Going Out The Door

Robin (our family chef) and I (our sous chef, or dish washer) both enjoy cooking, so when we heard about a cooking class in Fiji we decided to sign up. The Flavors of Fiji Cooking School offered a tour of the local market and then a chance to cook two different meals in their kitchen: a Fijian dish and an Indo-Fijian dish. Fiji’s population is split about 50-50 between Fijians of Polynesian descent and those of Indian descent, with the two cultures cross-pollinating their respective culinary traditions.

Ajay, the school’s driver, picked us up and then headed to a hotel where another group awaited. These folks were from New Zealand, on a quick trip to Fiji to film a short promo ad for Air New Zealand. There was Andrew, the Air New Zealand marketing guy; Calvin, the videographer; and Alex and Abbey, two young women that Andrew met in an Auckland bar and invited to go on a three-day jaunt to Fiji, courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Yeah. It was pretty much just like it sounds. But we did get some recommendations on good bars in Auckland.

We got an early start at the market in downtown Nadi where Maria, our guide and soon-to-be cooking instructor, led us through the various sections of the market. The first thing we came across as we entered was bundle after bundle of kava – a local mind-altering herb whose effects, I’m told, are akin to Xanax. The hotel where we’re staying offers kava drinks, but we haven’t tried it…so far.

There was the fish room, closed off from the rest of the market, ostensibly because of the smell, but it really wasn’t too bad. Also, countless tables and stalls offering an abundance of local produce, from staples like cassava and taro, to snake gourds, ginger, turmeric and hot peppers. There were fresh-water mussels by the bushel, stacks of crab, and lunch boxes featuring sea grapes, a type of seaweed. Maria gave us the local names of all of these, in a loud, rapid-fire voice. I kept track for a while, but the only one I remember now is rourou, pronounced “row row,” which is the Fijian equivalent of spinach.

One odd thing: none of the vendors were hawking their products, and the prices were all set and there was no haggling. The vendors all sat quietly tending to their business until someone wanted to make a purchase. There was no need for us to buy anything at the market, since everything was going to be provided at the school’s kitchen, but that had the unfortunate consequence of limiting the interaction we had with the sellers to a brief hello or thank you.

The cooking school was in an industrial looking area, but once inside and up the stairs to the classroom it was a quite nice set up with about a dozen stations. Everything was all tidy and well ordered, and pretty soon we were cooking away, first focusing on a three course Fijian meal of Spanish mackerel in a coconut sauce, rourou, and cassava balls with caramel. All pretty good dishes, though the cassava balls, which were supposed to be dessert, were a bit heavy. After completing our dishes, we sat down to the best aspect of going to a cooking school: the eating part.

While we ate and chatted, the school’s staff started setting up so we could prepare our next meal, this time three Fijindian dishes. (OK, I made up “Fijindian” – but it works, right?) As a fan of the spicy, this menu was more in my wheelhouse: Pumpkin curry, chicken curry, and roti, a fry bread. And when the spices for the curry hit the hot oil in the pan, the burst of aromas was amazing.

Not sure exactly what was going on, but this second round of cooking found Alex and Abbey dropping pans, fumbling spoons and misinterpreting instructions. Hmmm. Dabbling with the kava? We don’t know, but…In any case, our food was all spectacularly delicious. And though this round of the cooking was great fun, we had just eaten a full meal about 30-40 minutes earlier. So, all we could manage was a bit of a tasting session and then we packed up the rest “to go.”