Rēwena and Rabbit Stew: The Rural Kitchen in Aotearoa, 1800–1940

Cookhouses and wharekai, hāngī pits and coal ranges, boil-ups and mutton – this book tells the hearty story of sustenance and manaakitanga in rural New Zealand. The rhythms and routines of country life are at the heart of this compelling account of the rural kitchen in Aotearoa. Historian Katie Cooper explores how cooking and food practices shaped the daily lives, homes and communities of rural Pākehā and Māori throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Delving into cooking technologies, provisions, gender roles and hospitality, the story of New Zealand’s rural kitchen highlights more than just the practicalities of putting food on the table. Thoroughly researched and richly illustrated, Rēwena and Rabbit Stew reveals the fascinating social and cultural milieu in which rural people produced, cooked and shared food in Aotearoa.

'This book is a fantastic addition to rural history, with a compelling perspective and a fresh set of concerns about place, dwelling, and movement in and around rural spaces. The book brings both an intimacy and a vulnerability to rural life plus a strong sense of rural robustness. Visually, this is an extraordinary collection. The images themselves tell a compelling story.' - Jane McCabe, author of Race, Tea and Colonial Resettlement