Foods of Micronesia

The SC/SS 115 Ethnobotany class shared traditional and neo-traditional foods of Micronesia.

The banana leaf at the rear on the left contains Mwoakilese/Pohnpeian pihlohlo, a dish made from banana and tapioca. The held container is Pohnpeian pilen-kehp made with yams.
Pohnpeian uht koraipali is seen above. Half of the banana is grated, mixed with coconut milk, and then packed back in with the remaining half. This is wrapped and boiled.
Dayne eats yam fritters, known in Kitti, Pohnpei, as koahp pirain. The variety of yam used was koahp noair.
Glory and Deisleen show off their rotamahn uht.
Edelynn also brought rotamahn uht.
Elizabeth displays idihd en uht. This dish is also known as uht koatoapwur nan moatoar.
Pounded, boiled bananas covered with coconut milk are displayed by Jeffrey Allen. Locally the dish is called uht sukusuk.
Rophino and Kasinta presented maar - fermented breadfruit. This staple is prepared by burying the breadfruit in pits on Puluwat, allowing the breadfruit to age and ferment. After removal, the breadfruit is "washed" and kneaded, finally being cooked either on an uhm or boiled. The maar was absolutely delicious, a special and these days all too rare a treat. Maar was the key survival food in times of drought or after a storm.
Lanze and SepeBrianna present ground, boiled Kosraean banana, ap.
Megan brought another of my own favorites, Pohnpeian rohtama mwang. On Mwoakilloa this is is known as rodma dek. Made from ground, boiled hard taro. Sugar and coconut milk are added. I can eat rohtama as a meal unto itself.
Strick Lloyd presents mwoaropw, the nut of Inocarpus fagifer, also known as the Tahitian chestnut tree. On Kosrae this nut is known as kihrak. The nuts are placed in the uhm or, in this case, boiled. The nuts are filling and renowned for producing flatulence the next day. Warm, straight from an uhm is when they taste their best.
Ap wrapped in a banana leaf.
Yolanda presented three different types of boiled soft taro: sawa toahntoal (black), sawa en Palau (Palauan), and sawa mwang (references hard taro).
A detailed view of the different types of soft taro.
After a blessing by Jeffrey Allen, the class enjoyed eating their foods. While there is clearly some devolution in food knowledge, this remains the strongest area of knowledge for the students.

Comments

  1. Anonymous28 January, 2011 08:16

    haha soko kumwail udahn kumwail pai kangkang mwengehkan udahn i men iangada mihmihmihki Pohnpei songen pwa:) Eri i pil pahn mweselehr kaselel kumwail mehn Pohnpei Pwon Love to u all:)

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