Traditional Fijian lovo
Traditional Lovo is used on special occasions. We were lucky enough to experience this day long affair which ends in a great meal. Similar to the New Zealand hangi, food is wrapped in natural materials and buried and cooked. All foods are cooked in the lovo, pumpkin soup, taro, potatoes, fish, chicken and more.

It is a long process that starts early in the day. Step one: build a great fire and when it burns down to just coals place a grill on top and the food for your feast. These baskets were woven especially for the meat and fresh fish. You cannot see the detail but the fish ones were woven with a fish tail .
Cover the food with palms and branches, then with burlap sacks and cover the whole meal with sand. The food will then cook with the smoke/steam from the hot coals. The smell is amazing.

While watching this we were told how this is the way they used to cook bodies during the days of cannibalism...eeek! Now I always think of that when I look at these pictures.



After a few hours the meal is ready. The palms have also turned a lovely golden brown from the heat.
Dinner is served and it is splendid. Traditional lovo dinner at Otto and Fanny's is not to be missed.

BEAUTIFUL FIJI
Bula (hi/bye/welcome)
The internet is too slowfor pics but the update is that Fiji is paradise.
Crystal clear waters in the most vibrant green and blue hues, beautiful reefs, the most colorful fish, a plethora of coral which comes in all shapes and forms, completely isolated and idyllic beaches where you can snorkel off the shore, the loveliest Fijian hospitality, Fijian sunsets...the list goes on.

Our accomodation in the Yasawa's consists of only 7 bures (tiki style/bamboo huts) which hold 2-4 people. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we are a small but diverse mix of Norwegians, Americans, Canadians, Kiwis and people from Malyasian and Indonesian descent.

The power is turned off at 11pm, and our dinners commence at 6pm. In these few hours we chat about life, love, religion, music and of course - food. Last night we had especially lengthy talks about food. Grace and Michael owned a pancake house in Oregon and the Nordic folks are chefs in a top restaurant there. The rest of us like to eat so the conversation went on for ages...I will try and post some recipes/comments from our 'holiday family dinners.'

Fiji Bitter Beer is on tap and there are lots of coconuts everywhere. The only dangers in Fiji are sunburn, falling coconuts and getting stung by a jellyfish. Luckily we only got stung by a jellyfish but we did see many a coconut fall very close to our hammock. When the internet comes up again I will try to post more food tidbits. I even ate Kolkoda (from my last post) and it was divine!

Bula
xx

Fijian foods
I am off to Fiji - the islands in the South Pacific Ocean for two weeks. I have been out of blog mode for a while with all these national holidays getting in the way.

Happy belated Canada Day to you all...hope you had a good one. Ours was filled with bbq and more bbq, pies, ice cream, cakes and more treats like brownies, fresh strawberries, cherries and more.

Needless to say it was a great weekend with lots of fresh Ontario produce.

This pic is of Kokoda, a Fijian food. It is made out of raw fish meat seasoned with lemon juice and coconut milk; can't wait to have some great fish meals.

While away, I am going to try and post if I can but not sure if I will be able to access the internet.

Am asking guest bloggers step forward -any takers? Or readers, I will be back in two short weeks. By then, I should have a wealth of stuff to post in regards to plane food (tip: always order a special meal as you get served first), Fijian delights and New Zealand treats - am going to Pat and Robbie's farm so will take pics of me milking the cows!! Am very excited. Maybe Pat will make her famous Pavlova....mmm!