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Papua New Guinean Foodways

National

⚠ OVER EIGHT HUNDRED LANGUAGES AND NO SINGLE CUISINE, and the divide that matters most is HIGHLANDS versus LOWLANDS. THE HIGHLANDS — densely populated valleys above 1,500 m: SWEET POTATO (kaukau) is the staple and feeds the pigs as well as the people, with taro older and still prestigious; the MUMU earth oven; and the PIG KILL, a documented ceremonial exchange in which pigs accumulated over years are slaughtered and distributed, which is an economic and political institution as much as a feast. Kuk Swamp in the Wahgi valley evidences agriculture from around 7,000 BCE — ⚠ one of a handful of independent agricultural origins anywhere, and where bananas were domesticated. THE LOWLANDS AND SEPIK — SAGO, extracted by felling the palm, pulping the pith and washing out the starch, which is a substantial labour and the staple of the swamps; fish, crocodile, wild greens, coconut. THE ISLANDS and coasts — fish, shellfish, coconut and the Motu trading voyages. Plus KULAU coconut, BUAI (betel nut), marita pandanus, and COFFEE, which is a Highlands smallholder crop and a major export. ⚠ AND THE PROBLEM: imported rice and tinned fish are now staples, and a documented nutrition transition is under way. ⚠ CEREMONIAL AND CLAN-RESTRICTED FOOD PRACTICE IS RECORDED AS EXISTING AND NOT DESCRIBED.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Papua New Guineans community documented

Languages: Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, English

What is recorded

  • Papua New Guinean foodways are recorded as divided principally between Highlands and lowlands. Sweet potato is documented as the Highlands staple feeding both people and pigs, with taro older and retaining prestige, and the pig kill documented as a ceremonial exchange functioning as an economic and political institution. Sago, extracted by felling the palm and washing starch from the pulped pith, is documented as the staple of the lowland swamps. Coffee is a Highlands smallholder export crop. Imported rice and tinned fish are documented as having become staples. Ceremonial and clan-restricted practice is recorded as existing and is not described. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • part of Melanesian Foodways documented

    ⚠ Over 800 living languages — roughly a tenth of all human languages — and no single cuisine.

  • related to Papuan Foodways documented

    ⚠ One island divided by a colonial border: West Papua is under Indonesian administration and is already in this corpus under `indonesian`.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.