Puakas
Pigs in Tonga
There is quite the abundance of roaming animals in the Kingdom of Tonga. One such animal is the puaka, or pig. They come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s really funny how skiddish they are! You can’t get closer than about three feet before the little oinkers dart away! Who knew that pigs were such scaredy cats??? I especially love it when the Mama Pig leads her little munchkins across the street, as seen above. It’s like follow the leader!
I visited a friend’s home once and he insisted on introducing me to his many pigs. The largest one was fondly called Pig Dog, because a puppy thought the pig was its mother [adorbs, right??]. I had a good laugh when he told me that another pig was named Ma, which means bread in Tongan. I was later embarassed when I heard my neighbors calling their own pigs Ma as well; turns out Ma is just an affectionate term most people use to call their pigs when it is feeding time! Silly Katie ;)
This is Charlie, a Neiafu mascot who was raised by a local couple, and probably the largest pig that has ever lived. He enjoys noshing on entire tubs of ice cream [who doesn’t though, am I right?!] We would call him feti aupito, very fat!
Puaka tunu [roast suckling pig] is a common main dish for any special event in Tonga. It is also one of my favorite Tongan dishes! They typically cook the smaller pigs, because they are hand-rotated over a fire and a large pig, such as Charlie, just wouldn’t rotate very well…
**The following photo may be slightly disturbing if you are a vegetarian so please, refrain from scrolling down!**
The dashing older gentleman on the left in the photo above is Taua, my language tutor from our Pre-Service Training. He and his family are shown preparing for a large feast, celebrating the 1st birthday of his only granddaughter. The most commonly celebrated birthdays in Tonga are the 1st and 21st, don’t ask me why…Looks as if it was a big celebration though, because that is a lot of puaka tunu! Yum!
