Call It Courage - Part Two

II. Some foods of the Polynesians

Breadfruit grows on large trees. The breadfruit is something like a potato with a rough green skin. It is about the size of a football, but its shape is round or oval. It is roasted in coals for about an hour before it is tender enough to eat. Some of this cooked breadfruit is pounded into a sticky mush, wrapped in leaves, and then placed under the ground for weeks to ferment. In this way it can be preserved for months. In modern times slices of breadfruit can be fried, and tastes something like French fried potatoes! Learn more about breadfruit here.

How tall does the breadfruit tree grow? [2nd paragraph]

How heavy is the breadfruit? [2nd paragraph]

Breadfruit is more than food. How else is the breadfruit tree used by the islanders? List four or five ways. [3rd paragraph]

What is the nutritional value of the breadfruit? [4th paragraph]

From "Public Garden," volume 12, no. 2, April 1997. (c)1997, American Association of Botanical Gardens, Inc.

Coconuts are very important to island people. From the coconut comes a refreshing drink that is like a carbonated soda. From the white "meat" comes a coconut "milk" that is used as a sauce in cooking. The coconut meat is a healthy food. When the coconut meat is dried, an oil can be extracted (taken out) and used for cooking, skin oil, and even shampoo.

The coconut palm leaves are woven together to make mats, baskets, fans, and even the sides and roofs of shelters.

The trunks of the trees themselves are used for shelters, but the wood is not very strong, so it doesn't last more than several years before it rots.

Coconut husks and shells get dried in the shade and are used as fuel in cooking. People get fibers from the husk after soaking them in water for weeks, which make a coconut rope. They use the rope in making a canoe and a house as well as a fishing net. The husk can be used like a sponge or scrubbing brush in washing dishes. The hard inner shell is used as a cup.

Coconut palm trees

When the coconuts are old, they fall from the tree.

Otherwise, you have to climb up and get them!

Below, some farmers in the Philippines are taking off the husk (the thick outer "bark") to get to the hard nut inside. On the left of this picture, you can see the whole coconut with its husk. To the right are the light brown or white "nuts" that have been taken from the husks.

From Cococonut-Info.Com

Questions:

Why are coconuts so important to the island people? How are all the products of the coconut palm trees used?

 

C. Taro

From Canoe Plants: Kalo

Taro is an important island crop. (Actually, it also grew in tropical Africa, West Indies, and other tropical places from ancient times.)

All parts of the plant can be eaten. The leaves are cooked as greens, similar to spinach. But many think the root that is the most delicious. Its root (or tubers) are cooked and pounded into into "poi" - the "soul food" of Polynesia.

From Canoe Plants: Kalo

Learn more about Taro [here]