Pandanus Fruit Paste

1. 1Made solely from ripe pandanus (screwpine) fruit pulp
2. 2The fibrous drupe keys are cooked then pulp is extracted and pounded
3. 3Reduced and dried into a dense, naturally sweet paste
4. 4A preserved staple for the nutrient-poor atoll environment
5. 5No added sweetener — sweetness is intrinsic to the fruit

cooking and pulp extraction

softens the fibrous fruit so the edible pulp can be separated from the woody keys

pounding and sun-drying

concentrates the pulp into a dense paste that keeps for months on resource-scarce atolls

Served

blocks or rolls of stiff paste, sliced or pulled off

Temperature

ambient

Portion

snack / staple ration

Pairs with

grated coconut · drinking coconut

• fresh pandanus fruit → no substituteinadmissible

  the dish is defined entirely by pandanus drupe pulp; nothing else yields it

• sun-drying → low-heat dryingadmissible

  alternate drying methods can preserve the paste similarly

• Assuming added sugar — the sweetness is from the fruit itself
• Confusing pandanus leaf (a flavouring) with the pandanus fruit (the food)
• Under-drying, which spoils the keeping quality that is its whole purpose

An ancient preserved-staple food of the central and northern Pacific atolls where pandanus is a primary food tree; the technique is shared across Kiribati, Nauru and the Marshall Islands.

Shared by: Nauru, Kiribati, Marshall Islands

1. 1.Pacific atoll food tradition
2. 2.Micronesian preserved-food practice

Confidence: medium