Kumara Fries appears as a signature dish in 1 New Zealand cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Kumara Fries · Auckland
Kumara fries are the New Zealand sweet potato cut into thick wedges, roasted with rosemary salt and served with aioli. The orange-fleshed kumara is the Maori staple turned cafe standard.
Kumara (Ipomoea batatas) is the sweet potato brought by Maori from eastern Polynesia around 1300 CE. It was the foundational starch of pre-European Maori cuisine, cultivated in pa (fortified village) gardens across the North Island. The orange-fleshed variety dominates modern New Zealand markets; red and gold varieties grow in Northland. Through the 20th century kumara moved from Maori staple to national vegetable; today it sits in every Auckland cafe and brunch room as a chip or fry, often with aioli or lemon-thyme salt. Kumara fries became canonical brunch sides in the 1990s alongside the rise of the modern New Zealand cafe.
Where to eat in Auckland:
- The Store
- Depot Eatery