Vegetarian recipes from Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, meatless cooking rests on tubers and on coconut. Sweet potato dominates in the highlands; taro, yam and sago on the coast and in swampy country; breadfruit and cooking banana round out the store. The reference method is not the pan but the earth oven, where heated stones slowly cook roots and wrapped leaves. Hand-pressed coconut cream serves as fat, sauce and cooking liquid, often poured in at the end so it does not split.

Seasoning stays short: lime, onion, ginger, fresh chilli, and local herbs each region uses differently. A meal is conceived as a mass of starch alongside a dish of greens or a sharper marinated preparation, such as kaima bona gatoi, where aubergine and sweet potato are grilled before being dressed with coconut and lime. Leaves count as much as roots: pumpkin tips, taro leaves and edible ferns are picked in the garden and cooked briefly, separately from the starch.