Have you ever tasted Papua New Guinea food? Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It has a bunch of ethnic groups and languages. This country has 871 languages in total, which is about 11% of the total languages in the world. Since it is very diverse, West Papua New Guinea is very rich in every cultural aspect, including culinary. One of the most famous culinary cultures of the country is Mumu.
This culinary tradition cooks food in the ground. Mumu is similar to the famous ‘Bakar Batu’ tradition as ‘Barapen’ in Jayawijaya, ‘Kit Oba Isogoa’ in Wamena, and ‘Gapiia’ in Paniai. Do you want to know more about Mumu? Here is all you need to know about Papua New Guinea’s traditional cooking method.
What is Mumu?
Mumu is Papua New Guinea’s traditional cooking method. According to the locals, Mumu is only performed on special occasions. For example, wedding parties, the birth of a child, important guests welcome parties, expressing the last respect when a local dies, and even building an inauguration. Mumu is also a symbol of peace or forgiveness after tribal wars. There are 3 steps of the Mumu traditional cooking method.
The first step is the preparation. The second step is the cooking process that can take 10 hours. And the third step is eating together. In detail, the locals start Mumu by collecting the food ingredients that they will cook, such as pork, chickens, fish, corn, sweet potatoes, taro, bananas, and various vegetables.
Steps of Mumu
Below are the steps of Papua New Guinea’s traditional cooking method, Mumu.
- Digging hole that can accommodate stones and food ingredients that will be cooked.
- Placing large stones as the first layer.
- Placing and burning woods on the stone layer until the stones are hot as well.
- Covering the hot stones with banana leaves. Then, placing the food ingredients on top of it and covering it back with other banana leaves.
- A whole pork wrapped in banana leaves is placed on top. Besides pork, locals also cook chickens or fish, especially in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea.
- Covering all the food ingredients with hot stones and charcoal.
- Covering the hot stones with soil to form a mound to bind heat just like an underground oven.
- The cooking process takes up to 10 hours, depending on how many food ingredients are cooked.
- Digging Mumu to remove the pork and other foods, which locals will eat together.
Papua New Guinea’s Traditional Food
After knowing the country’s traditional cooking method, let’s talk about Papua New Guinea food, the traditional ones.
Aunu Senebre
Aunu Senebre is a Papua New Guinea specialty. Making food from anchovies and sliced taro leaves and sliced taro leaves. This traditional dish has a bit of a wet texture. It tastes very savoury, thanks to the grated coconut. Aunu Senebre is usually combined with papeda, which is actually Papua’s traditional food. You can find and enjoy Aunu Senebre in food stalls. Do not be worried about the price because this traditional food is affordable.
Eurimoo
Eurimoo is actually a dessert from Papua New Guinea. This dessert is made from sago, bananas, and grated coconut. Usually serve it in traditional ceremonies. Besides being delicious, Eurimoo has so many health benefits, such as healing indigestion, skin tightening, and many more. Since it is served only in cultural ceremonies, you will not find this dessert in food stalls or souvenir centres in Papua New Guinea. This Papua New Guinea food is quite rare.
