Laplap should not be confused with Lap-lap.
| Laplap | |
| Country: | Vanuatu |
| Main Ingredient: | breadfruit, taro, yam, coconut cream, pork, beef, chicken or flying fox |
Laplap (sometimes wrongly spelled lap lap) is the national dish of Vanuatu.[1] Laplap is prepared by grating breadfruit, bananas, taro or yam roots into a vegetable paste.[2] The paste is then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an underground stone oven, with fresh coconut cream. Meats like pork, beef, chicken or flying fox can be added.[3]
The word laplap comes from Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu. It finds its origin in some of the Oceanic languages of the country: e.g. Dorig lablab pronounced as /laᵐblaᵐb/, Nume labalam pronounced as /laᵐbalam/, both reflecting a Proto-Torres-Banks form *laᵐbalaᵐba.
The majority of indigenous languages of Vanuatu, however, name the dish using other roots. For example, Mota loko pronounced as /loko/ and Raga loḡo pronounced as /loᵑɡo/ reflect a Proto-North-Central Vanuatu etymon *loᵑgo;[4] Hiw tegōv pronounced as /təɣoβ/, Lemerig ëgëv pronounced as /ʔœɣœβ/ and Mwotlap na-tgop pronounced as /natɣɔp/ reflect Proto-Torres-Banks *taɣoβe;[5] Araki has ureeje pronounced as /uɾeet͡ʃe/,[6] Tamambo has wewe pronounced as /wewe/, etc.