DESC-JUICE1:This juice is squeezed from the Toke'aina fruit (or Yellowfruit). It can be recognized by the bright yellow color of the juice, and the fact that it is always served over shaved ice.

DESC-JUICE2:This juice is extracted from the fruit of Lailai bush. It can be drunk alone, or added to various other drinks to sweeten them.

DESC-JUICE3:Maleka juice is the most commonly drunk breakfast juice on Taal'en. It comes from a native gourd called the Opa'maleka. Most native families grow a few of these vines near their homes.

DESC-JUICE4:Samila juice is squeezed from the fruit of the ocean vine called Sami. It is perfect for sipping in the evening. The saltwater base of the juice is prized by locals to replace salt lost through sweating.

DESC-DRINK1:A frosty pitcher of cool, clear, spring water.

DESC-DRINK2:A carafe of the local white wine (chilled).

DESC-DRINK3:A carafe of local red wine (air temperature).

DESC-DRINK4:A pot of very rich and dark coffee. It is served one mouthful at a time in a tiny clay cup. It is traditional to offer a pot to a visitor as a sign of hospitality.

DESC-DRINK5:This is a herbal brew made from the leaves of the Yanggona bush. They are dried and stored in barrels coated with a resin from the bush which adds to the taste. Optional flavorings are served on the side.

DESC-FRUIT1:As its name implies, the Opa'maleka (Maleka), or Greenshell Fruit, is a pale green in color, both the thin and hard gourd skin and the fleshy fruit itself. In the center of the fruit are four star-shaped seeds. Children make wishes before planting these seeds.

DESC-FRUIT2:A long, thin wedge of a green-fleshed melon with a hard skin is served on a bed of shaved ice. The name of the melon variety originates from the melons being shaped like the Taal'en 'Fautasi', or native longboats.

DESC-FRUIT3:A delicate pale lavender slice of Criwes melon with crisp, cool flesh is served on a bed of shaved ice.

DESC-FRUIT4:The golden Tlalik fruit is a ritual gift between native lovers on Taal'en. The juice is squeezed and fermented to make the slightly alcoholic Tlalik cider, but Tlalik is also popular served as a whole fruit. There are several local superstitions about the total number of tiny white seeds found in an individual fruit (which range from four to twenty), as well as whether the count is odd or even.

DESC-JUICE5:This is a golden brown liquid, just lightly fermented. It contains a trace of alcohol, which gives the juice a slight bite. In combination with the natural sweetness of the juice it makes a refreshing drink.

DESC-VEGETABLE1:Kraken root is harvested from deep within the rainforest. A few times a year, extended families gather together to walk the paths and find clusters of the roots. It's a rich natural source of calcium, potassium, and other vitamins.

DESC-VEGETABLE2:The crisp green leaves of the Malile are rolled and tucked into little wands. The dish of leaves comes with a small bowl of coarse-ground sugarcane and another of red wine vinegar on the side.

DESC-VEGETABLE3:This order is a bowl of lightly steamed Oparu sprouts. These small, bulbous, green vegetables are harvested from the stem of the 8 foot tall Oparu plant. Each plant produces one crop of sprouts in its' lifetime, so, care must be taken not to overharvest.

DESC-VEGETABLE4:The blue-green Mapale fruit has been allowed to over-ripen. It is then harvested and beaten into a pulp. The pulp is stored in large, well-drained pits in the ground, in leaf-wrapped bundles. The paste ferments and remains edible and nutritious for years.

DESC-MEAT1:A large roasted, green-yolked Timmin egg is served with seasonings on the side. A Timmin is a large, flightless local avian. Their eggs are prized for the mildly musky flavor.

DESC-MEAT2:A small Blueback Lizard stuffed with fermented sour Mapale paste, coated in salt, and slow roasted in a firepit until very tender.

DESC-MEAT3:A whole Serpentine Lizard is stuffed with a combination of chopped Timmin eggs, Oparu sprouts, and Toke'aina fruit. It is then wrapped in the giant leaves of the Fortress tree and roasted for 2 days in a firepit. Slices of this tender and succulent meat are served with a dollop of Mapale paste and some of the stuffing.

DESC-MEAT4:The fresh catch of the day, a whole grilled fish, comes served with sliced raw Kraken root.

DESC-COMBO1:This is an omelet made with one, large Timmin egg and bits of local vegetables. It is filled with bits of the roasted Serpentine Lizard, Oparu sprouts, and shredded Malile leaves.

DESC-COMBO2:Malile leaves are stuffed with a mixture of Blueback lizard meat and chopped fresh Mapale and Maleka fruits. The little bundles are then steamed.

DESC-COMBO3:A hearty fish stew, this dish is started with fermented Mapale paste thinned with water. In this liquid are cooked a combination of whatever fresh fish is available. It may contain one or all of the following: Purple-Zag Bayan, Taal'en Rainbow Fish, double-gilled Mooleo, Empwa, or Rockfish.
DESC-COMBO4:Selolo is a traditional Taal'en dish made from narrow, thin slices of Mapale fruit, Samila fruit, Oparu sprouts mixed together with plenty of pepper and baked for hours.

DESC-SWEET1:This is the favorite sweet of Taal'en. Fermented licorice-flavored Mapale paste is allowed to firm and then is rolled in coarse-ground sugarcane and tiny dried pieces of Lailai fruit.

DESC-PUAROH1:Puah'roh ('flowered fish') is a speciality of Taal'en, and tourists travel from galaxies away to sample the unique piscean flavors of pickled fish bundled with seaweed and then pasted into decorative shapes. This Pua'roh is made of thinly sliced Dorrfa meat, six slices interspersed with blood-red ribbons of aqquado kelp. Starchy ground kelpa root helps bind the shape together, and forms the third staple ingredient of a proper Pua'roh.

DESC-PUAROH2:Puah'roh ('flowered fish') is a speciality of Taal'en, and tourists travel from galaxies away to sample the unique piscean flavors of pickled fish bundled with seaweed and then pasted into decorative shapes. This Pua'roh is made of one thickly sliced piece of meat from the Purple Zag Bayan wrapped with a thin layer of local purple kelp. Starchy ground kelpa root helps bind the shape together, and forms the third staple ingredient of a proper Pua'roh.

DESC-PUAROH3:Puah'roh ('flowered fish') is a speciality of Taal'en, and tourists travel from galaxies away to sample the unique piscean flavors of pickled fish bundled with seaweed and then pasted into decorative shapes. This Pua'roh bears the name of the fish it comes from. This is one of top delicacies of Pua'roh preparation. Unlike its counterparts it comes in a flat piece, one inch long and half an inch across. Starchy ground kelpa root helps bind the slice to its shell plate, and forms the third staple ingredient of a proper Pua'roh.

DESC-PUAROH4:Puah'roh ('flowered fish') is a speciality of Taal'en, and tourists travel from galaxies away to sample the unique piscean flavors of pickled fish bundled with seaweed and then pasted into decorative shapes. This Pua'roh is unique in look, as it is a conical tube formed of the local purple kelp, about two inches long, tight at the base, but an inch and a half in diameter at the top. Two sexipod tenacles extrude from the tube. A very small amount of spicy-hot starchy ground kelpa root holds the wrapping closed, and forms the third staple ingredient of a proper Pua'roh.

DESC-PUAROH5:Puah'roh ('flowered fish') is a speciality of Taal'en, and tourists travel from galaxies away to sample the unique piscean flavors of pickled fish bundled with seaweed and then pasted into decorative shapes. Four gills from a double gilled mooleo are ruffled like open carnations on beds of purple kelp to form each blossom. The gills are such a delicacy that only the smallest dab of the spicy-hot starchy yellow substance that comes from grinding the kelpa root is frosted across the meat to form the third staple ingredient of a proper Pua'roh.