FOOD OF THE EARTH
The evolution of food has always had a direct and significant correlation to the advancement of humans. The way people consumed and cooked their food has been indicative of the changing times and evolving societies.
Crude stone tools were fashioned by prehistoric cavemen to hunt and kill their food, and the all-important discovery of fire would change the way people eat food. How the early humans discovered fire and created the first barbecue is a story only we can hypothesise, but one thing is for sure, the shift to a cooked diet was a pivotal point in human history.
From tools and fire, to the formation of civilisations and colonies, the story of food continued to be tied to the structures of people and society. Food started being classified according to hierarchy of its consumers; food for the chief, food for warriors, royal cuisine, and poor man’s food.
In the Pacific, this evolutionary tale of our sustenance evokes a common thread through subterranean food pits. Pacific Islanders were seafarers and journeyed across the oceans as communities. Once they put down roots on an island, they created their villages and communities around important food and water sources. They also brought with them on these long journeys, the knowledge of cooking food under the ground. While earth ovens were used by many civilisations, they are still commonly found and practised in the Pacific.
To this day, throughout the Pacific, different island nations have their own versions of the earth oven. In Fiji we call it lovo. In Rotuma it is a koua. Tongans and Samoans call their version umu, and the Maori of New Zealand call it a hangi.
At its most basic, this is a dug out pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food, normally using white hot stones, with food parcels of meat, fish, poultry, starchy root crops, vegetables, and even dessert placed over the stones and covered by leaves and earth. This is left for several hours before the perfectly cooked feast is exhumed.
The word lovo translates to feast cooked in the earth, and it is a feast!
Because of the time and labour required for a lovo, it is now usually reserved for communal celebrations like weddings, birthdays, and special family gatherings like Christmas and family reunions.
The meats are sometimes marinated and seasoned, and same as the fish and vegetables, are wrapped in banana and dalo/taro leaves, before being placed on top of the heated stones that are covered in dirt. It is then slow-cooked to give it a perfectly tender and flavourful finish. The steam and leaves and coconut husks gives it a delicious smoky flavour.
The lovo experience can now also be enjoyed by tourists at many resorts in Fiji who often have a dedicated lovo buffet night where you can try all the spoils of a delicious Fijian lovo. A few of our favourites are, lovo chicken with its smoky flavour cooked to tender perfection, fish steamed from the heat of the stones, and palusami – layered dalo/taro leaves drenched in fresh coconut milk with onions, tomatoes, corned beef and spices sometimes added.
Partaking in a lovo is more than just a great gastronomic experience, but an encounter with an ancient tradition that has survived millennia and journeys over continents and oceans and continues to exist in practise in the idyllic Pacific.