TOP CHEF MICHAEL MEREDITH'S TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO MUM

How the restaurateur and father-of-five is keeping his mother's culinary memories alive

- Nicky Pellegrino

Michael Meredith is one of New Zealand’s most talented chefs, celebrated for the gourmet dishes he creates at his Auckland restaurants. However, the Samoan-born star’s earliest food memories involve humbler fare and he’s always held on to a love of the flavours he grew up with.

“One of my first memories is my mother’s pancake stand at the market in Apia,” says Michael. “Panikeke are almost like a doughnut, made from flour, sugar, vanilla and maybe mashed banana. Mum would cook them in a big pot of oil, heated by a kerosene lamp, and sell them for 5c apiece. It was a little business to earn extra money. Me and my brother used to help.”

Michael’s father wasn’t around much and his mother, Metita Saleilua, worked hard to look after her family. She was also a housekeeper for the High Commissioner of Australia, sometimes catering for large groups of people, as well as cooking traditional food, like pineapple pies, chop suey and a fermented coconut sauce called miti, for her sons.

Sadly, in later life, Metita suffered from dementia and she died at the start of the pandemic. Now Michael has found a way to celebrate both his mother and her food, opening a new restaurant called Metita in Auckland’s SkyCity complex, which serves his own modern take on Polynesian cuisine.