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Before European contact, the Māori people of New Zealand grew several varieties of small, yellow-skin, finger-sized kumara (with names including taputini, taroamahoe, pehu, hutihuti, and rekamaroa) that they had brought with them from east Polynesia. Modern trials have shown that these smaller varieties were capable of producing well, but when American whalers, sealers and trading vessels introduced larger cultivars in the early 19th century, they quickly predominated.
Māori traditionally cooked the kūmara in a hāngi earth oven. This is still a common practice when there are large gatherings on marae.
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