Breadfruit or cassava buried in leaf-lined pits for months until it turns sour — a cyclone-insurance food of the Fijian islands. Some pits are kept for years and inherited between generations, and a family’s oldest pit is a form of wealth.
It is an anaerobic pit ferment held for months or years, with no domestic equivalent; a shortened bucket version has none of the acidity or the seal that make the traditional pit work.
What goes into it
- breadfruit or cassava
- banana or heliconia leaves to line the pit
- stones and earth to seal it
How it is made
A pit is dug and lined thickly with leaves. Peeled breadfruit is packed in, covered with more leaves, weighted with stones and sealed with earth. Cut off from air, lactic bacteria acidify the mass over weeks and months into a sour, dense paste that keeps for years, and it is dug out as needed and baked.
How long it takes: months at minimum; pits kept for years or decades
How it is eaten
Dug out, mixed with coconut cream and baked into dense cakes.
History
A cyclone-insurance food of the Fijian islands; some pits are kept for years and inherited between generations.
Frequently asked questions
What is Madrai?
Madrai is a fermented & pickled from Fiji: breadfruit or cassava buried in leaf-lined pits for months until sour. A cyclone-insurance food of the Fijian islands; some pits are kept for years and inherited between generations.
How is Madrai made?
A pit is dug and lined thickly with leaves. Peeled breadfruit is packed in, covered with more leaves, weighted with stones and sealed with earth. Cut off from air, lactic bacteria acidify the mass over weeks and months into a sour, dense paste that keeps for years, and it is dug out as needed and baked. It takes months at minimum; pits kept for years or decades.
Can I make Madrai at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is an anaerobic pit ferment held for months or years, with no domestic equivalent; a shortened bucket version has none of the acidity or the seal that make the traditional pit work.
What goes into Madrai?
Breadfruit or cassava, banana or heliconia leaves to line the pit, stones and earth to seal it.
How is Madrai eaten?
Dug out, mixed with coconut cream and baked into dense cakes.
