Wild & Free: Episode 4 - LapLap Making

Laurentine ten Bosch LAURENTINE TEN BOSCH

In Episode 4, we dive into the local cuisine. Armed with fresh, local ingredients from our earlier trip to the Port Vila markets and the guidance of our friends from Pango Village, the cooking process begins - and everyone is involved! 

LapLap is a traditional food from Vanuatu, still made with traditional tools and cooked in the traditional way. The dish is a delicious starchy food, almost bread-like in our diet, often served with mains but just as mouth-watering when smothered in home-made coconut milk. 

LapLap is made with Manioc, a locally-grown white, fleshy root vegetable - which comes from the market in a plastic-free palm basket. The grated vegetable is then mixed with the homemade coconut to form a paste. The dish is wrapped in banana leaves, tied together with the stalks, and cooked on a fire with the coconut husks and heated stones from the nearby river. The traditional dish is often mixed with island spinach, chicken, or fish, but we love it fresh. LapLap is a beautiful dish, which totally depicts the waste-free, traditional, community lifestyle of Vanuatu. It’s highly nutritious and ridiculously delicious, so come and visit the happiest tropical island in the world and give it a taste!

Let us know what you think in the comments below! 

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