Breadfruit or banana fermented in a pit, its sour paste baked with coconut cream. Tongan chiefly households kept ma pits as famine insurance, some maintained across generations and opened after hurricanes.
It is an anaerobic pit ferment held for months or years under earth and stone; a bucket version has neither the acidity nor the exclusion of air that make the traditional pit work.
What goes into it
- breadfruit or banana
- leaves to line the pit
- stones and earth to seal it
How it is made
A pit is dug and lined with leaves, peeled breadfruit packed in, covered with more leaves, weighted with stones and sealed under earth. Cut off from air, lactic bacteria acidify the mass over months into a dense sour paste that keeps for years, and it is dug out and baked when it is needed.
How long it takes: months at minimum; the chiefly pits ran for generations
How it is eaten
Kneaded with coconut cream, wrapped in leaves and baked into a dense sour loaf.
History
Tongan chiefly households kept ma pits as famine insurance, some maintained across generations and opened after hurricanes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ma?
Ma is a fermented & pickled from Tonga: breadfruit or banana fermented in a pit; sour paste baked with coconut cream. Tongan chiefly households kept ma pits as famine insurance, some maintained across generations and opened after hurricanes.
How is Ma made?
A pit is dug and lined with leaves, peeled breadfruit packed in, covered with more leaves, weighted with stones and sealed under earth. Cut off from air, lactic bacteria acidify the mass over months into a dense sour paste that keeps for years, and it is dug out and baked when it is needed. It takes months at minimum; the chiefly pits ran for generations.
Can I make Ma at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is an anaerobic pit ferment held for months or years under earth and stone; a bucket version has neither the acidity nor the exclusion of air that make the traditional pit work.
What goes into Ma?
Breadfruit or banana, leaves to line the pit, stones and earth to seal it.
How is Ma eaten?
Kneaded with coconut cream, wrapped in leaves and baked into a dense sour loaf.
