“I hope you like coconut,” Eric said, as we tucked into our Palauan feast. Palau is one of the northernmost parts of the Micronesia sub-region of Oceania, placing it north of Papua New Guinea and just east of the Philippines. The result is…
Category: Oceania
Assignment 114: Australia
Eric saw barramundi — an Australian white fleshed fish — for sale at a local rural market two years ago, and has been talking about it ever since. He finally got to live his dream and make a purchase of the frozen — and pricey — seafood, and set about creating a menu.
Assignment 97: Tonga
So Tonga likes the coconut milk. Not a surprise, given our past forays into Oceania’s culinary cultures, but still — Tonga likes that coconut. It was featured in all my recipes but one, and I’m sure it would have been included if it could have been.
Assignment 86: Marshall Islands
Eric went into this assignment expecting to struggle to find recipes, but was surprised to find enough resources to put together a menu. The Marshall Islands has a standard Oceanic flavour profile with some Chinese influence to it. Eric knew fish would feature, and opted…
Assignment 47: Tuvalu
Location: South Pacific Population: 10,640 Capital: Funafuti Geography: A volcanic archipelago consisting of three islands and six atolls Language: English, Tuvaluan Signature flavours: Coconut, pulaka, taro and taro leaf, breadfruit, seafood, sea bird The Menu Tuvalu is a tropical island paradise and a fresh seafood-lover’s dream. It is also the least visited nation on earth….
Assignment 43: Fiji
Location: Oceania Population: 899,000 Capital: Suva Geography: A subtropical mountainous archipelago of two main island and almost 900 other islands and islets Language: English, iTaukei, Fiji Hindi Signature flavours: Coconut, seafood, curry, taro, tropical fruits The Menu This is our third assignment out of the South Pacific island nations, and while Fiji enjoys a nice…
Assignment 23: Kiribati
Location: Oceania Population: 110,000 Capital: Tarawa Geography: A diverse collection of 34 islands in three main groups. Language: Gilbertese, English Signature flavours: Coconut, kabocha pumpkin, breadfruit, seafood The Menu Recipes for Kiribati cuisine were few and far between. Eric found a few, and then drew from general information on the cuisine to build other dishes….
Assignment 17: New Zealand
Location: Oceania Population: 4.8 million Capital: Wellington Geography: A widely varied landscape of forest, mountain, and plain. Language: English, Maori Signature flavours: Lamb, seafood, potato, coconut The Menu The first thing I thought of when I was assigned New Zealand (after Lord of the Rings) was meat pies. I looked around for quite a while…
Assignment 3: Samoa
Location: Oceania, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii Population: 190,000 Capital: Apia Geography: A collection of two large volcanic islands and eight islets Language: Samoan, English Signature flavours: Coconut, tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, papaya, etc.), seafood The Menu I found a website in my first five minutes of researching Samoan food that I considered…
Wooden Spoon Wanderer 