What's for lunch?

Market at Ukarumpa

     I tumble into the front door of my apartment (called a "flat" here in Papua New Guinea (PNG) due to the Australian influence) and make a bee-line for the kitchen. I put down my keys and bilum and survey my kitchen like a general assessing his troops. What's for lunch? I ask myself as my eyes scan my basket full of produce, the cabinets and refrigerator. Lots of people ask me what types of things I eat here in PNG. My response is generally, "What don't I eat here."

Frozen Crocodile Tail

     Often when I get asked what I eat in PNG, I imagine from their expectant looks that they anticipate me answering with the outlandish, such as: "monkey brains," "Giant tree ants roasted over the fire," or "deep sea squid cooked in casava root." However, the food here in Papua New Guinea, although delicious, is actually very plain. The most exotic things I've eaten (other than the unusual fruits and veggies here) are octopus, some unusual fish and crocodile. Actually, crocodile is one of the most inexpensive meats where I live and so I eat boneless crocodile tail as my primary meat. It tastes a lot like chicken (no surprises there since all unknowns taste like chicken, right?) and it is good in a lot of foods including stir fry and curry dishes. There are a few other exotic things I've seen eaten here but not tried myself including: wild bird eggs, beetles, beetle larvae, and several wild animals. However exotic the fringe foods of PNG are, the main PNG diet consists of some sort of root vegetable (sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes) or cooking bananas combined with local greens and meat if they have it. They boil it, fry it or roast it most often and this varies from region to region depending on the availability of things like coconut or bamboo since they use these in preparation of the food.

Crocodile Stir Fry: Yummy!

My first loaf of homemade bread

     So what do I eat day to day you ask? I actually eat a lot of local produce since we have a great market in Ukarumpa. Its an inexpensive, healthy and delicious way to eat. I eat a lot of fruit (bananas, pineapples, passion fruits, oranges, and strawberries) and vegetables (lettuce, cucumbers, squash, celery, carrots, tomatoes and several types of potatoes/sweet potatoes). I combine these in about a zillion different ways. I've discovered I like to read cookbooks and try new recipes. With all the produce options I have here I've been able to try make use of my cookbooks to experiment with new dishes. Everything from stir fry to baked casseroles, pies to breads. I've been learning to make new foods including tortillas, bagels, breads, cream puffs and salads, and a host of Papua New Guinean dishes. Almost everything I eat I make from scratch, which can be time consuming, but also gives me time to think, sing, pray and discover a new part of myself I never knew was there: a love of cooking!

So, I decided to eat my leftover crocodile stir fry for lunch and grab a passion fruit for dessert before heading out the door again for work. Maybe scrambled eggs for dinner. Wouldn't want things to get too ordinary and predictable. ;-)

I was feeling particularly domestic this day.
I made tortillas, bagels and banana bread.