As host of TV’s Pacific Island Food Revolution, Robert Oliver draws 5 million viewers a week to a cooking show that hopes to lift the Pacific region back to good health. Now, Oliver has collated some standout recipes from the series into a cookbook.
What is Pacific Island Food Revolution all about?
Pacific Island Food Revolution uses the power of reality TV, radio and social media to revive local Pacific cuisine. Its cornerstone product is a MasterChef-style cooking competition where teams in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Kingdom of Tonga compete to be crowned the Pacific’s best. It carries the message of healthy eating into the home via the same medium as the advertisements for all those sweet and salty packaged goods: the telly.
Why is a food revolution needed in this region?
The health numbers are dire. The top 10 most obese nations on the planet are all in the Pacific. This is new. Over the course of a generation, processed food has displaced the traditional diet, to dreadful effect. But the key to good health is in the Pacific backyard – in farms and markets, and in the rustic dishes Pacific grandmothers cook. The answer lies in local cuisine.
Which cooks from the television series inspired you the most?
There are different groups with different types of brilliance. A few I would say are Leo Vusilai and Knox Taleo in Vanuatu for their ability to convert traditional dishes into something that feels totally modern and “refreshed”. Also, Chef John Tu’u from Samoa for his ability to transform everyday crops into culinary treasures.
Pacific cooking is not exactly widespread in New Zealand. What’s the main thing for a home cook to remember before attempting these recipes?
I don’t know why it’s not well known in Aotearoa; we are a Pacific island ourselves. I’d roundly recommend Henry Onesemo’s TALA restaurant in Auckland’s Parnell to dive deep into contemporary Samoan cuisine, and to check out Bertrand Jang’s Sweet and Me in Onehunga for his spectacular Pasifika cakes. I would say that as good as the dishes from the book taste when made in New Zealand, they are even better made in countries where the coconuts are scraped freshly for the coconut cream. It’s the big Pacific asset.
What is it that makes the coconut such a great ingredient?
Often, when people move from a meat diet to a vegan diet, they miss the “fullness” that meat, fish or dairy provides. Coconut provides that same satisfaction. The Pacific is a great region in which to be vegan and I think the truly Pacific diet – with all the forms of coconut, all the greens, seaweeds, complex carbs, tropical fruit – may end up being a model that rivals the Mediterranean diet. l
Knox and Leo’s Purple Yam Soup
This soup is an absolute winner. It’s hearty enough to be a meal, and elegant enough to be served as a first course at a dinner party. Feel free to add some chopped aelan kabis to the soup at the end rather than making the oil garnish as described. It’s great either way.
Serves 4 / Prep time: approx 30 minutes / Cooking time: approx 1 hour
- 4 chicken thighs, bone in
- ½ cup virgin coconut oil
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 3 star anise
- ¼ stick cinnamon
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 10cm piece ginger, sliced
- 2 purple yams, peeled and diced
- 3 coconuts
- salt and pepper
- 3 aelan kabis (island cabbage) leaves
- 1 handful moringa leaves
Sear the chicken thighs in a hot pan with a teaspoon of the virgin coconut oil. Once browned, take them out and put them in a saucepan with 1 litre of water. Add the lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon, onion, garlic and ginger, and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 30-45 minutes to make a stock. Strain, reserving the chicken thighs and the stock. Put the stock back into the pot and let it continue to simmer. Remove the meat from the chicken thighs and set aside.
Add the yams to the simmering stock. Remove about a third of the yam pieces from the stock after 10 minutes.
Heat about half of the remaining oil in a pan, then fry the removed yam pieces until golden brown. Set aside for a garnish.
Pour the water from the coconuts into a bowl, then grate the coconut flesh. Squeeze the coconut gratings to make coconut cream. Add the coconut cream to the soup and season with salt and pepper. Blend the soup to achieve a smooth texture.
TO MAKE THE OIL GARNISH
Wash the aelan kabis leaves and blanch quickly in hot water, then refresh in cold water. Add the remaining coconut oil (about ¼ cup) and the moringa and blend until smooth. Season well with salt and pepper.
TO SERVE
Pour the soup into bowls. Add the fried yam pieces. Top with shredded chicken meat and add drops of oil for colour and contrast.
Mafi and Mia’s Stuffed Pork with Beetroot and Mango Purée
A Tongan feast without pork … well, it’s just not a Tongan feast. I would never have conceived of beetroot and mango together in a sauce, but it really works. Butterflying the pork belly created a large pork “surface” that can be easily stuffed and rolled. Place the belly on a bench and cut the meat horizontally from the middle, going in both directions, to create a new flap of pork.
Serves 4 / Prep time: approx 20 minutes / Cooking time: approx 1 hour 20 minutes
- 3 kg boneless pork belly, butterflied
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 5 pele leaves, chopped
- 200g dried fruit (eg, raisins)
- 1 large mango
- 1 beetroot
- juice of 1 green coconut
- 1 bunch coriander
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Rub the salt and pepper over the pork. Lay the pork belly on your bench and spread the pele down the middle, then add the dried fruit.
Roll the pork in foil and bake until cooked, about 1 hour.
Peel and dice the mango and beetroot. Cook the beetroot in boiling water until soft, about 20 minutes, then drain and blend with the mango and coconut juice. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Slice the pork and arrange on a platter, with the sauce served on the side. Garnish with sprigs of coriander.
Heimata Hall’s Ipo Pain Perdu (Ipo French Toast)
Ipo is a coconut bread made with coconut milk, coconut water, coconut shavings, tapioca flour, and sugar. It is a traditional Tahitian side dish.
Serves 2-4 as a breakfast or side dish / Prep time: approx 30 minutes / Cooking time: approx 45 minutes-1 hour
- 250g flour with yeast (or use plain flour mixed with 1 tbsp dried instant yeast)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp grated fresh coconut
- 325ml coconut milk
- 3 eggs, beaten
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 4 tbsp butter
- seasonal fruits, eg, banana, papaya, starfruit, passionfruit (optional)
- honey
- mint leaves
- toasted almonds or macadamia nuts (optional), to garnish
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, grated coconut and 175 millilitres of the coconut milk in a large bowl and mix well.
Once the mixture forms a dough, tip it into a small baking pan. Place the pan in a steamer for 30 minutes or until cooked through. You may also bake it in an oven at 175°C for 45 minutes or until the dough is cooked through.
When cooked, remove from the oven and cool at room temperature. (You can wrap it in cling wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.)
Put the beaten eggs and the remaining coconut milk in separate bowls. Add the vanilla (if using) to the coconut milk.
Preheat a frying pan over a medium heat and coat it with the butter. Cut the ipo into slices 1–1.5 centimetres thick. Dip the slices in the coconut milk, making sure they are well coated, then dip them in the egg mix.
Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until the slices have a nice golden caramelisation. Repeat the process until all the slices are cooked.
Put the pan-fried ipo slices on a plate, and garnish with sliced seasonal fruits, honey, chopped nuts and mint.
An edited extract from Eat Pacific: The Pacific Island Food Revolution Cookbook edited by Robert Oliver (Massey University Press, RRP $60).
