Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki)

The Breadfruit, kuru

The Breadfruit, kuru.

The breadfruit. Artocarpus incisa under the name of Kuru, was born of the marriage between Te Hatu and Pupu-hina. The kinds of varieties named were kuru pae, kuru patea, kuru rotuma and the ordinary kuru. There were three seasons in the year in which it bore fruit. The principal crop was in January, February, March, and the other two in May and in September-October.

Rou kuru. The fruit that were out of reach were twisted off at the stalk with a long pole having a fork at page 61the end, rou kuru. Rou is used as a noun and also as a verb as in Maori. The use of a net attached to the pole to catch the fruit, as in the Marquesas, was denied. The fruit was allowed to fall to the ground.

Titia kuru. Titia is the general term for a wooden peg. A peg as thick as the little finger and from 2 to 3 inches long, was driven into the base of the mature fruit at the point where the stalk was plucked off. The correct wood to use was the purautea, Broussonetia papyrifera. The object was to ripen the fruit quickly so that it became soft, pe.

As there are several points connected with the various methods of preparing the breadfruit, they are here enumerated.

(1).Kuru takataka.

The mature breadfruit was split open with a shell and cooked at once in the earth oven. This was the least palatable method, and was used when food was needed in a hurry or the other forms were not available at the moment.

(2).Kuru titia.

The mature fruit were treated with the titia pegs and left until the next day. They were wrapped in leaves and put in the earth oven. When cooked, they were peeled and eaten with cocoanut cream.

(3).Kuru hopiko.

A large quantity of mature breadfruit was gathered by the village community. Each kuru had a titia driven into it and was left for four days until it was quite soft. A very large earth oven (umu atupaka) was prepared. Over the heated stones, the bottom and sides were lined with the outer skin of the banana stem (pihoro) and above that again a layer of mata grass was spread. The breadfruit were put in whole without being peeled. When cooked they were left in the oven, which now functioned as a store pit. From this public store pit, the people took out only what was required for a day's provision, and the oven was then covered up again. The breadfruit were not only cooked but they were preserved. Kept thus, they lasted from 4 to 6 months if given the opportunity.

Poi hopiko. The kuru hopiko was prepared for eating by peeling the skin and pounding in a wooden page 62bowl. Ripe bananas were mixed (hiro) with it, and also cream from the grated mature cocoanut.

(4).Mahi.

Pegged breadfruit that were very soft after 4 days, were stored in pits. A pit (vaha rua) was prepared of a size and depth determined by the quantity of the fruit. It was lined with dry banana leaves (rau huru). The breadfruit was peeled, and after the core (hune) was removed, the flesh (kiko) was put in the pit.

The top of the breadfruit was covered (tapoki) with more dry banana leaves and weighted down with black stones, pohatu maori. The material ferments, or as was stated, it turns sour after three days. This is mahi. It will last a year or more, but must be well covered up after any has been removed. It may also be mixed with bananas.

(5).Poi pepe.

The very ripe breadfruit or that which has been pegged, is peeled, cleaned, wrapped in green leaves Such as banana or hau, and cooked for 24 hours. It is then pounded as poi, and cocoanut cream may be mixed with it.