NOURISH | feature We pick up Josh at Sigatoka town and drive to their base. Following this great river which is still a main mode of local transport, we see the lush fields growing everything from taro to ginger, kava to salad greens. We made a quick stop to discover coffee growing wild! But more about that later. Once at Sigatoka River Safaris base we board a specially adapted four-wheel drive. It has something-or-other horsepower and a 1960-something Landrover engine. Forgive me for not recalling the exact details but as Captain Jack reels these off things have got a little bumpy. As we all hang on for dear life we pass through local villages where children run out to wave and shout “bula”; we see people at work in the fields and going about their day on horseback. We have got that much closer to the real Fiji. Forty-five minutes later we arrive at Vunaqoru Village, home to over 250 people. We are welcomed into the village with a traditional kava ceremony before having a guided tour of the village and then sit down to a beautifully prepared traditional meal. Our time in the village ends with some gifts from us to the villagers and much singing and dancing. Back to the river we don lifejackets and board the jet boat for a scenic ride back to base with a few thrills added in. Sigatoka River Safaris work with 15 local villages so the tours do not encroach on village life and a good balance is struck between tourism and the real Fijian village experience. www.sigatokariver.com
FLAVOURS OF FIJI A local market is one of the best places to get a feel and understanding for the local food. It’s our second day in Fiji and we have been whisked off to Nadi Market by Lia and Arti from Flavours of Fiji. Our market excursion is just the beginning of a day where we will get hands-on in creating some home-style Fijian dishes. Every morning villages bring their produce into town to sell, making the market a snapshot of what is fresh and in season as well as what Fijians eat every day. Gorgeous baby pineapples sit beside ripe pawpaw and bunches of bananas. Piles of tiny chillies lay out on newspaper next to fresh greens, bundles of beans and dishes of eggplants. Lia and Arti lead us around answering our many questions and giving us the local low-down before taking us off to Flavours of Fiji’s purpose built cooking school.
Our first lesson is on traditional Fijian food and starts with a lesson on cracking and scraping a coconut. The menu includes fish cooked in the super fresh coconut milk we just made, bush fern (similar to pikopiko) salad and a dessert with plantain. After sitting down to enjoy the fruits of our labour, it’s time to get back in the kitchen. This time we are cooking Indo Fijian cuisine with a chicken and potato curry (see my adapted version on page 18) along with handmade roti. The classes are the most efficient, well-choreographed lesson I have ever had. Our group consists of cooks of all skill level, yet everyone keeps up, learns new things and has a wonderful time, not to mention a delicious lunch.
BULA COFFEE I never thought it would be Fiji where I first saw coffee growing. Who knew coffee grew in Fiji? It does. In fact it literally grows wild! How it got there, no one knows for sure, but what is happening with this wild coffee is a remarkable story. After discovering coffee growing wild, Luke Frett and his family started Bula Coffee and has built the Fijian coffee industry from the ground up. In 2011 the company processed 200kgs of coffee beans and they are on track to make this 3000 tonnes in 2020. Bula Coffee have a partnership based on the philosophy that “they shake the hands that pick the coffee”. This sees them work directly with over 500 villagers, supporting them to become organically certified, teaching them to process the cherries into beans and create a sustainable living. As the beans are harvested and processed they are brought by truck, boat or horseback to Bula Coffee’s base in Sigatoka. After seeing the coffee growing, we followed it to their HQ to see and hear what happens next. The only Fijian coffee company that can say it is ‘Fijian made’ as well as ‘Fijian grown’, Bula Coffee say they are not only producing great shots of coffee but giving Fijian Villages a better shot at life. As a flat white drinker, I need someone to do something about the milk situation in Fiji!
2017
Finalist 2017
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