62 10
going places february 2015
FOOD TRAIL
Fiji Food Uncovered Long, lazy meals by the sea, complemented by wide smiles Text Tatyana Leonov Photos Tom Donald
F
Grilled tuna at Sofitel's V Restaurant
Fijian chef Talala Tupou smiles as he prepares the kokoda, a raw fish dish that’s marinated in coconut milk and mixed with onions and chillies. He carefully places the pieces of local snapper aside and massages coconut shavings around a hot stone with his hands, explaining this is how to achieve a smoky flavour. After 10 minutes, he’s made fresh coconut milk for the marinade. No canned varieties here. “I love cooking. I love food. When I was a boy and mum was cooking I would always watch,” he says, chuckling. “After mum cooked, then I cooked.” Together with executive chef Jona Ravasakula, Talala crafts a variety of traditional dishes at Yasawa Island Resort and Spa (yasawa.com) and comes up with innovative meal concepts. The enticing menu at this tranquil resort is on a 10-day rotation – more than 50 different main course recipes are prepared over the span of 10 days. And guests are never limited to three-course meals. “If a guest wants three desserts, that’s fine, or even five – it’s all inclusive here,” Talala says, gazing out at the waves gently rippling against the powdery white-sand beach – a scene straight out of a honeymoon catalogue. Yasawa Island Resort and Spa is the only resort on the idyllic Yasawa
Island, the biggest island in the Yasawa archipelago (a chain of volcanic islands stretching 80 kilometres in the Western Division of Fiji). It’s a wonderful showcase of just how good food in Fiji can be. Guests come to unwind and eat to their heart’s content.
The produce
Fijian food is the unscripted sum total of absorbed influences from different ethnicities arriving in Fiji at various times throughout history. The Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians came first, and then the Indians, Europeans and Chinese travelled to this island country. Some stayed, some departed, but everyone left behind a splash of their culinary practices. At resort restaurants, you’ll find Western, Eastern and fusion dishes all on offer, but the constant is the produce, mostly from Fiji. Island resorts like Yasawa work with local fishermen and farmers to harvest organic, fresh food. Many mainland resorts grow herbs and vegetables in gardens and get other produce from markets. The daily Nadi produce market is where to go to get a sense of what’s in season. Unlike countless markets around the globe, it’s not frantic or noisy – a nod to the relaxed Fijian culture.