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Polynesian

Page history last edited by ChaTnavon 15 years, 1 month ago

Anastasia Young (Cooks Island)

Jasmine Brown (New Zealand)

ChaTnavon Capers (Samoa)

 

A Map of Polynesia

 

Polynesian Cusine

 

     Polynesia goes across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii in the north, all the way to New Zealand in the southwest, and it includes the countries of Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and it goes along with the French territory of French Poynesia. Between these islands, the main similarities in the cuisine is the use of seafood. In places like New Zealand and the Cook Islands, they use lots of fish and fruits in most of their dishes. The use of coconut is used in some dishes among the Polynesian area.

     Most traditional Polynesian socities relied on fishing and horticulture. Early on they relied on the production of breadfruit. It was preserved and fermented in deep pits. Each family had its own pit for making the breadfruit called ma. Taro root is also another source in Poynesia. Early traditional Hawaiians relied on taro as a staple starch in their diet. In some parts of Polynesia, men and women ate seperately. In rural Tahitian socities, young women are not allowed to eat food that has been prepared for adult men. This is because they believe that male interaction with the spiritual world could have residual effects that would pass, via the food into the young vulernable women.

 

                                                                      Cook Islands

                                                             'Kia Orana!' (May you live long)

 

                    

 

        The Cook Islands is made up of 15 islands that spread over 850,000 square miles of ocean in the middle of the South Pacific between Tonga to the west and the Society Islands to the east of it. The Cook Islands have primarily two main groups, one in the north and one in the south. Nine high islands is the southern group of mainly volcanic origin, even though some are virtually atolls. The actual majority of the population lives in the southern group. The northern group makes up of six true atolls. The most traditional meal that is in almost every home, is the Ika Mata dish. Its a dish of raw fish, that has been enjoyed for many years.

     Coconut, fish, cassava, taro and tropical fruits form the basis of most meals in Cook Islands. Traditional foods may be cooked slowly in ground ovens. The basis of a meal being a type of meat, is very rare to come across. The Cook Islands do in fact use salt, onions, garlic, and some amounts of acid in some of their meals.

      

                                          Cook Island Traditional Food Recipe

In any traditional Cook islander's home, they would serve you this tradtional meal of Ika mata, as fish is one of their favorite main courses.

 

Ika Mata – Raw fish

500g White Fish, skinned; Boned fillet or Whole Maroro

Lemon or Lime

Salt

 

This is the traditional way for us to eat Raw Fish. The 'maroro' is the flying fish. The fishermen go out at night with bright lights for the fish to fly up out of the water and are captured in the nets in mid-flight. Prepare the fish, gutted, cleaned and scaled, top and tail and remove bones and gills on sides.

Leave skin on. Cut two inch pieces through the central bone. Cut and score the flesh to expose the central part but leave skin and bones intact. Sprinkle or rub with salt and squeeze lemon or lime over, cover lightly and set aside for a couple of hours to marinate. Leave longer if preferred. When done, flesh will be white. Some people prefer fish to be part marinated as too long in the lemon juice may toughen the flesh.

Serve with coconut cream and cooked root vegetable such as taro, kumara, breadfruit or boiled green bananas.

Any white fish is suitable. Tuna is an excellent fish for this dish, but ensure it is not over long in the marinade.

                                                           

 

 

    New Zealand

     Aotearoa,

 

 

     New Zealand is one of the islands in Polynesian. New Zealand Cuisines come from a lot of diffrent soures, they mainly come from British ans Maori in the early days, U.S.A post world war II, austrialia, southeast asia, West asia, and India. Maori arrived in New Zealand it brought loads of food palnts. They cooked there foods in an earth oven. The other cooking methods that they used was roasting, boiling or steaming. When the Europeans came to New Zealand they brought foods with them. They brought with them pork and potatoes. They also brought wheat, pumpkin, mutton, sugar and many types of fruits. 

  If you were to visit New Zealand for dinner you would mainly drink tea for dinner. The agriculture of New Zealand they have many millions of sheep and cattle. New Zealand climate is mild. The farms there do not usually do not have barns. All year round the pastures feed the animals. On the low land plains farms grow crops like wheat, oats, barley, and potatoes. Wheat is mainly grown in the Canterbury Plains. New Zealand have lage apple orchards that produce enough for a large export market. They also grow other fruits like pears, peaches, aproicots, plums, cherries, and several types of berries. The citrus fruits are grown in the north. They also has vine yards that produce wine grapes. 

  If you were to vist New Zealand today there would be loads of cuisines on menu. On the menu you would find lamb, pork, cervena (venison), salmon, crayfish (lobster), bluff oysters, paua,mussels, scallops, kumara (sweet potatoes), kiwifruit, tamarillo, and pavlova. You will also see pipis and tuatua which are both types of New Zealand shell fish. New Zealand has developed many cuisines like pavlova, colonial goose, lolly cake, hokey pokey ice cream, and anzac biscuits. New Zealand has cuisines that they didn't develop but is a very important to New Zealand culture. These cuisines are fish and chips, roast lamb and mutton, scones, lamingtons, and meat pies.

 

   Go to fullsize image      Go to fullsize image      Go to fullsize image     Go to fullsize image

          Pavlova                        Crayfish                            Pipis                       Scones

 

 

 

New Zealand Recipes  

    

Lamb

 

1 Boneless leg of lamb

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

 

 

1. Marinate in the fridge for a good long while. A week isn't too long.

2. Grill in a webber kettle with the lid on the vent almost closed, 15-20 minute on each side.

 

Pavlova

 

3 egg whites

1/3 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sliced kiwi fruit

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 cup passion fruit

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F

2. Cover a baking sheet with foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray.

3. In large bowl, beat the eggs whites to form stiff peaks.

4. Add white sugar slowly, and continue beating.

5. When egg whites are very stiff, add vinegar and boiling water.

6. Continue beating until glossy surface is beginning to fade, and mixture is very stiff.

7. Pile meringue onto prepared baking sheet and shape into a circle 1 1/2 inches thick. Form a slight dip the center, and make the sides slightly higher.

8. Place meringue in the oven, shut the door, and turn the heat off.

9. Leave in the oven for one hour. Check the texture of the maringue; it should be hard with soft spots.

10. If soft in the center, heat oven to 250 F.

11. Place meringue back into the oven, and turn off the heat.

12. Cool when done. Transfer onto a serving platter.

13. Whip the cream until just stiff.

14. Beat in vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Pile the whipped cream onto the meringue.

15. Arrange the fruit on top of the whipped cream, and serve.

 

Samoa

Sacred centre of the universe’.

 

                       

 

Food is very important in Samoan life. When they travel they always take some food with them. Samoan food is not heavily seasoned or spicy it is normally prepared with food that is already cooked. In Samoa you should always eat what is presented to you because that is by far the easiest way to make a Samoan friend.

            Samoan people traditional cook on things called Umus. Umus are when fire is built and rocks are placed on it once the food that is going to be cooked is on it, they leave banana fronds are set on top and they leave it to cook. Some Samoan cultures eat raw fish they usually use Oka. Oka is the way they prepare their raw fish, they cut the fish into bits and let it marinate in a lemon juice, coconut cream, salt, and onion mixture.

            Lu'au is the signature dish of Samoa. People that say it is something they just can not describe and think that it’s a food worthy of the gods. Lu’au is made of taro plant leaves, coconut cream and taro all wrapped in the taro leaves and cooked on the Umu. If you cannot obtain taro leaves it possible to produce a pale imitation using spinach. Take 2 pounds (1kg) of chopped spinach, two finely diced large onions and a pound of coconut cream. Boil the spinach for about 25 minutes, so that it is horribly overcooked, and fry the onions until they are soft and brown. Mix both of these together in a frying pan, add the coconut cream and salt to taste. Simmer this over a low heat for about 45 minutes.In Samoa most people mostly eat salted beef if you visit someone in Samoa this is no doubt what they are going to serve you. It is said that they have tons of the stuff lying around a average Samoan home.

  

 

 

 

 

 

     The Polynesian culture is very unique. As a whole in cuisine, the use of freshness is always found in all recipes and meals. In some parts of Polynesia, the use of heavy meats are a must have, in more traditional places, fish is usually their main course. As the use of seasonings, salt and acidic ingrediants are used. In most parts of New Zealand, the usage of sugary foods became a delightful meals. Like pavlova, sugars and creams are used.

 

Bibliography

 

Websites 

 

"New Zealand cuisine -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 25 Jan. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_cuisine.

 

New Zealand Tourism Guide : New Zealand Travel Guide, Accommodation, Tours, Attractions, Vacation Information and NZ Holiday Sites. 25 Jan. 2009 http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/nz/cuisine-anddrinking/.

 

"Where We Are" Cook Islands 17 September 2006, 27 January 2009 http://www.ck/geog.htm

 

"Cook Islands Recipe" http://www.ck/food/0110.htm August 2001, 27 January 2009 Ika Mata Raw Fish

 

"Global Education" Cook Islands http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/cache/offonce/pid/1275 18 August 2008, 27 January 2009 Cook Islands

 

"New Zealand Pavlova Recipe : Recipezaar." Recipezaar - Recipe index with thousands of free recipes. 28 Jan. 2009 <http://www.recipezaar.com/New-Zealand-Pavlova-139658>. 

 

"New Zealand Lamb Recipe #119801 @ Mass Recipes." Recipes at MassRecipes: Massive amounts of recipes! 28 Jan. 2009 http://www.massrecipes.com/recipes/96/11/newzealandlamb119801.html.

 

"Cooks Island Map" Your Guide to the Cooks Island 19 April 2007, 30 January 2009, http://www.south-pacific-picture.com/graphics/Cook-Islands-Map.gif Cooks Island

 

"Where is Samoa?" American Samoa 2 August 1997, 3 February 2009

http://www.samoanet.com/amsamoa/ Samoa Island 

 

Global Education New Zealand, Samoa, Cook Islands 4 July 2008, 3 February 3 2009 http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/3219 At A Glance

 

Books 

 

Howard J. Critchfield,"New Zealand", The New Book of knowledge,Volume 13, pp 239,2000

 

Williams, Jeffrey "Polynesians" Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life Volume 3 pg 638-641 1998

Comments (3)

John Silva said

at 12:31 pm on Jan 23, 2009

As we discussed the other day, you need to emphasize the differences and similarities between the islands. Obviously there will be a lot of seafood and small animals, makre sure your article mentions this.

John Silva said

at 12:54 pm on Feb 3, 2009

This is looking very good so far... I'm looking forward to your presentation.

John Silva said

at 10:20 am on Feb 9, 2009

24 - very well done, one of the better articles on this site.

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