Umu food preparation

A lot of preparation goes into the umu. It is traditional on Sundays in Samoa for the family to have an umu. Men do most of the cooking, and women get the day off! So, the guys thought it was funny that I wanted to help.

Totally worth it, this is some of my favorite food in the whole world!


First, husking coconuts. Adam is using a sharpened stick, which has been pounded into the ground, to remove the husk.


Next, coconuts are grated on the foa'i (the name for the metal part that sticks out, the bench has another name that sounds like "kuai" but I did not write it down). The half shell is spun round on this piece of serrated metal and shredded coconut meat falls into the bowl below.


Milk is squeezed from the meat using a tuft of fiber called tauaga. Vai (right) can do this in about 30 seconds, and spent the rest of the time laughing at me (left).


Siaki is opening bananas with a sharpened stick. They are green, one of about five varieties available in Samoa. All the remaining membrane is carefully removed using the stick as a sort of paring knife.



Peeling breadfruit ('ulu). The fruit is balanced on a stick for paring. Siaki is patiently showing me how to use this tool he fashioned from the end of a pop can to scrape the skin. It goes back into the basket for maybe a half an hour until it turns brown, and then scraped again before cooking.


Vai making palusami, one of my most favorite Samoan foods. Coconut cream is combined with chopped onion and salt. 5-6 young taro leaves are piled in the hand, and a cup of this mixture is poured in. The leaves are wrapped around and twisted tightly. This package is wrapped in foil and carefully placed upright into the umu.


Almost ready for umu. Palusami is in the background, the scraped coconut shells will be filled with a coconut milk and canned mackerel mixture right on the oven, as shown below:



These last two photos are from a different event, but show more traditional food preparations. The oldest boy in the family tends the barbecue. In this case, the chicken he vigilantly bastes with a soy sauce and brown sugar mixture - very popular in Samoa.




Young drinking coconuts, called niu are a popular drink. Dora is opening one, typically the end is just whacked off and the water is sipped or one of the eyes is pushed in. They called it the Samoan 7-up, said it was good for stomach aches. It is very thirst quenching.