Vanuatu

I arrived in Vanuatu with very little knowledge of the country, let alone knowing about the food eaten there. Hearing from the few people who had knowledge of the country that you visit Vanuatu for the volcanoes, beaches and island life so I wasn’t overly hopeful for a foodie experience but there is a lot to discover.

There is a strange history of Vanuatu as it was known as what was a condominium a split country ruled by both the English and the french at the same time. The french historical connection can still be noticed in the bakeries in town and a few french restaurants in Port Vila the most famous being L’Houstelet.

The more local fare is harder to find, there doesn’t really seem to be any local restaurants in Port Vila although both the Mamas cooking at the local market and the small canteen type lunch type places both serve some local dishes such as baked manioc or yams. The local food is heavily starch based before the introduction of rice (which is now eaten by most locals at every meal)  root crops such as manioc, yams and sweet potatoes were the main source of carbohydrates. They are cooked simply either boiled or roasted in the ashes of a fire and served with a simple stew or grilled fish. Meat is not available daily and often reserved for special occasions due to the high prices, although Vanuatu does have some of the worlds best beef from the North Island of Santo where the cows are allowed to roam the coconut plantations.

Fish is also surprisingly expensive and not that plentifully due to the presence of the toxin ciguteria. It is a poison that initial starts life on the algae that the fish feed on and builds itself up through the food chain. There are a number of unproven theories that herbivore fish such as parrot fish don’t build up the toxin enough to cause a human to fall sick and it’s only the bigger carnivorous fish that carry it but these are so far unproven and not worth the risk. There are some places in Vanuatu where the reef fish on one side of the island are inedible and the other-side no risk. But again this is only known by the people who have lived there for generations and know such areas and probably not worth the risk. The disease can be fatal and can also  cause life long paralysis and nervous system damage so should not be take lightly. The one sure way to avoid Ciguterea is to eat deep water fish (deeper than 100m) the most famous in Vanuatu is “Poulet” a beautiful red deep water snapper with very pretty long dorsal fins which is served in many restaurants. Game fish such as Tuna and Marlin are also not effected by Ciguterea along with shellfish.

Lap Lap Fire Being Prepared

The most famous of Vanuatu foods is Lap-Lap which is usually reserved for special occasions like weddings etc. It is ground manioc which is ground on a grater type thing and mixed with coconut milk and meat and vegetables are added to the top. The whole thing is wrapped in leaves from the Lap-Lap tree (it is like a banana leaf) and buried in a big fire pit with huge volcanic stones to hold the heat. It’s cooked for a few hours before being unwrapped and sliced into pieces and served with a little salt.

Bunya prepared

There's also a version Bunya which is similar but with whole pieces of manioc, sweet potato, yams instead of grated. My personal favourite is Tulup which is also grated manioc but with ground beef rolled inside. This can be bought by the ladies at the side of the road in Mele village selling from their white polystyrene boxes. For the more adventurous Vanuatu also has a few specialities one of which is flying fox which is usually cooked in a burgundy red wine sauce. You would also see coconut crabs on the menus around town but they are endangered due to there slow life cycle so I would suggest avoiding them and sticking to the great crayfish and crabs. Of course the abundant fertility of the volcanic soil gives Vanuatu some of the greatest vegetables and fruits, they are all organic and shouldn’t be missed. The local nuts served on a palm frond and wrapped in a banana leaf are also great in the local market.