Meals and Food

Meals

31 May 2019
David Higginbotham

FIrst Meal

On all the Oktipsenjayan island known as Haanisenja [haa-ni-sén-ja], breakfast - or fatakal [fa-ta-kál] - is considered the most important meal of the day.  It is typically eaten between six and seven in the morning.

The main dish is called ‘kivi’ [kí-vi].  It consists of a cold-smoked served atop a typical, locally produced flatbread called ‘aana’ [áá-na].  It is also served with a mixture of fresh, locally grown fruits and ‘tamaka’ [ta-má-ka], a starchy vegetable similar to a potato and served, in the morning at least, like home fries.  Beverages that also served with takal include:

1. Timal [ti-mál] - a beverage prepared by boiling leaves from a local plant known as ‘timamichiporu’ [ti-ka-mi-chi-pó-ru] (‘young tea leaves’) into a dark-brown elixir often served with a local honey called “umu” and the milk of either cows (“vacafara” [va-ka-fá-ra]) or goat’s milk (“michofara” [mi-cho-fá-ra])
2. Káfi [káá-fi] - a drink made from grinding roasted beans from a specific trea, then made into a suspension by boiling the ground beans.  Served with honey, but no milk.
3. Timare [ti-má-re] - a blended fruit juice made from mango, strawberries, and other local fruits.  

Matakal is a community affair.  Often times, families, friends, and guests assemble at one person’s house to share a meal together, each person is responsible for bringing something - whether it be some dish or the plates, cups, and utensils being used.  Rather than opening the meal with prayer, each person at the table (regardless of age or social standing) is expected to share something good that happened to them the previous day. Once everyone has spoken, people serve themselves from the family-style set-up.  At the end of the meal, there is a blessing, thanking the power that be for the nourishment that they have received. The prayer is almost always performed in Oktipsenjayan, the local tongue.

Late-morning meal (light)

Midway through the day, Oktipsenjayan people indulge in a very light meal called ‘tatakal’.  It typical consists of light sandwiches and/or salads. An iced version of ‘timal’, generally what is left over from the morning meal, as the people of the island rarely waste food and premade beverage.  Like during the ‘fatakál’, the meal is a community one, but whereas the earlier one is with family and close friends, people general indulge the meal with close friends and colleagues. The community of meals is generally continued through this one as well.

Early afternoon meal and siesta (light)

On Haansisenja, there is a common feature of the third meal.  It is generally consumed alone. It consisted of a fish soup, a type of hard, crusty bread called marywarren, and a type of locally produced beer whose name translates as ‘funwater’.  

If a person is responsible for a guest, they generally eat with them during this time before continuing out with the mid-afternoon activities, such as seeing the island’s natural and manmade sites or shopping.

Late meal (served after dark) (lighter than fatikal)

At the end of the day, shortly before bedtime, a final meal is generally served.  This is a light meal consisting of soup (usually a fish soup called kivichal [kí-vi-chal]).  It is served with a more savory form of ‘aana’ called ‘aana-nut’, or “night aana”. Either water or a locally produced wine called “Haanisenjafiltsitsi” ([haa-ni-sen-ja-fíl-tsi-tsi]; Haanisenjan fun water).

Deserts

The western concept of desert does not exist in Haanisenjan cultural.  Sweet foods are often eaten as part of each meal, though.