Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Joy of Cooking

11/06/08

Samoan foods can be described as “au natural”. In other words what is picked or caught is used as is. Almost all cooking is done in a pot or Samoan oven (umu). The overwhelming flavor is blah with sugar, fat, and salt added. These are meat and potatoes people. I should say mutton flaps, pork, chicken and fish served with taro.

What I am discovering is that Samoans like many other people are in a cooking rut. They simply have not been exposed to different ways of cooking and using foods or flavors, which grow naturally. For example, they don’t know how to cook corn, make a fruit jam, use sweet basil, or make a salsa, all of which they love and will pay to get. I can see another Peace Corps project immerging, cooking classes. Who would have thunk it? Sometimes the obvious is hard to see.

1 comment:

Barb Carusillo said...

It has been at least 35 years since I have made jelly....I would be hard put to remember how to do it. It is impressive that you are doing it....don't have the nice little jars with paraffin to seal it shut out there in Samoa do you?