Dried pandanus paste (mokwan, jaibun)
Pasta de pandano seca (mokwan, jaibun)
- Date
- 1817 (tradición anterior) · confidence low
- Place
- Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands
- Credited to
- Seafarers and farmers of the atolls of Micronesia
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The fibrous pulp of pandanus (Pandanus tectorius) was cooked, pressed into sheets and dried in rolls that kept for months. It was a portable food rich in energy and carotenoids, the basis of Marshallese navigators' provisions.
The written sources date from the early 19th century (the Russian Rurik expedition, 1816-1817); the practice is much older but cannot be dated. The year given is that of the first European descriptions.
What it led to
- long-range provisions for Pacific voyages
- a reserve food on atolls with few agricultural resources
- pandanus varieties with a high carotenoid content
Built on
- Smoking and drying of food