Robert Oliver's Pacific recipes

Robert Oliver says the kai produced by a boy from Aitutaki and his lovely Maori partner tells a dazzling story of the South Pacific.

In My Kitchen Rules, New Zealand was taken on a thrilling gastronomic journey, watching Aaron and Heather Freeman's upscale take on a food culture that has long been misunderstood, even here, in its host nation — Polynesian cuisine.

No plain boiled taro and fatty meats here: theirs was a contemporary fresh look at Polynesian food today, in highly skilled hands. We judges swooned over their stunning rendition of Cook Islands classic te pai remene (lemon pie), burst into excited chatter over their panikeke (fried “pancakes”) with chilli chocolate ganache, slipped into a heavenly food coma over their island style oysters three ways — including one with a sparkly pineapple salsa, wow — and slurped their soulful rendition of Maori boil-up in reverent silence. Withthis dish, I felt embarrassed that I, a New Zealand chef and Pacific foodie, know so little about Maori food outside of hangi and boil-up, and I’ll bet the same goes for many of us.

But it was their upside down ika mata (Cook Islands raw fish) that took us over the edge. Raw fish preparations are synonymous with Pacific Island cuisine; theirs was elegant, restrained and brilliantly conceived. We felt like we were witnessing the arrival of a bold new baby on the block.

Even though Aaron and Heather were ultimately pipped from first place by a mere point, by the technically brilliant and creative Neena and Belinda, the couple seemed to win Aotearoa’s heart. As I was chatting to my dear friend and Kiwi Cook Islander Caren Rangi about the Aaron and Heather phenomenon, her words rang true: “It was a cultural indicator.”

I agree. It seems to me that in Aaron and Heather, we had found a bit of our identity that just felt right to us. Cuisine is as good a cultural indicator as any — and this couple, proudly putting their Polynesian heritage on the plate, seemed to decolonise us just a little. With the, no doubt, long debate for a new flag coming up, is Aotearoa finally ready to proudly call itself a Pacific, rather than a colonial, nation? I hope so.

To help you all celebrate Pasifika at home, here’s some recipes from my books Me'a Kai and Mea'ai Samoa.

Goat and green pawpaw curry

There is some small-scale goat farming across the Pacific and goat is a popular curry meat. Its bold flavour holds up well to spicing, and firm green pawpaw adds a pleasant sour sweetness. This curry is mildly spiced, so for those who want an incendiary experience, serve fresh chillies as well.

Serves 10

3 limes
2 ¼ kg goat, stewing pieces (substitute lamb or beef)
1 cup vegetable oil, approximately (not olive)
1 cup black mustard seeds
1 cup minced ginger
½ cup cumin seeds
½ cup roasted ground coriander seeds
1 cup hot masala powder
12 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large onions, thinly sliced
4 chillies, whole
5 cups peeled and chopped firm green pawpaw (large dice)

1. Drizzle the juice of one of the limes over the meat pieces and set aside until needed for cooking.
2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When they are popping, add the ginger. When that is roasted (about four minutes), add the cumin and ground coriander seeds. Cook for about four minutes until the spices smell roasted, then add the hot masala. Pour in a little more oil if needed to keep the mixture wet.
3. Add the garlic, onions and chillies and cook until light brown.
4. Place the goat pieces in the pan, season with some salt and raise the heat. Brown the goat, then lower the heat again and put a lid on the pot. Cook on a very low heat until the goat is nearly cooked (about 90 minutes).
5. Add the pawpaw to the pot and mix to combine. Cook for another 30 minutes or so, until the meat is just starting to fall apart.
6. As you serve, squeeze the juice of the two remaining limes over the curry. Serve with coconut basmati rice, quick banana relish and coconut and tamarind chutneys (all recipes in Me'a Kai). Recipe from Me'a Kai.

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Carmel Moore’s koko cupcakes with koko lime icing

Carmel’s natural beauty is surpassed by something even more beautiful — she has a belly laugh that could fill a room! Carmel’s use of raw sugar in this terrific cupcake recipe adds a caramel flavour. She moistens the recipe with coconut cream and coconut oil — that’s culinary fa‘a Samoa.

Makes 12 medium-sized cupcakes

1 ½ cups raw sugar
1 ½ cups flour
¾ cup grated koko Samoa
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 medium-sized eggs
½ cup coconut cream
½ cup virgin coconut oil
¾ cup boiling water

Koko lime icing

1 ½ cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp finely grated koko Samoa
2 Tbsp boiling water
2 tsp lime juice
1 Tbsp coconut cream
Freshly grated coconut, to garnish

1. Heat the oven to 160C. Place cupcake papers in muffin tin holes.
2. Combine all of the ingredients, except the boiling water. Beat for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the boiling water and mix well.
4. Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes. Cool before icing.
5. For the icing: Combine all ingredients except the grated coconut and whisk until smooth. Top each cupcake with a generous dollop of koko lime icing and garnish with freshly grated coconut.

Recipe from Mea’ai Samoa.

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Green banana green bean salad

Green bananas are typically cooked in coconut cream in Samoa. Try this version, which is a good potato-salad replacement and uses the terrific green snake beans grown in Samoa. Tomatoes in the tropics tend to grow too quickly to develop the dense sweetness required for sauces and the like; instead they are crunchy and astringent, and perfect for salads.

Serves 6-8 as a side salad

6 green bananas
¼ cup milk or 1 tsp vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
½ cup olive oil
100g green beans, trimmed and blanched
1 cup halved local cherry tomatoes, or chopped ripe tomato
1 clove garlic, minced
½ small jar capers, drained
1 cup loose coriander leaves, rinsed and dried

1. Cut the core ends off the bananas and simmer in their skins in plenty of water with a little milk or vinegar.
2. When the bananas are just soft (approximately 20 minutes), the skins will begin to split. Remove from the heat immediately, drain and let cool, then peel and slice into a bowl. Add the lime juice and olive oil.
3. Add the beans, tomatoes, garlic, capers and coriander. Mix well and season to taste. Recipe from Mea'ai Samoa.

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Recipes re-printed from Robert Oliver's books Mea’ai Samoa and Me’a Kai (Random House).