Food in my Culture

Food in my Culture

My family and I celebrate birthdays by eating our favorite traditional foods and playing a game of touch as a family. Our favorite traditional foods are called Lu sipi, and Otai.

On our birthdays, we get food and cake because we are celebrating our birthdays and our age. Food is good to eat, because you grow muscles only if you eat healthy food like fruit and vegetables. You could die by eating lots, of lollies and stuff because they are sugary, and you can die. And that’s why my family always eat our traditional food because it’s healthy and important for us Tongan people.

The biggest birthday celebration in my  family, is my grand parents birthday.  On my grandparent's birthday, people bring their own party favors and supplies, such as cake, food items, table coverings, balloons, decorations, and presents.

When we celebrate a birthday the first thing we do, as a family is pray and after that we eat our traditional food. When we finish eating, we play a game as a family and it is fun. The game we always play is touch, that is our favorite game to play as a family.

Lu sipi is our traditional food and its made out of this Tongan traditional plant called Lu.  Sipi means meat in English. Traditionally Tongan people make Lu sipi on someone’s birthday because Lu sipi is our traditional Tongan food, and it very important, for us Tongan people.

Otai is like juice. It is a blend of water, coconut milk, and any fruit such as coconut, watermelon, mango, and pineapple but it is almost always watermelon as it is plentiful in Tonga.

This is how we celebrate birthdays in my family by eating cakes, lollies, and our favorite traditional food. Our traditional food are called Lu sipi, and Otai. After the feast we then play a game of touch as a family.