Feijoa jam
Blended whole feijoas simmer into a skin-on jam with lemon, sugar and vanilla. The skins remain for a more textured finish; keep this batch refrigerated or frozen because its method has no validated shelf-stable canning process.
Modern adaptation
Takakau (skillet flatbread)
Takakau · Parāoa takakau · Takakau flat bread
Christall Lowe's whānau takakau is an eight-piece wheat flatbread enriched with milk and oil or butter, rested briefly, then cooked one at a time in a skillet.
One cook's whānau recipe
Christall Lowe names this as her whānau version of takakau and says it is a regular bread in her family. Her article describes cooking it over an open backyard fire, while camping, or in a skillet on the stove; the recipe below follows the skillet method. It makes eight small breads from a dough containing high-grade flour, baking powder, salt, milk and olive oil or butter.
Lowe describes takakau as a bread that can accompany curries and soups or wrap slow-cooked meat, and Lowe especially mentions serving her family's version with umu pulled pork. Those are the author's serving contexts, not a universal rule for every bread called takakau.
Sources for this section
This version uses baking powder
The word takakau is described in the article as meaning unleavened bread, scone or pancake. This particular dough contains baking powder, so the catalogue classifies the published batch as chemically raised. Flour-and-water flatbreads and hearth-cooked forms remain distinct variants; their ingredients and methods are not substituted into this skillet recipe.
The dough rests covered for 30 minutes before it is divided and rolled. Each piece is about 15 cm across. The source gives approximate skillet times and visible color and puffing cues, not a pan temperature. It also offers optional butter or garlic-herb butter for finishing.
Sources for this section
Scope and limits
This is a contemporary author's recipe published as an edited extract from Kai Feast: Food Stories and Recipes from the Maunga to the Moana. The article's byline names Lowe's Ngāti Kauwhata, Tainui and Ngāti Maniapoto affiliations. Te Ara's broader discussion supports the Māori bread context, but neither reference makes this single recipe a universal formula or establishes a precise birthplace or first-attestation date.
The source gives flour by volume, extra flour as needed, and oil for the pan without a quantity. It does not specify skillet dimensions, burner output, or a measured cooking-surface temperature. Keep the batch at the stated eight pieces unless the dough and pan conditions can be assessed for a larger batch.
Sources for this section
History
This body records Christall Lowe's own whānau version, published in 2025 as an edited extract from her 2024 cookbook. She describes cooking it over an open backyard fire, while camping, and in a household skillet; this batch uses the skillet. The archive distinguishes this contemporary baking-powder and dairy-containing version from flour-and-water takakau forms. Te Ara provides broader context on Māori breadmaking after wheat flour became available, but this recipe does not claim to reproduce an earlier form or establish a first-attestation date.
Ingredients
Yield 8 flatbreads · Scaling: source batch only
High-grade flourplus extra for dusting and if the dough is sticky
591 mL2½ cup as recorded
source does not state a weight9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
177 mL¾ cup as recorded
Olive oil or melted butterchoose one
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
Neutral oilfor the skillet, enough to lightly cover its base
quantity not stated
Butter (optional)to brush over cooked breads
Amount not stated
optional; garlic-herb butter is another source variationButter (optional)for optional garlic-herb butter
100 g
optionalGarlic (optional)crushed, for optional garlic-herb butter
2 cloves
optionalFresh herbs (optional)a small bunch, finely chopped; examples given are parsley, basil or coriander
Amount not stated
optional; amount not weighedMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
The skillet and cooking oil are hot. Add only enough oil to lightly cover the pan and handle it carefully; the recipe gives no measured pan temperature.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Pour in the milk and olive oil or melted butter. Mix until a dough forms.
- Turn the dough onto a floured bench. Knead for a few minutes until smooth, adding flour if it is sticky. Return it to the bowl, cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- For optional garlic-herb butter, melt 100 g butter in a small saucepan, stir in 2 crushed garlic cloves and finely chopped herbs, cook for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.
- Dust the bench and divide the dough into eight pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then roll it to about 15 cm across.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add enough neutral oil to lightly cover the bottom.
- Cook one flatbread at a time for about 1 minute, until the underside has golden patches and the bread has puffed. Turn it and cook the second side for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until golden.
- Remove each bread and brush with butter or garlic-herb butter if using. Stack the cooked breads under a clean tea towel to keep them soft.
Conditions
Yield8 flatbreads
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Aotearoa New Zealand
Documented preparation · Country evidenceChristall Lowe identifies this as her whānau version; her stated iwi affiliations are in the byline. This is a documented contemporary preparation, not a claim of exclusive or universal origin.
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Sources
ShepherdessRecipe · Contemporary whānau preparation · Geographic association
Takakau – Flat BreadLowe identifies this as her whānau version and gives the flour, leavener, salt, milk, fat, pan oil and optional garlic-herb butter quantities.
The page supplies the eight-piece yield, mixing, kneading, 30-minute rest, shaping, skillet heat level, approximate cooking times, visual cues and serving context.
The byline names Lowe's iwi affiliations; article dated 3 February 2025 and identifies the recipe as an edited extract from her 2024 book.
Cited in: One cook's whānau recipe; This version uses baking powder; Scope and limits
Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New ZealandCultural and historical context
Māori foods – kai Māori: Foods introduced by EuropeansThe page discusses Māori flour and bread traditions after European introduction of wheat; it does not establish the first attestation or a precise birthplace for Lowe's specific recipe.
Cited in: One cook's whānau recipe; Scope and limits