Guam is the largest and most densely populated of the Mariana Islands, which are part of Micronesia – the perimeter of many islands in Oceania, the North Pacific. Nearby is the Mariana Trench – the deepest point on Earth. The official name of the country is Guåhan (Chamorro), and the official languages are two – English and Chamorro. Guam is a tropical island covered with jungle and volcanic hills. The capital is called Agana, and nearly 40% of the population lives in cities. The highest point reaches only 406 m above sea level. Temperatures throughout the year range between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius. Here is the famous kingdom of black corals – an underwater reef, which is a sheer rock descending to a depth of 100 meters. It is covered with black coral, whence its name. Near Guam is the only place where in the ocean at the bottom lie sunken ships from the First and Second World Wars. The area is often hit by destructive typhoons. Except for the last fact, I really like the rest. 🙂
Guam is popularly known as the “island without birds”. Although nature endows it with interesting and rich flora and fauna, human intervention leads to changes. In the 1940s, a warship or merchant ship brought several brown tree snakes from Papua New Guinea, which multiplied extremely rapidly and endangered the local ecosystem. Although not dangerous to humans, they almost completely destroyed the birds and lizards in this small area. Until then, there were no snakes at all, and now their density is one of the largest in the world. In 2013, the government decided to take drastic measures to reduce their numbers and released dead mice full of poison from the air with cardboard parachutes.
The local population is made up of the Chamoro people (hence the name of the official language, part of the Austronesian language family), from which about 40% of the inhabitants currently come. This ethnic group has Malay-Indonesian roots. The word chamoro itself comes from “chamori” or “chamoli”, which means “noble”. Chamoro is used mainly in households, and English is for business and education. Due to trade links in Japan, Japanese language can often be heard.
The big turnaround for the island comes after the US military bases are located here. The military units are scattered in different parts of the island. In addition to an air base, there is also a naval air station, a naval base with a shipyard, communication centers and a hospital. The population does not vote directly in the US election, but has the right to participate in the preliminary voting for candidates and to send their representatives to the congresses of political parties. The island itself is governed by a governor with 4-year mandate elected by the residents. There are about 5,000 US troops on the island’s bases.
I didn’t have much time to research Guam desserts, but I didn’t find much. So I decided to make you a classic chamoro dessert – “La-tee-ja”. Here are the necessary products:
3 eggs
90 grams of flour
90 grams of sugar
For the cream:
1 tea cup milk
1 tea cup water
2 tea cups coconut milk
100 grams of butter
1/2 tea cup sugar
1 tea cup coconut
vanilla
8 overflowing teaspoons of cornstarch
Steps of preparation:
First we make cake by beating the eggs and sugar in a water bath until the mixture becomes so thick that it does not fall from the mixers of the mixer.
Then remove from the heat and carefully add the flour and mix it gently until homogeneous.
In a pan lined with baking paper, pour and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for about 20 minutes.
This is the easiest and at the same time the most difficult to prepare cake base, but it serves as a wonderful base for a variety of cakes.
After roasting the cake base, let it cool and make a cream during this time.
Mix all ingredients without starch and water in a small saucepan and heat on the stove.
Dissolve the starch in the water and add the mixture to the other products. Cook until thickened.
After the cream cools slightly, pour it on the marsh and finally finish with cinnamon.
I am writing this post from a distant and wonderful place. At the moment it is 11 here at night, we were walking all day among rice fields and beautiful places, and only in an hour I will have a birthday. 🙂 I made the cake two days before I left. It’s nothing special. Personally, I would add more sweetness to the cream and maybe I would put coconut flakes instead of coconut shavings. If you are attracted to the recipe, try to make it. Excuse me for the shorter post, but I’m already happily tired. Next time I promise more, because I will be at home, full of wonderful emotions from the holiday and ready for new culinary feats. 🙂
Next destination – Greece.
