Ti

ti Cordyline fruticosa, is a plant found in tropical Asia and Oceania. It is called auti in Tahiti and ki in Hawaii. The young shiny green leaves are eaten as a pot-herb. The Polynesians especially prize the plant for the large fibrous root which is high in sugar and when baked has a flavour a bit like molasses candy. Jennifer Brennan (2000) describes the baking:

The Polynesian baked the ti tubers in large, communal earth ovens; similar to those used for cooking foods for feasts. However, these particular ovens were dedicated solely to the preparation of mass quantities of the tubers for community occasions and were generally dug in the bush areas outside the villages. As the preparation and cooking took two days and involved a number of people these ‘bakes’ were very social affairs.

The ti pits were circular in Samoa, with a raised earthen rim or berm. In Tahiti, the openings were rectangular. Similar ovens were constructed by the Maori in New Zealand but, although they were called umu ti, the plant baked was a different species, the New Zealand cabbage tree, Cordyline australis. The results were similar because the Down Under species has an equally high concentration of fructose.