Gamûñe nokea

A specialty originating in the rural stretches of Ta'aroha's south, Gamûñe nokea, or stone soup is a fish-based soup traditionally made right on the banks of the river where the animals are caught. Fishermen portion the soup's ingredients-fish, freshwater shrimp, and/or crawfish, plus water, tomatoes, corn flour, chopped potatoes, onions, and ground chilies-into bowls made of a hollowed gourd. Meanwhile, the cook builds a fire and heats small river rocks until they're scorching hot. Using tongs, the cook transfers a stone into each bowl. The intense heat of the rock boils the liquid and cooks the soup in a matter of minutes. Stone soup is a communal dish. Traditionally, preparation of the soup is a whole-village affair. Many villages in Ta'aroha's south have communal cauldrons carved from massive river boulders. Inside the stone pots, they cook great quantities of soup to be shared with the entire community, as their ancestors have done for millennia.

The dish (or versions of it) have become increasingly popular in urban areas, as native cuisine has begun to steal away the spotlight from foreign dishes. Many high end restaurants in urban centers like Pirami offer a version of stone soup, where staff drop heated rocks into diners' bowls right at their table. Equal parts dining experience and spectacle, the experience may draw disapproval from cuisine purists, but it has become very popular for the trendy diner in Ta'aroha's south.