Celebrate Thanksgiving – Tongariki Style

This is my first holiday in Vanuatu and although I missed mom’s turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy – I was still surrounded by loving families here on Tongariki.

My Thanksgiving meal was flying fox (fruit bat) with yam lap lap. The meat was a bit gamey for my tastes but I at least tried it.

My 15 year old brother, Mackin, killed this flying fox with his sling shot

***Side Note: You may think – “what is lap lap?” Well, its grated yam (or they use maniac/taro/banana) mixed with coconut milk to a pudding consistency and then wrapped in banana tree leaves and cooked over hot stones. ***

all mamas gather to grate the banana and make lap lap

scratch coconuts and squeeze out the juice and mix with lap lap

wrap the lap lap in big banana leaves

hot stones to put the lap lap ontop