Doing the spadework

Temuera Morrison talked and ate his way from the Jordan desert to the Yucatán Peninsula in a new show exploring hāngī-like cooking methods around the world.

- BY RUSSELL BROWN

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.

"I said, 'Oh gee, go around the world eating hāngī?" he recalls. "I'm in!"

That's what Earth Oven is: Tem 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.

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

"The biggest thing was just contending with myself now there's no character to hide behind," he says. "It's Temuera Morrison, unplugged - or un-something! Here he is for real!"

Morrison for real turns out to be a free spirit on camera (also, for that matter, in our interview - the Listener's transcription software basically gave up on trying to insert full stops) and in the episode on Mexico's Yucatán 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's jungle. He's generally pretty loose. It all serves to cut through any language barriers.

His host María del Carmen Pech Cano introduces "Mr Tem" to Roque, their jungle guide, who, to his guest's obvious excitement, steers them away from what might have been a prowling jaguar.

"I'm so happy with him," declares Roque in Yucatán Maya. "Let's call him 'Big Brother.'"