Millie’s Food Corner

Palau is like everywhere else in the world: eating together is the heart of socializing and getting to know each other. Rice is a staple but is not grown here, and has to be imported. So, increasing gas prices are reflected in the increasing price of rice. Meat is chicken or fish. We get our fish from the Happy Fish Market where we choose fish from a number of large tanks and they fillet it for us for free.

Fruit is abundant! The fresh pineapples are oh, so delicious. I had a lesson on growing them from Pastor Zimmer’s little girl; she has a patch of about 18 and gave us one. Lemons are abundant and we have been enjoying lemonade. And there are several types of bananas. There are big, firm ones for cooking. And the tiny ones (3-4 inches) that we like are so sweet. Other fruits grown here are papaya, mango, star apple, sour sac, 3 types of apples, rambupan and grapes. Breadfruit is a large fruit which grows on a large tree. It is cooked before it is eaten.

Papaya-The fruit grows in the middle of the tree.

Millie holding the small, sweet bananas.

Breadfruit is the green ball in the middle of the picture.

Coconut-The outer layer is peeled back to reveal the brown husk containing the coconut and milk.

Local pineapple is available at the grocery store.

Area farms bring in fresh vegetables daily (eggplant, cucumber, etc.).

We think this is taro!

Green bananas are hanging in the middle of this picture.

Allie’s pineapple field–the pineapples grow in the center of the plant.

Vegetables are big, long burpless cucumbers, green onions, leaf lettuce.
Taro root is a starchy tuber grown in the swamp. It is like a potato and ranges from 5 in to over a foot long. They can be fried, baked, roasted or steamed. They have a nut like flavor when cooked.

Tapioca is a starch found in casava roots. It is grown in dry land. Roots are used as a boiled vegetable and are also used in bread flour, laundry starch, aan alcoholic brew and tapioca pudding. Tapioca can cause cyanide poisoning if not prepared properly.

So our diet is varied. And restaurants are varied because of the great ethnic diversity here. Although there is no McDonald’s or Pizza Hut, there are Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, Mexican, Palauan, and general cafes. Take out food is quite popular, but we eat most meals at home.