food

Eating Habits
Many people I know are vegetarians in America because of the treatment of the animals. It is a completely valid point, but I can see myself going the other way from living in Samoa.
In America I saw no problem with eating meat and would often eat it for two meals a day. It was great because you ate what you wanted and could leave the fatty stuff aside without a worry. It was easy and cheap to buy meat without the bones and you seemed to always have great quality of food.
I quickly learned here that meat is not the same. I know the animals are treated better than we do before we are about to slaughter them for a delicious meal. That makes some people want to eat them more, but not me.
How they prepare the meat grosses me out. They do not care about bones in all of the food and so when cooking anything you will run into tons of bones. For culture day when we had to prepare the moa (chicken) we had to just break the chicken into different pieces and it is all cooked bones and all. (It doesn’t matter what part of the chicken it is, because it all seems to be eaten.)
It is way too difficult to search through the meat to find something without bones and the bones bug my teeth! So I usually just stay clear of the meat. I do have my certain types that call out my name when they are at the table….but it’s really just fried chicken.
When spending time in Apia I have no problem eating meat at reputable establishments. I know that there are no bones in my hamburgers so I am pretty safe! (Also I have not have a problem with meat as a topping at Italiano’s Pizzeria.)
Back at home in the States I stood far away from i’a (fish). The smell of it always turned me off so quickly that I could never stand to be near it let alone eating it. Even when I tried being a fisherman in my days at college..my fish never got eaten. (At least by me.) With fish you do not have to worry as much about the bones. They are usually attached still to each other and it is easy to navigate my mouth around them. I learned that what they told me during my summer in Alaska holds true here as well, when fish is fresh it really is not that bad. (Why did I hate it so long growing up next to the ocean then?)
The one type of fish I will continue to stay clear of is eleni (tin fish like sardines). Whenever someone opens the can I feel the need to run into another room as quick as possible. They put the eleni over perfectly good food and ruin it for me. I have had plenty of meals ruiened at many family meals because the vegetables are coated in the juice from the eleni. (Which lead me to having a delicious fa’i[banana] meal.)
One of my goals for being out here was to learn to like tea. My tina in America is the biggest tea drinker and spending anytime with her you will learn that part of the way to her heart is getting a Lipton tea bag ready in a mug for her. I just never enjoyed the taste of tea growing up and saw no point in drinking it (especially if hot coco was around to be a substitute). Tea is offered at most meals and whenever you go to a residence to spend some time, you will quickly be offered a cup of tea.
After the first week of drinking it bitterly, I felt like Thomas the Tank Engine saying “I think I can, I think I can..”. All of a sudden I found myself enjoying it. (As long as it is not too sweet. Samoans are known for putting one or five too many spoonfuls of sugar into their tea.) I now see my mother’s enjoyment with this drink and look forward to joining her in her new kitchen in New York to have a cup with her in two years.
The one thing I am worried about is the amount of salt that Samoans use in their food. I have a massive fear that I will become like my tama in America. My dad would give any Samoan a big run for their money with how much their over salt their foods. He always says otherwise the food has no taste. I never knew anyone to have the same taste buds as him…until I came here. I really don’t want to develop a taste for salt like that. (No offense dad.)
The vegetables here taste amazing and it is great when you can go to the plantation and see them grown right in your backyard. It should be a way of life for Samoans instead of eating so much meat. Just like in America, meat is expensive. I would so much rather prefer a delicious taro instead of a piece of fatty chicken.
So in other words, long live the taro!