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What do people eat in Solomon Islands?

Diet

Much of the food is grown in family gardens or wild food from the forest. Staples include cassava, sweet potato, taro, and yam. Leafy greens include pumpkin and taro leaves, watercress, ferns, and slippery cabbage. Fish, pork, wild nuts, and eggs provide the protein in the diet. Pigs and chickens are bred for special occasions, and wild pigs are hunted. Coconut water can be drunk before it is ripened. Fruit is abundant and includes bananas, papaya, mangoes, breadfruit, pineapples, bush limes, lemons, and guava. Women cook food over open fires or in stone/earth ovens.

Mealtime

Village breakfast may consist of the leftovers from last night's meal. Tea, coffee, and Milo are used more by urban residents. At midday, rural Islanders working in the gardens eat freshly cooked food over the fire or cooked food from home. The main meal, generally after sunset, will probably include a staple like cassava, sweet potato, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Families tend to sit together on the floor of an open-air kitchen or veranda. Traditionally, grace is said before eating. Food is covered with towels or leaves before it is served. One may eat with fingers or use utensils. The mother and elder girls serve the meal, giving the first serve to the men. Guests will eat with the father, while women and children eat elsewhere. It is the etiquette for speeches to be made by the host and reciprocated by the visitor.

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