Introduction:
Steve Bailes and his wife, Terry, both Hampshire
County educators, are spending a year out of the
country teaching as well as learning. Steve will keep
us updated on their experiences on this site. Join us
in the experience of teaching abroad.
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February
11, 2000
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Tolafa
from Samoa.
We
had a wonderful time visiting with Helen
and Phil this week. It seems so many
people have such interesting stories to
tell. Phil came to island as management
for Starkist. I believe he said they can
in excess of 3 million cans of tuna a day.
They also manufacture the cans for
Chicken of the Sea, the plant just next
door. He spoke of prayer meetings at the
cannery, and entire shifts singing as
they worked. Phil and Helen, England and
Scotland natives respectively, came to
island via New Zealand, and before that,
Nigeria. Phil was with Cadbury
(chocolate). Helen was principal for a
school there. They told of surviving more
than one violent attacks, complete with
machete and gun wielding gangster road
block and chase. Helen spoke of removing
jewelry during the high speed chase so her
fingers would not be cut off when they
were ultimately caught. Phil told how his
hired help was held at gunpoint, while he
was locked inside a strong safe compound.
But he surrendered to the gunmen when he
was told the hired help would be shot one
at a time until he opened the locked
compound.
We
went down to the harbor to see the Queen
Elizabeth cruise liner. It was so big it
couldn't turn around in the harbor. The
tugs pulled her out the way she came in.
Terry
tells about going to see the Queen
Elizabeth II. It's an enormous cruise
ship. Lots of fun. The locals set up
booths to sell craft items, do some
singing, and take people on tours of the
area. The tourists were expecting them not
to understand English, and the Samoan
culture is very accommodating. So they
sometimes pretended not to speak English.
The tourists (using their best "Tonto/Lone
Ranger language") spoke very loud and
slow. "I--- buy. How--- much?" with
appropriate (or inappropriate) gestures.
The locals, of course, speak excellent
English, but they would answer back in
Samoan (or Tonto style),
"Not-much-Kee-mo-sa-bee. The "show" was
great.
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I
wish I could share the delicious
smells, and the flavors of the
succulent foods. But even more, what
we will always remember is the warm
graciousness of this Samoan family,
sharing a wonderful tradition with us.
Fa'afetai lava.
The
handsome young fellow in Caroline's
arms (and Terry's) is malo and
Caroline's youngest , Jack.
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Malo
and Caroline were having the
birthday umu for their
daughter Atamai. An umu is a
traditional Samoan feast
cooked which uses hot rocks
to cook food in a covered pit.
The
second step is to scrape the
meat out.
Coconut
cream is an integral part of
most Samoan dishes.
Meanwhile,
Toni, Malo's brother, was
preparing palu sami. Taro
leaves are cooked with onions,
and spices, and (of course)
coconut cream. It will all be
bundled up in a leaf (banana?)
and placed in the umu.
Dignity,
hospitality, congeniality all
describes Pule, Malo's Dad.
Here he is husking a green
coconut (niu) for Terry. The
men traditionally make the
umu. Terry was allowed to
drink her coconut and
watch.
The
umu often includes pork as
well as chicken. Atamai had
asked for chicken for her
birthday. I'm sure the hogs
in the family's pigpen were
relieved. But the poor
chicken! Red hot rocks were
placed up its nether parts.
Different tropical leaves
(such as mango) were added to
different foods, which
produced very distinctive
flavors.
Now,
all the foods food and hot
rocks are placed back in the
pit and it is covered for
about 40 minutes. Wrapped
meats, ulu, bananas, and palu
sami.
Now,
all the foods food and hot
rocks are placed back in the
pit and it is covered for
about 40 minutes. Wrapped
meats, ulu, bananas, and palu
sami.
Here,
Tita'e makes baskets to haul
the food. The baskets are
expertly made of coconut
fronds. The baskets were
very sturdy and symmetrical, I
he was incredibly fast.
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First,
you have to husk the coconut.
Samoans make it look so easy:
force the husk onto a 3 foot
spike and pry the husk
off-about 2 minutes work. I
think I spent an hour the
first time I tried.
A
fire is started in the pit and
river rocks are placed on the
fire. After the rocks have
gotten red hot and the fire
has gone out, the pit is
opened, and ashes are fanned
away. We used tongs made of
bent banana wood to place the
rocks. Incidentally, new
rocks are a potential hazard.
The rocks are a volcanic
basalt. If they have an air
pocket they can
explode.
Wilson's
son is watching over the BBQ.
Coconut shells make a very hot
fire.
I
never quite understood the
different types of chiefs, or
what the different tattoos
(tatau) meant. I'm envious of
Wilson's body tattoo. Wilson
is a friend of Malo's.
Finally,
you squeeze the shredded
coconut meat through coconut
husk fibers, and separate the
rich, sweet coconut
cream.
Another
traditional mainstay of the
Samoan diet is the breadfruit
(ulu-also means head). The
breadfruit looks a little like
our osage orange or hedge
apple, but much larger. It is
generally larger than a
grapefruit but smaller than a
pumpkin. It is very starchy.
Cooked, it is somewhat like a
potato, but has a different
texture. The ulu must be
scraped to remove the outside
skin. This is done twice. I
was instructed by Malo and his
sister's husband, Tita'e.
They showed me how to use a
coconut shell to scrape the
ulu smoothly.
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Some
pretty ladies of the village were
heading off to church as we were making
the umu.
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