Kipikipi

[bloviatrix]

I recently read a piece on New Zealand and they mentioned kipikipi. All they said was that it was a sunflower shaped bread. Can someone please give me a better explanation?

I love the word - it's up there with spatchcock and kumquat on my favorite food words list.

[helenjp]

Well, you have this Kiwi totally confused! I don't live in NZ, so trends come and go without me hearing anything about them, but ...kipikipi??

Our best-known "NZ-only" bread would be "rewena", a version of bread created by Maori cooks, using a potato-based leaven (rewena means "leaven").

I'll ask a friend who works in food science in NZ and is always interested in new stuff if she knows anything about it.

[ferdlisky]

I found this reference in an article by Mat and Ted Lee in Travel and Leisure. Maybe this answers the question:

Kipikipi

[bloviatrix]

Actually, that was where I first heard of kipikipi (I'm a little behind in reading my periodicals). They explain it as:

kipikipi, a biscuit the shape and size of a sunflower. Each petal of the flower had a dark brown center, tinted with soy sauce and garlic. It was gorgeous-looking and faintly sweet, with a shortbread consistency.

But I want to know more. Such as, when is it eaten? Are they using the word "biscuit" to mean "cookie?" To me, soy sauce and garlic would be more savory than sweet. What's its origins?

Has anyone actually eaten this? And do you have a photo?

Essentially, I want to know MORE!!

[Kiwi]

You'll love this

Like Helenjp I have only ever been familiar with Rewena and had never heard of KipiKipi so I thought I would dig around for some information and the results are quite interesting.

I think this product is a very localised specialty and the stall holder has applied their knowledge of modern Maori language to describe the shape of the item. Literally translated KipiKipi means 'spur' (the cowboy boot variety, not the mountain one). This would tie in with the 'sunflower' shape that was referred to in the initial article.

Don't things often sound better in another language ..... spur bread doesn't cut it really does it?

Kia Ora

[bloviatrix]

Wow!

Thanks. It's a fun word to say.

[ferdlisky]

On the biscuit front, I suspect it's the American biscuit, not the Kiwi one (cookie). Mat and Ted Lee are the authors, they're American, and writing for an American audience.

[helenjp]

I found that article too, not that it left me much wiser! Thanks for the info, Kiwi.

By the way, the shape and the mention of "biscuit" (scone) dough make me wonder if this is a savoury version of one type of pinwheel scone -- you spread a sheet of dough with your seasoning/filling, and roll it up - and then, instead of cutting rounds off, you cut not quite through, then curl the roll around in a circle, fanning the petals out on the baking sheet. You do indeed end up with a flower shape, and you pull off each "petal" to eat it. However, if you made the rolls small enough, you would get an single-portion-sized version.

...just guessing though!!