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BULA! From the Fiji Islands.
The recipes below were a tremendous find and a very pleasant surprise, literally half way around the world from my home port on the East coast of North America. Bula! (Hi!) My name is Liz and I’m an addict. I have dual addictions, food and diving; both of which are fed by my third addiction, travel. There are few places in the world where one can indulge all three better than the island nation of Fiji in the South Pacific. I recently returned from Fiji with quite a collection of great dive stories, photos, memories and some great recipes.
Fiji is an island nation of 300 islands. The only way to really see Fiji is by boat, and please take your time. Island living is not for the time-management professional. Take it easy, enjoy. If you find yourself out on the bow, watching the islands stream by, dreaming of what it must have been like for the first sailors to stumble upon this island paradise…join the club. Our trip started aboard the Fiji Aggressor II, a live-aboard dive yacht. We spent the first week cruising from island to island and some of the most beautiful soft coral reefs in the world. Then we transferred, in a driving rain storm, to Beqa (pronounced Beqna) Lagoon Resort for our second week. Beqa Lagoon is a 45 minute boat ride from the city of Suva on the main island of Vanua Levu. With our luggage covered under plastic on the back deck, we huddled in the steamy cabin for the crossing. As we approached the island we heard music. Wiping the steam from the widows we could see people standing on the beach in the rain. When we came out on deck we found that villagers and resort staff had come out in the rain to greet us with music and floral leis around our necks. They escorted us to our individual bures (cottages) where we rested until dinner. The first dinner told me I’d gain a few pounds this week.
Each meal, from banana pancakes for breakfast to gourmet dinners and lunch sandwiches, was a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds. I just knew we were being fed by a world class chef here and I had to meet him. I was in for a surprise. I asked to meet the chef and was greeted by the lovely Laniana Lewaika, a native Fijian lady with the most beautiful and engaging smile. We hit it off immediately. As we got to know each other, Lana was happy to share her story and some of her exquisite recipes.
Lana “married to the island” about fourteen years ago. She was originally from Vanua Levu but since her husband is from Beqa she married into the family, the village of Ravi Ravi and the island. Though Fiji’s national government is a parliamentary democracy, the island governments are still largely tribal in that each village has a chief and each island has a head chief. This structure is mostly hereditary. You don’t marry just the man or the family but the village and the whole island.
(We were adopted by a village while we were there, but that’s another story.)
Shortly after being married and arriving on the island Lana started working at the resort as a dishwasher. Then she moved up to prep cook. She worked under an Austrian chef for several years and learned all he had to teach her. She learned her lessons well. She is now the head chef and routinely serves up gourmet meals for 60 or more people each night with only six helpers, and no formal training. All the staff at the resort come from the two local villages. Lana’s kitchen helpers also double as waitresses. Working up these recipes with Lana was a delightful experience. She’s been making these wonderful dishes for so long that she doesn’t need to write them down. Some measurements were metric and others were English. We brought them home to our test kitchen to make sure we had it all right. BULA!
Fiji is the cultural experience of a lifetime. This wonderful multicultural society is surely among the friendliest and most welcoming in the world. The population is Indo-Fijian. When Europeans began to exploit the natural resources of the islands and waters (circa 1875) they started importing laborers from India. Today the population is nearly evenly split between native Fijian and Fijian’s of Indian ancestry. The same has happened with much of the cuisine. There are still distinctly Indian and Fijian dishes for sure but both share many ingredients. Seafood is a mainstay, as you would expect as well as tropical fruits. Other favorites are taro, breadfruit and sweet potato.
Watch for more stories and recipes from Fiji in the future. Be sure to share your food adventures and recipes with us as well.
BULA! Fiji!
BULA! Lanaiana!
Click the images for recipes.
Article courtesy of Liz Barna
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