Recipe book, and work

work of record

Breadfruit Bread and Papaya Pie. Recipes of Micronesia and the Outer Pacific. Collected by Nancy Rody. Published 1982 by Pacific Writers Corporation, PO Box 1042, Honolulu, Hawaii 96808. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 81-86590.

Price SUSIO.OO.

For anyone interested in cook ing, and in particular traditional dishes, Breadfruit Bread and Papaya Pie will be an enjoyable addition to their cookery book collection. Although they are de scribed as being from “Mic ronesia and the Outer Pacific”, most recipes in the book could be followed by anyone with access to tropical fruits and vegetables.

The book grew out of a recipe pamphlet written by Nancy Rody when she was living in Mic ronesia working in public health among the villagers. She became aware that the move away from

traditional foods in favor of “more prestigious” Western style fare was not only resulting in declining health standards among the islanders, but that traditional recipes, usually pass ed on by word of mouth from generation to generation, were being lost. She began collecting recipes for her own use as “it was such delicious food, I want ed to know how to make it”.

Then, after Dr George Seberg of the Pacific Writers Corporation saw her initial recipe pamphlet, she was persuaded to write a full fledged recipe book.

The original idea behind Breadfruit Bread and Papaya Pie was to create a book that would preserve traditional Mic ronesian recipes and teach the islanders about the nutritional value of their local foods. The recipes are straightforward and take into account the basic cook

ing arrangements of island peo ple at whom the book is funda mentally aimed. Since few of the recipes had ever been written down, Nancy Rody had to follow the women around as they were preparing their meals, carefully measuring each ingredient as it was used and noting the preparation.

The book is divided into sec tions covering seafoods, meat and poultry, fruit, vegetables and starch foods. There are 325 pages of recipes, illustrated with line drawings and black and white photographs. There is also an index and an introduction de scribing Micronesia, its tradi tional way of life, and traditional ways of growing and gathering food. With the recipes, Nancy Rody provides descriptions of the main ingredients, and, in the case of such foods as crabs, sea cucumbers and sea urchins, how to recognise, catch and prepare them. She includes humorous anecdotes about her own experi ences, relating, for example, how once she fled her kitchen pursued by an angry mangrove

crab after an unsuccessful at tempt to introduce it to her cook

ing pot.

Some recipes are not as ver satile as others, for instance, the one entitled “Bat soup with coconut milk” which begins “Clean and wash three fruit bats.

Do not eviscerate. Cook in boil ing water for three hours ...”

However, the vast majority of recipes are not so exotic and could easily be prepared and cooked by anyone living in a

tropical region.

The cover of Breadfruit Bread and Papaya Pie is appropriately enough a painting by Rechucher Charlie Gibbons, a high chief of the Republic of Belau.

This is not only a good recipe book, it is important because it is a recipe book which will encour age islanders to rely more upon their traditional, nutritious foods.

Most importantly of all, it en sures that the traditional methods of preparing and cooking foods are not forgotten with the passing of time, so helping to preserve the culture of the people of Mic

ronesia.

Amanda Bicknell.