Doug and Kara Shaylor Just another weblog 
We had a mumu today with one of the local tribal groups. It was so neat to see how a mumu is done…
First, the men prepare a wood fire and put stones over the fire so the stones get nice and hot. The men also have the job of peeling the bananas, while the women peel the sweet potatoes.
Then the men finish preparing the fire. Once the stones are plenty hot, they remove the wood so just the stones are left. Then they make a ‘fence’ around it with smaller sticks stuck in the ground. They line the inside of the poles with fresh cut banana bark, which makes a wall. Then the men put this special grass on the hot stones. The fire begins to smoke lots! They put unpeeled bananas on it next and then unpeeled sweet potato (this will be food for the pigs). They make a number of layers of the grass, bananas and sweet potatoes.
Next, they put the peeled sweet potatoes and bananas on, layered with grass and edible greens such as cabbage. There are a number of layers of this – each layer is food for a certain family or group. The men then break up branches and put them on top and put the lamb flaps on top of the branches.
Finally the men cover the whole round pile with banana leaves and dirt. They stick a bamboo shoot down the middle and pour water into the shoot, creating a sort of steamer.
This cooks for two hours or more, and then they take it apart, and everyone eats! It was fascinating watching them do all of this. They also showed us how to start a fire from just bamboo, sticks and some dried leaves. Us ladies spent time with the tribal women learning how to make bilums – their bags. There were lots of cute kids all around, and we had a wonderful time with everyone. It was a great cultural experience!
