Generously sharing a wealth of knowledge about
island lore and history, Mme. Fournier also enumerated the accompanying side dishes that complete such a
meal, and they are really starch - heavy: taro, manioc (often as a pan-baked sweet cake), several types of
banana which are customarily wrapped in leafy bundles like some sort of tropical tamale, the islander's omnipresent staple — breadfruit, potato, umara (sweet potato), plus an
island chestnut which, along with the manioc, breadfruit and some of the
bananas, can be prepared by grating and mixing with sugar, milk and coconut milk into both cakes and puddings.