A FOOD TRADITION

Trobriand Islands Cuisine

Trobriand Islands cuisine is shaped by yam-centered horticulture, lagoon fishing, and the ceremonial importance of food exchange. Yams, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, coconut, fish, and shellfish are prepared by roasting, boiling, steaming in leaves, or cooking in earth ovens. Yams may be displayed and exchanged as valued foods as well as eaten, giving cultivation and presentation an important social dimension. Representative preparations include roasted or boiled yams, coconut fish, and taro or banana cooked in leaf parcels. The tradition belongs within the wider Massim cultural area, so its practices should not be treated as isolated or exclusively originating in the Trobriands.

Catalogue preview Cuisine connections may be unreviewed. Regional comparisons include their food references and do not establish the ingredients of a particular meal.