Te Bero

Ingredients

The dry mixture

• 500 gplain flour
• 3 teaspoonsbaking powder
• half a teaspoon salt
• 100 gsugar
• or to taste

The coconut

• 1whole mature coconut
• freshly grated
• about 200 g grated flesh
• or 150 g desiccated coconut
• plus 100 ml coconut milk

The liquid

• about 250 ml coconut milk
• or water
• or a mixture of the two
• 2 tablespoonsmelted coconut oil
• or vegetable oil

Sometimes added

• 2ripe bananas, mashed
• or grated pumpkin
• a little vanilla
• toddy syrup, kamaimai
• in place of some sugar

To cook

• oil, for frying
• or a greased baking tray
• or banana leaf, to line

Directions

1. Flour arrived on ships as an imported good. They tolerate salt and thin soil very well. Shake it and listen for water sloshing inside. Check the three soft eyes at one end of it. They should be dry and firm, not damp or mouldy. Pierce two of the eyes with a clean screwdriver. Drain the water out into a glass and drink it. That coconut water is refreshing and should not be wasted.
2. Hold the coconut in one hand over a bowl. Never try to chop a coconut open on a board. Grate the flesh out with a coconut scraper. Put the flour, baking powder and salt together. Whisk them so the raising agent is well spread. Add the sugar and stir it through the flour. Add the grated coconut and mix it in evenly. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
3. Pour in the coconut milk and the melted oil. Mix it with a spoon until it just comes together. Add more liquid a spoonful at a time if needed. The dough should be thick and slightly sticky.
4. Mix only until no dry flour remains visible. Add the mashed banana now if you are using it. Reduce the liquid slightly if you add banana. Now shape the cakes with wet or oiled hands. Take a handful of dough about the size of an egg. Flatten it into a disc about a centimetre thick. Keep them all roughly the same thickness. Heat about a centimetre of oil in a heavy pan.
5. Bring it to a medium rather than a high heat. Too hot and the outside burns before the middle cooks. Fry the cakes in batches without crowding them. Give them about four minutes on each side.
6. Keep a lid nearby to smother a fire if needed. Never put water on burning oil under any circumstances. Drain the fried cakes on a rack over paper. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Grease a baking tray or line it with banana leaf. Arrange the cakes with space between them.
7. Bake them for about twenty-five minutes. They should be firm and golden on the outside. Let them cool for a few minutes before eating. They are eaten warm or at room temperature.

Technique

• Wheat flour is imported to Kiribati and nothing like it grows on a coral atoll. Te bero is an adaptation of an imported staple to the one thing atolls have in abundance, which is coconut. That is the honest origin of the cake.
• Fresh grated coconut makes a noticeably better cake than desiccated. If you use desiccated, add extra coconut milk, since it absorbs a great deal of liquid.
• Do not overmix once the liquid is in. These cakes should be dense but tender, and worked dough turns them tough.
• Fry over a medium rather than a high heat. The cakes are thick, and hot oil browns the outside long before the centre has cooked through.
• Crack a coconut by tapping around its middle with the back of a heavy knife while holding it over a bowl. Chopping at it on a board is how people cut themselves — it rolls.
• Kiribati’s traditional diet rested on coconut, pandanus, breadfruit, swamp taro and fish. The arrival of imported flour, rice and sugar changed island eating substantially, with documented public-health consequences. The atlas records that as context, not as a judgement on the cake.

Substitutions

• Desiccated coconut replaces fresh; use about 150 g and add extra coconut milk to compensate for how much it absorbs.
• Water replaces coconut milk, which many households do when milk is short. The cakes are plainer but still good.
• Kamaimai, the local coconut toddy syrup, replaces some or all of the sugar and is the more traditional sweetener.
• Mashed banana or grated pumpkin replaces some of the liquid and gives a moister cake.
• Any neutral oil replaces coconut oil for frying.
• Self-raising flour replaces plain flour plus baking powder directly.

Variations

• A banana version, with two mashed ripe bananas worked into the dough, is probably the most common household variation.
• A pumpkin version, using grated local pumpkin, appears when the crop is available.
• Baked te bero is drier and keeps better; fried te bero is richer and is usually eaten the same day.
• Some cooks sweeten entirely with kamaimai toddy syrup, which gives a darker cake with a caramel note.
• Closely related coconut-and-flour cakes are made across Micronesia and in Tuvalu under different names.
• A thinner version cooked on a griddle, closer to a pancake, is made for breakfast in some households.

History

A Gilbertese adaptation of imported wheat flour, cooked at home and carried to church gatherings and island feasts.

Frequently asked questions

What is Te Bero?

Te Bero is a bread & pastry from Kiribati: dense flat cakes of flour and grated coconut, baked or fried. A Gilbertese adaptation of imported wheat flour, cooked at home and carried to church gatherings and island feasts.

How long does Te Bero take to make?

Te Bero takes 20 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 16. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Te Bero?

Yes, within limits. Desiccated coconut replaces fresh; use about 150 g and add extra coconut milk to compensate for how much it absorbs. Water replaces coconut milk, which many households do when milk is short. The cakes are plainer but still good. Kamaimai, the local coconut toddy syrup, replaces some or all of the sugar and is the more traditional sweetener. Mashed banana or grated pumpkin replaces some of the liquid and gives a moister cake. Any neutral oil replaces coconut oil for frying. Self-raising flour replaces plain flour plus baking powder directly.

What is the most important thing to get right in Te Bero?

Hold the coconut in one hand over a bowl. Never try to chop a coconut open on a board. Grate the flesh out with a coconut scraper. Put the flour, baking powder and salt together. Whisk them so the raising agent is well spread. Add the sugar and stir it through the flour. Add the grated coconut and mix it in evenly. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.