Samoan Umu at the Festival

I think the best part of any culture is the food. Everyday at the Arts Festival a different island had food demonstrations. Samoa just happened to be the only one we caught on camera. So here is how traditional umu is played out, as interpreted by a palagi.

Step one: The preparation
Heat the rocks, peel the taro and breadfruit, make the coconut cream, make the palusami (taro leaves, coconut cream), oh yes, the pig...kill it, clean out the insides, burn the hair off. Don't forget the fish, octopus, crab, lobster whatever else was found in the ocean that morning. Add coconut cream to everything (almost)....

Step 2: Cook
Remove all rocks from the fire with coconut frond tongs, throw all of the above into the fire, cover with hot rocks, then banana leaves. Leave to check your head for any remaining hair.

Step 3: Uncover and enjoy!
Remove all leaves, rock and food. Eat!

It's very good that Samoan families are so big, it'd take a week for one person to do all this. It took about 15-20 people to do this in 4 hours. This is something that is done by many families here every Sunday.