Now we've got the party started with Matariki, lets get some ideas for our next two stars, which are both associated with water!

Waitī is associated with fresh water and the food sources that are sustained by it. My first thought's went straight to eel. A childhood favourite that I am not lucky enough to have the local contacts to get now, but if I did get one I'd head straight to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The Original River Cottage Cookbook. He has a great chapter on catching, killing, cleaning, smoking and cooking eels which is definitely a go to reference if you are ever in need of one. I once had a very dog-eared copy of The Eel Cookbook by Roberta Poluhowich which I picked up at a school fair that also contained amazing eel recipes - but it has now long gone I'm afraid! I've never tried the eel recipe (Eel with Brisket Sauce and Béchamel) in Karena and Kasey Te Awa Bird's book Hungry - it seems just a little bit fancy to me - but maybe next time I'm lucky enough to get an eel I'll give it a go.

Waitā is associated with the ocean so we are clearly in the 'fish' space here. I love oysters (au natural if you please), not a fan of mussels, but definitely into my crustaceans - prawns, shrimps, crab, crayfish! Fish itself can be a bit ho-humm for me though my hubbie loves it - especially a potato topped fish pie. If you need a recipe check out Jamie Oliver's Fantastic Fish Pie from his book The Return of the Naked Chef. The most useful 'fish' book I have in my collection is Cooking The Catch by Ray McVinnie. Unless you are lucky enough to live by a fishing port or have a great local fishmonger you don't always get a good range of fish to choose from. This book has a fabulous section which helps you mix and match different fish to the recipes in the book. It's hard to come by now (I'll keep my eye out for some copies) but its a great book for those who want tasty simple recipes for fresh fish, straightforward explanations and basic principles for getting the best results from any variety of seafood.