Taro & Coconuts

Monday a family invited us for a Family Home Evening to teach us how to collect, prepare, and cook taro.  We traipsed behind the houses where Brother Tufuga, using his machete, pulled up taro out of the ground like a huge sugar beet and topped it, and then picked off the ground a few coconuts.  Back at the house, Ron was volunteered to husk the outer shell off the coconuts by banging them on an upright, three-foot pipe to penetrate the husk.  The hairy coconut fibers on the coco-nut itself were pulled off and saved.  The coconut was split open and we sampled fresh coconut water.   After the meat was shredded, the mass of husk hair fibers is wrapped around the shredded coconut and squeezed; discard the coconut, wrap some more, and squeeze. The process is repeated until all the milk is squeezed out.

Meanwhile, the mud and outer skin of the taro is scraped off---let's just say it is an art.  Then it is sliced and put into a pot of boiling water in the outdoor cooking area.  Once cooked through, water is drained and the coconut milk is added.  The starchiness of the taro makes it like a gravy.  Taro is similar to potato but denser.  The taro was accompanied with a delicious pot of soup bone soup made with onions, carrots, and bok choy.  We sat down at the table for a wonderful, typical Samoan dinner.

Afterwards, the young family held a short FHE as the two oldest children recited in unison the first two articles of faith in Samoan and then James 1:5-6 in English.  They have four delightful children.