"Papeda is made from sago flour. The Papuan natives acquire the flour by cutting the trunk of a sago tree in half, and scraping the inner parts of the trunk. The trunk pulp is then squeezed to extract the carbohydrate-rich essence. The sago flour is usually stored in a container called tumang. Sago trees are suitable for extracting between the ages of three to five years. Papeda is made by cooking sago flour with water and stirring until it coagulates. It has a glue-like consistency and texture. Papeda is usually eaten with yellow soup made from tuna or mubara fish spiced with turmeric and lime." (thanks, wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papeda_(food))
You can buy sago at the local market. Most expats do not add this into their daily diet. It is something that may be eaten at special occassions for Westerners. It's just a different food. Just like most Papuans who grow up eating papeda probably wouldn't go back for seconds on a hamburger, most expats that I know wouldn't go back for seconds. There are a few, but I'm not one of them. When you live in the village the sago tree can be easy to find, so your meal is always around. This papeda was part of the meal at the ethnomusicology workshop I went to a couple weeks ago.
Here are some photos:
To get a good portion of papeda on your plate, you use to two forks and wrap it around the forks.
Look for it at your local Asian food markets- I would be really surprised if you find it there!
No comments:
Post a Comment