Umu

Umu is a Tongan feast of pork, taro, sweet potato and coconut cream, cooked together in an earth oven on hot stones. The word ʻumu is the oven itself, and the name is also used for the whole meal cooked in it. Pit ovens of this kind are used across Polynesia, and in Tonga the umu is cooked for gatherings and celebrations, where a large amount of food is needed at once.

What it really is

A pit is dug and filled with wood, which burns until the stones are hot. The food is wrapped in banana leaves, set on the stones and covered with leaves and earth, so it cooks slowly by heat and steam over several hours. The pork is the main meat, and the taro and sweet potato cook in the same heat, soaking up its juices. Coconut cream is part of the cooking and gives the starches a rich, sweet, creamy finish. The banana leaves are a wrapper and a serving surface, not something eaten.

How it's served

• Unwrapped at the table, with the banana leaves opened and the food spread on them or on a serving tray.
• On a shared platter for a group, with the pork, taro and sweet potato served together.
• Warm, straight from the oven, often at a gathering where the whole pit is opened at once.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the meat as pork, and give the cut if you know it. State the portion, since umu is usually shared.
• Say what the starches are: taro and sweet potato, cooked with coconut cream.
• Note that the food is cooked in banana leaves, which are not eaten.
• Coconut is not among the standard allergens, but list coconut cream clearly for guests with a coconut allergy. Any side served with the umu needs its own allergen flags.
• Say whether the umu is cooked for the day or made to order, since a pit oven takes several hours.