edible adventures

garden guard

Whenever I go to Vila, I treat myself (treat yo self!) to some goodies to bring back to site. Usually its lentils, chick peas, and rolled oats. Sometimes it’s something extravagant like walnut oil! This time in town I came across the most prized of edible possessions: a small shaker of parmesan cheese. Game changer! Cheese is simply the best. Even if it’s a little expired and comes from a green cylinder. I’ve been putting it on everything, especially things that don’t usually go with parmesan cheese. Well they do in my kitchen!

I’ve led a pretty active taco lifestyle lately. Throughout my service I’ve made tortillas somewhere around once a week because they are easy to make, last a couple of days, and can be transformed into tortilla chips when they get stale. Taco fillings have ranged from egg to fish to carrots, with no exceptions! And salsa, always. Some form of it, anyway. Depending on the season: tomatoes, guacamole, pineapple-mango salsa, I’m not picky! I brought back black beans from Australia and Laura’s mom sent me a bunch when they came and visited, so that’s been my main ingredient as of late. And once in a blue moon I’ll get mincemeat and the family will indulge in traditional taco Tuesday!

One woman in the village Lo One (lo-oh-nay, means sandbeach. Home to the most beautiful black sand beach!) got word of my tortilla making and asked if I’d give her a tutorial. Her proposal was this: if I came to teach her tortillas, we’d make a variety of fillings and have a lunch feast. And she’d make cake. She had me at cake.

 So I went to Vetai’s house and we got to work. Vetai is an excellent cook. Her food stall was next to ours during Penama Day Week and I was one of her most loyal customers. She can also bake. Most people bake in an earth oven or convert saucepans into mini ovens by putting hot coconut husks on the lid. Vetai has a mini coblike (sans cob, just cement) oven outside that is where she makes her delicious concoctions: scones, bread, cake, coconut buns.. I’m drooling. I saw the oven and decided that a quick lesson on pizza making was in order and so she learned that too. Island pizza is delicious! Substituting coconut milk for cheese and topping the dough with whatever fresh ingredients are growing. We made the tortillas and snacked on the cake while the fillings were on the fire.

Fillings:
local chicken, peppers, and onions stir fried together
carrots, round cabbage, spring onion, and ginger
kumala (sweet potato) beetroot and onion stir fried in coconut oil
salsa – tomatoes, pepper, corn, spring onion, garlic, s & p, lemon, vinegar, local chili

We feasted! I left with a happy belly and hands full of goodies from the garden: carrots, peppers, spring onion, and a pumpkin! And almost every day since then, her class 6 son Angelo has brought me more treats. The tasty benefits of a little skill share!

ambae easy bake oven

time to grub!

SOUP! Has been on the menu most days. It’s so easy throwing together some veggies and spices, letting them simmer, and enjoying them for lunch and dinner. And sometimes breakfast if I overshoot, which is usually. Other than traditional chicken broth soups, here are some of my favorites:

- Cannellini bean with mushroom, round cabbage, and rosemary
- Lentil, black beans, and veggies
- Black bean chili
- Pumpkin with curry, coconut milk, garlic and onions

My most fulfilling (or maybe just filling) edible adventure has been making pasta. Because it is tomato season and there is no possible way to eat the amount of tomatoes that the gardens here generously grow from the earth, I had to get creative. I pop tomatoes all day long and I make salsa as if it’s my job (what is my job, anyway?) but I needed another avenue. In Vila we met a traveler from Marlborough, New Zealand named Patrick that was making pasta at the motel we were staying at. I taught him tortillas and he showed me his guess on how to make pasta. A pretty impressive guess! When I got back to site, I asked Shoshana to send me a recipe and I decided to test it out.

Homemade noodles:
1. Mix 2 cups of floud with ½ teaspoon of salt
2. Make a well in the center and add 2 large eggs and 1 tablespoon of olive oil
3. Whisk and slowly incorporate the flour
4. Knead it until you’ve got a smooth still ball of dough
5. Wrap the dough ball in plastic and let it sit for 30 minutes
6. Break it into 4 portions so it’s easier to work with. Leave the extra in the plastic
7. Dust the area and the dough with flour and flatten into square shape
8. Roll it out into a long thin sheet. Don’t have a roller? Old wine bottle or Nalgene do the trick
9. Keep dusting while rolling it as thin as possible
10. Fold it into a flat wide roll (as opposed to rolling in into a tube)
11. Use a sharp knife to cut this into thin strips
12. Shake the noodles out into a pile, keep dusting with flour
13. Drop them into boiling water for 10-15 minutes and wa-la! Noodles!

A big success! I can’t believe it is so easy.



Once my astonishment subsided and my belly started to rumble, I started preparing the tomato sauce that would be enjoyed with the noodles. I chopped and cooked up capsicum, green beans, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and pima. I added in a bunch of overripe tomatoes and some spices and cooked the fresh medley until it was too tempting not to eat. I sprinkled (poured) my handy dandy parmesan cheese on top and enjoyed a fantastic Wednesday lunch. With plenty left over for round 2 that evening!

I’ve made them a few more times since the original test day. I tried thicker and thinner noodles, but my favorite is bow ties. Long live homemade things!

my oldfala neighbor put my hat on a pumpkin he left me