Tonga and Food

Tongans love food and they love to share it. Unfortunately, they eat a lot of food that is repulsive to most Americans and the preparation, serving, and storage poses serious health risks. I have seen worse conditions in Southeast Asia so this is nothing new to me, but it is quite surprising to Rachel.

After a couple days here, we were walking by a Tongan family eating on a mat on their porch and they invited us to share. Rachel, not wanting to be rude, accepted. We sat down on a mat opposite them and the wife sliced up some type of tubular root vegetable and passed it over. Tongans eat with their hands that they do not wash. Soon the pigs got interested and started to approach the patio, placing their snouts as close as possible to us. We could only stomach a few bites so we quickly said thank you and went on our way.

Food from the market is mostly shipped in from overseas and it is often the food that does not pass QC inspection or is expired and… it is expensive. Most Tongans own a plot of land that they farm and live off of so they buy very little from the market. One farm I looked at today was about 4 acres and had about 30 different vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Meat comes from the chickens, pigs, and fish and sometimes beef, lamb, goat, dog, and horse. The Tongans love to fry their food, especially their meat. We have been offered “sausage” several times, which is just a fried hot dog. They also love ice cream.

We have had a couple more dinners with our “Tongan Family” neighbors who seem to be somewhat cleaner. They have tried to make us spaghetti (roman noodles with hot dogs) and donuts (fried banana/flour paste). We have invited the family over to our house for dinner tomorrow (parents and the 4 kids at home). We’ll serve them up an American style meal, I hope they enjoy. Rachel and I have prepare most of our meals: oatmeal, rice, eggs, chicken, BP&J, and spaghetti.

Tonga feasts/celebrations are common. Today we are going to a feast to celebrate a new bus… yes, it has 24 seats. There will be some dancing and other activities common among islanders. The Governor is attending so everyone will be in their best dress. Next week they may celebrate a death, wedding, new building, anything you can think of they will celebrate it.

I do have to say, I thought I had experienced the best hamburger in my life in a guest house along the Mekong River in Cambodia, but I think it was out done by a little café here, run by an American with a Tongan cook. The meat was just so juicy and delicious.