple hāngī carts around Auckland showcasing their authentic Māori food with a twist. Currently they are making to order, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram or via their website: www.undergroundhangi.com