Palusami

Okay, I’m the first to admit that I really don’t do well with foreign languages.  However, maybe you can understand why words like “lolo” and “lovo” confused me.  The first is coconut milk and the second is the underground pit where you sometimes cook things with lolo.  One of those dishes is palusami (pal lou SAH me).  It’s probably one of those dishes that you can’t possibly make at home, but it’s just so dang interesting to tell you about.

Palusami
Alena Nalawa, Kuku, Fiji

Ingredients:
3 taro leaves per person
chopped onions
lolo
1 coconut half-shell per .....serving
              
Remove the stems and align three taro leaves back to back to back.  Place a handful of chopped onions in the center of the leaves and then pour in a half cup of lolo.  (Forget what that is?  It’s coconut milk.)  Fold the leaves over the contents, left, right, top, and bottom ends all coming to the center. Invert the leaves and place them in coconut half-shells.

Now, a little F.Y.I. about coconuts.  One end of a coconut shell has three little eyes or soft round spots.  The other end of the shell has none.  You want to cook your leaves in the end of the shell with no soft spots.  While roasting in the lovo, those holes would burn away and you’d lose all your lolo.  You know you never want to lose your lolo.

Carefully place your coconuts around the fish, chicken, pork, cassava, taro, or sweet potatoes that you plan to cook in the lovo.  The palusami is the last item added, feel free to now cover everything with palm fronds, banana leaves, rice bags, and dirt.  Roast for three hours.


From start to finish with Palusami
 
Like I said, you most likely cannot do this at home.  But, you can substitute to your heart’s content and even add tuna or corn beef if that floats your boat.  (And, you always want your boat to float when traveling in Fiji.)

Instead of taro leaves you can substitute cabbage leaves (cooking time about 30 minutes) or spinach leaves (20 minutes).  After you fold up your leaves around the lolo and other goodies, you can wrap it all up in aluminum foil.  (I saw this done so I know it’s legal.)  Place them in individual bowls with the multiple folded layers on the bottom or on a tray if using foil.  Pop those babies into the oven and cook until you see the lolo bubbling.  In the lovo pit, the bright green color of the leaves changed to a darkened, burnt green.  I imagine a color change will happen in your oven as well.