Five foods every visitor to Fiji should try

Not so long ago Fiji got a fairly bad rap for its food. You could eat (very) well if you were lucky enough to be invited to dine with locals, but visitors who relied on restaurants and resorts often left underwhelmed. Unless, perhaps, they had a thing for kitsch 80s-style cocktails and bland western buffet food.

Fortunately, many resorts now dish up inspired takes on traditional Fijian fare using the nation’s famously fresh fish and tropical produce, and you can find some fantastic authentic food in restaurants in Nadi and Suva too. Here are five dishes to look out for.

Similar to a Māori hāngī, the lovo is an underground oven which produces smokey, slow-cooked feasts. The hand-dug pit is laid with wood and volcanic stones and, when a fire is lit, the stones heat up and food wrapped in banana leaves or tin foil is placed on top.

The pit is then covered with coconut leaves and soil and left for around one to five hours for the food to cook. The contents vary but often include a whole pig, fish, chicken, starchy vegetables such as taro (dalo) and yam, and the green dream of a dish known as palusami.

If there’s one surefire way to make greens appealing to those who usually spurn them (hi kids) it’s to cook them with lashings of coconut cream. Made by slow cooking bundles of taro leaves filled with coconut cream, palusami is typically served as a side fish. But if you’re anything like me, you could happily eat a big bowl of it as a standalone meal.

Combining two star Fijian ingredients – fresh fish and coconut cream – kokoda is similar to South American ceviche. Chunks of raw fish (often tuna or wahoo) are marinated overnight in lime juice and chillies and then combined with coconut cream and served cold. Cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, spring onions and red peppers can also make an appearance. It makes for an ideal light lunch on a typically hot Fijian afternoon, and its particularly Instagram-worthy when served in a half coconut.

Typically milder than their Indian counterparts, Fijian curries are often made with fish or chicken, coconut milk, tomatoes and, sometimes, plantain. Mop them up with rice, roti or – for a non-traditional but arguably even tastier take – cassava chips. A staple root vegetable in Fiji, cassava can be a bit bland for some palates, but becomes positively addictive when it’s made into hot chips.

Made with cassava, coconut, sugar and coconut cream steamed in banana leaves, this sticky sweet treat isn’t the healthiest of Fijian foods, but it is one of the most delicious. It goes down particularly well with sliced bananas and ice cream.