A lovo is an
underground barbecue in which an entire feast is cooked over hot
rocks while buried in earth.
Watching the preparation of a lovo is almost as much fun as the
eating which eventually follows.
The first step in preparing a lovo is heating the rocks which will
serve as the base for the lovo.
Specially selected stones are placed in a hot fire and left to
absorb the heat. When the rocks are sufficiently heated, they are
pulled from the flames and placed in the bottom of a shallow pit.
Next, chicken, fish and sometimes pork are tightly wrapped in a
weave of palm fronds or banana leaves before being place in the
bottom of the lovo pit lined with hot rocks.
On top goes various root crops including dalo (the potatolike root
of the taro plant), cassava (the root of the tapioca plant) and
Uvi (wild yam).
Once the steaming pit is filled with food, the entire hole is
filled with earth and left to 'cook' for anywhere from two to
three hours depending on the amount of food.
Unearthing the lava is done with great celebration and the foods
which emerge are unwrapped and placed on large banana leaves to
cool before the meal begins.
