 Laplap | |
| Place of origin | Vanuatu |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | breadfruit, taro, yam, coconut cream, pork, beef, chicken or flying fox |
Laplap (sometimes wrongly spelled lap lap) is the national dish of Vanuatu.[1] Laplap is prepared by grating breadfruit, bananas, taro or yam roots into a vegetable paste.[2] The paste is then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an underground stone oven, with fresh coconut cream. Meats like pork, beef, chicken or flying fox can be added.[3]
The word laplap comes from Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu. It finds its origin in some of the Oceanic languages of the country: e.g. Dorig lablab [laᵐblaᵐb], Nume labalam [laᵐbalam], both reflecting a Proto-Torres-Banks form *laᵐbalaᵐba.
The majority of indigenous languages of Vanuatu, however, name the dish using other roots. For example, Mota loko [loko] and Raga loḡo [loˈᵑɡo] reflect a Proto-North-Central Vanuatu etymon *loᵑgo;[4] Hiw tegōv [təˈɣoβ], Lemerig 'ëgëv [ʔœˈɣœβ] and Mwotlap na-tgop [natˈɣɔp] reflect Proto-Torres-Banks *taɣoβe;,[5] while Tamambo has wewe [weˈwe].