1 lb luau (taro leaves), or fresh
1 1/4 lb cut in 6 pieces
3/4 lb salmon or butter fish, cut i
1 tbsp rock salt
12 ti leaves or aluminum foil
1 cup water
Directions
Recipe by: arielle@bonkers.taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) Wash the
taro leaves thoroughly. Remove stem and fibrous part of veins by
pulling gently with the tip of a knife from the stem out to the edge
of the leaves. Place pork in bowl. Add salt. Work together. Arrange
5 leaves, the largest on the bottom. Place pork with fat side up.
Place fish on top of pork. Fold leaves over pork and fish to form a
bundle (puolo). Prepare each ti leaf by cutting partially through the
stiff rib and stripping it off. Place lau lau on the end of a ti leaf
and wrap tightly. Wrap another ti leaf around in the opposite
direction, thereby forming a flat package. Tie with string, or
fibrous part of ti leaves. Place in a steamer. As soon as water is
boiling, turn heat to low. Steam lau laus 5 to 6 hours. Remove
string before serving.
Servings: 1 servings
Lau Laus Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert; Fish; Pie; Seafood
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to prove the history of written cooking instructions far back into ancient history, at least as far back as early Egypt, and maybe further still. Having said that, generally, these old records were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe found, according to food historians is a series of clay tablets in the Sumerian language which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel `blissful`. Later on, there were two recipe books which appeared in the 14th Century : a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these books are nothing to do with the curry that appears on menues today, but rather accounts of the types of food prepared by the chefs of the rich and powerful of that period. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and herbs from the Middle-East, including parsley, basil and rosemary. These new foods and spices created a surge in manuscripts on food, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. For the centuries that followed, the rich and powerful families of the West competed to serve up the most extravagent meals, and as a result the best cooks and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. Even so, it wasn`t until the 19th century that haute cuisine and recipe publications rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted their lives to collecting, testing, and publishing the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. By the advent of the twentieth century, recipe books were in high demand, mostly as a result of better eduction, people having increased spare time and having more disposable income. The introduction of the TV brought us cooking programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lau Laus recipe.
