bougna
Next Dish: Arroz con Gandules
Bougna is a traditional dish from New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific. It is a stew that typically contains chicken, lobster or fish, layered with various root vegetables like yams, sweet potatoes, and bananas, all wrapped in banana leaves. The ingredients are then cooked together in an earth oven heated by hot stones. The dish is often served during special occasions and community gatherings.
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken or 1 kg of pork
1 kg of sweet potatoes
1 kg of yams
1 kg of taro
4 bananas
2 coconuts
Salt to taste
Instructions:
First, clean and cut the meat into pieces, then season it with salt.
Peel the sweet potatoes, yams, taro, and bananas. Cut them into large pieces.
Open the coconuts, collect the water and grate the flesh. Mix the coconut flesh and water together and squeeze the mixture to obtain coconut milk.
Place a layer of banana leaves at the bottom of a large pot. Add a layer of meat and then a layer of vegetables. Repeat these layers until all the ingredients are used.
Pour the coconut milk over the layers in the pot.
Cover the pot with more banana leaves and then with a lid.
Cook over low heat for about 2 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Serve the Bougna hot, in the pot, accompanied by a salad.