Umu Dinner

Opening the Umu while Tisa describes its history.

In Samoan culture, an Umu is a traditional method of preparing food and also refers to the meal that is produced. Men are generally tasked with preparing and serving this meal. A fire is built several hours before the oven will be needed and stones taken from river beds are placed in the fire. Once the fire has burned down to embers and the stones have been sufficiently heated, a combination of banana stalks and leaves are placed on top of the stones as a cooking platform. To this is added a variety of meats, fruits and vegetables, including breadfruit, bananas, taro, and fish, in addition to other family favorites. When all of the food has been added to the Umu, it is tightly covered with banana fronds and left to cook for several hours.

Coconut shells filled with steamed shrimp, coconut
cream and taro leaf, papaya, red bananas and
squash make up one layer of this Umu.

In today's society, Umus are generally prepared on Sundays and during large family gatherings. A portion of the Umu is selected for the chief of the village and for the pastor. The rest is shared by family and friends. We were lucky enough during our stay in Pago Pago to participate in an umu at Tisa's Barefoot Beach Bar on Alega Beach. We were treated to a delicious array of traditional foods as well as some non-traditional favorites. In the Umu was chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, octopus wrapped in banana leaf, shrimp, two different types of bananas, squash, papaya, a coconut cream and taro leaf dish, as well as a can of corned beef. The corned beef is a modern staple to most family's Umus.

Ben doing a bit of oven cleaning.

The food was amazing and even cleaning the bits of meat and vegetables from the cooling oven was delicious. Ben argues that the oven cleaning was the best part! Looking at these pictures makes me crave this all over again. It was interesting because there was virtually no seasoning on the food. However the taste of the smoke and the various flavors melding together made the meal far from bland. I can say without hesitation that this has been the best meal of the trip.

I am off to get ready for the day. I hope you are well and eating good food.

Take care,

Cristi

(Please excuse if this seems a bit 'official' in the beginning paragraph. This post was originally meant for the official cruise blog until it was deemed that we shouldn't show that we are having fun, in addition to working 15 hour days. However the Umu has been one of the highlights of the trip for me so I decided to post it on C Time. I hope you enjoy.)