Food and Recipes of Fiji

Cheese Sauce - traditional
6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
2-1/2 cups light cream
2 tsp dry mustard
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Combine flour and butter in heavy pan over medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes, until flour starts to brown. Slowly stir in the cream. Stir constantly until desired consistency achieved, then add cheese, mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until cheese is melted, remove from heat and use immediately.

Cheeze Sauce - non-dairy
1 cup nutritional yeast
6 tbsp flour (can use wheat or rice flour)
2 ½ tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients in a medium pot. Add water and oil, whisk thoroughly and heat over medium heat until desired consistency is reached. Use immediately.

Banana Cassava Cake

A very simple 4 ingredient cake. Tastes great served warm or cold. Look for the cassava and coconut cream in large supermarkets, or specialty grocery stores. The sugar can be replaced with sweetner of your choice is you prefer to avoid refined sugar (we used Sucanat)

Ingredients
1 tbsp Sugar
1 cup Coconut Cream (be sure to use coconut cream; not coconut milk)
4 mashed bananas
1 ½ - 2 pounds Fresh Cassava, peeled and grated

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven 350 F and lightly oil an 8 inch square cake pan.

2. Beat the coconut cream and sugar together.

3. Add the mashed bananas and mix thoroughly

4. Add the grated cassava and mix thoroughly.

5. Pour into cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes until the top is a golden colour.

Kokoda

A traditional Fijian dish that tastes much better than it sounds. The traditional dish is prepared with mahi-mahi; we used halibut, but you can use white fish of your choice. Again, very simple to prepare – just be sure to leave enough time to marinate the fish in the lime. You’ll need a minimum of 6 hours.

Ingredients
2 White Fish Fillets
Juice from 3 large limes
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup Coconut Cream (be sure to use the cream and not the milk)
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 hot pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
2 Tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped

Directions

1. Cut the fish into bite-size pieces and place in a glass or plastic bowl (avoid metal as it will react with the lime juice and ruin your dish) Add the lime juice and salt. Mix well, cover and marinate in fridge for 6-10 hours.

2. Just before serving, add coconut cream, onion, and the pepper. Stir thoroughly then place onto serving platter using slotted spoon. Top with chopped tomatoes and serve with a flourish.

Lentil and Potato Curry

A very delicious curry that tastes great topped with coconut chutney (recipe below). All spices and seeds are easily found in a large supermarket.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
4 cardamom

4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 small chillies, minced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1 cup dry lentils
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
salt to taste
1 tomato, chopped
3 cups water

Directions

In a medium size pot, heat the olive oil then add the onions, cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Cook over medium heat, stirring for one minute. Add the minced garlic, tumeric, chillies, ginger and curry powder. Stir and cook for another minute. Add the lentils, potatoes, salt and water. Stir and cover. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the lentils and potatoes are both tender, adding water if necessary. Add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes more. Serve with rice.

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients

2 cups freshly grated coconut
1 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
sea salt to taste

Method:

Combine ingredients and keep in fridge until ready to serve. Will keep for 1-2 weeks.