Vanuatu simboro

SDDated text Family H · Leaf-wrapped grain parcels (separate inventions)

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Region: Pacific Islands
Recorded by: 1999
Fold: Leaf parcel or pillow
Cooked: Steamed in leaves with coconut milk

Dough: Wheat or starch doughLeaf-wrapped grated starch
Made with: Grated banana, manioc, yam or taro (or flour)
Cooked: Steamed in leaves with coconut milk
Size: About 6 cm across
Note: A borderline case: it stretches the definition of a dumpling.

Not known yet We don’t yet have a photo we can use, a written story, a recipe or a precise place of origin for Vanuatu simboro. What we do have is below, with its sources.

Where

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From Vanuatu.

Evidence

Fairly sure. A dated text records it by 1999.

We list 3 sources: 2 primary or archaeological, 1 secondary. How grading works.

First record Named, without a description, among the 'plats traditionnels' cooked by islanders in Vanuatu's towns: 'simboro, nakira, tuluks, etc.' (Walter, Greindl, Tzerikiantz & Allen, JATBA 41(1), 1999, p. 55; A, article opened on Persée; first found, name only)

Its family Recorded from 100 CE, with Tamal.

Sources

A
Transformation de la sphère alimentaire au Vanuatu : des moyens nouveaux pour des objectifs identiques, JATBA, Revue d'ethnobiologie 41(1), 1999, pp. 33-59 (p. 55)
Archaeological or primary source · Annie Walter, Delphine Greindl, Fabienne Tzerikiantz, Mathew Allen; Persée (page text read) · 1999
On town cooking in Vanuatu: 'Dans ce lieu hétérogène, chaque insulaire manifeste son identité par des recettes particulières. On y trouve ainsi une variété très importante de plats traditionnels : simboro, nakira,…
On town cooking in Vanuatu: 'Dans ce lieu hétérogène, chaque insulaire manifeste son identité par des recettes particulières. On y trouve ainsi une variété très importante de plats traditionnels : simboro, nakira, tuluks, etc.' The footnotes describe nakira/nalot and lap-lap but give no description of simboro.
A
Internet Archive OCR texts: melanesians01unkngoog; twoyearswithnati00spei; in.ernet.dli.2015.207046; in.ernet.dli.2015.57117
Archaeological or primary source · R. H. Codrington; F. Speiser; R. Fletcher; J. Layard · 1891-1942 (negative)
Negative checks (OCR full text searched for simboro / sinboro): Codrington, The Melanesians (1891); Speiser, Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific (1913); Asterisk [R. Fletcher], Isles of Illusion (1923);…
Negative checks (OCR full text searched for simboro / sinboro): Codrington, The Melanesians (1891); Speiser, Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific (1913); Asterisk [R. Fletcher], Isles of Illusion (1923); Layard, Stone Men of Malekula (1942). None has the word. Layard describes only the leaf-wrapped yam pudding cooked in the earth oven (Vao 'na-longk'), i.e. laplap-type food, not a rolled dumpling simmered in coconut milk.
S
Vanuatuan cuisine (en.wikipedia) and recipe pages returned by search
Secondary consensus · Wikipedia
Simboro is described as grated banana, manioc, yam or taro (or flour) rolled in island-cabbage leaves and simmered in coconut milk; called a shorter version of laplap. No date or historical source is given.

Family H

Kin

More leaf-wrapped grain parcels (separate inventions)