Best RecipesKoko Samoa Suppliers News Recipes

Since this site has been up, I've had a lot of enquiries for koko samoa suppliers. I know of three excellent sources that ship overseas and I'm going to tell you about two of them. (The third source is my sister D, and somehow I don't think she'd appreciate you guys emailing her for koko).


The first source is an internet vendor called ParadiseGypsy (catchy name right?). She sells Samoan goods such as crafts and jewellery, as well as our beloved koko samoa. The great thing about her koko is that it arrives at her place warm and unset - in other words, it is super fresh. She actually has to wait for it to harden before she can ship it off to you. This freshness is probably why she sends volumes of koko to the States and Australia. 


Of course, she also does smaller individual orders. She tells me that she can provide other local foodstuffs that are not on her website and has even, on occasion, shipped Vailima! I have ordered koko from her in the past and found both the price of her koko and the sending costs to be very reasonable (she ships via American Samoa). Check out her website and send her an email if you are interested in ordering. 

The second source for koko samoa is Wilex Samoa, who export a range of cocoa, coconut and chocolate products. Since 1996, this company has been doing amazing things with koko samoa, such as creating boutique chocolates with coconut, nonu and other tropical fruits dipped in French cognac. All their products are GM free (not genetically modified) and arrive packed in retail bags. Visit their website, or email Eddie Wilson, who is the Managing Director, for more details on their products and shipping.  


Now all you koko-heads out there, you have no reason to be using powdered cocoa for your next koko alaisa. Buy the real thing and support some local Samoan businesses. Yay!

Best RecipesNew name, Facebook, preventing copycats News Recipes

Does anyone else out there have usernames and passwords coming out their wazoo? Hotmail, Yahoo, Blogger, Wordpress, Google+, Facebook...It's hard to know what to use and what to join when all I want to do is connect with readers. So I've been busy over the past few days overhauling the site.

First, I've changed the name. Let's take it out of my kitchen, and into the world. We are now officially SamoaFood.com (because some elo has already taken SamoanFood.com).

Second, I joined Facebook. Yes, had to join the 21st century and get on the 1 billion dollar social network. So if you like Samoan food, and you want to see more recipes and more videos, please click "like".

Third, I've blocked right-click copying of all my content and on Facebook, my photos will be watermarked as per a winning suggestion by Goddess. And if you sneaky buggers find another way to take what's mine and pass it off as yours, then you're just too darned smart for me. Knock yourself out.

For an example of how to reference people's work online, please go to myfudo.com. The lovely ladies there have provided links to all my posts, and referenced my blog countless times. Not to mention the fact that they made Samoan food look so professional!

Happy Cooking everyone!

Best RecipesKoko for the masses News Recipes

I experimented with another recipe today using Koko Samoa. I call these Koko Popo Brownies. The jury is still out on whether these are any good, but if I get the 'go ahead' from my tasters, the recipe will be posted up here.

Now, let's play a little "what if?". 
Imagine that one day in the future, you walk into your local supermarket to buy some cocoa because you've been dying for some Koko Popo Brownies. 


In the cocoa section, you see Hershey's Dark Cocoa Powder, Droste, Van Houten. On the shelf below that is Valrhona, Ghirardelli, and Scharffen Berger. You look further down, trying to find a name you can pronounce, and down there, right next to the Nestle and Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix is - could it be? No way!...you rub your eyes in disbelief and look again. Sure enough, it's Koko Samoa! You grab a box and happily skip home to bake your brownies...

Do you think we'll ever see the day when we can buy koko samoa anywhere, everywhere?


Here are some ideas I came up with for making this possibility a reality:


Control the quality
Make sure the koko quality is high and consistent. I get so disappointed when I buy a lump of koko that is filled with burnt nibs.


Change the mould
Enough with the styrofoam cups already! While the cup-sized block of koko represents good value for money and is easy to produce, it's not a sophisticated enough mould for international marketing, unless the cup is dedicated packaging and is used as a marketing ploy (ie. 'For a hot cup of goodness, try Koko Samoa - cup included'). Also a lump of koko is not user-friendly. People these days want instant drinks, ones that are easy to prepare and require minimum effort.


Which leads me to my next suggestion: 


Offer single serve tablets
I felt a little stupid making a recipe for koko samoa (the drink) because it's not really something Samoan people measure. But the feedback has been that it's a useful recipe. People who didn't grow up drinking the stuff were unsure about the proportions of koko to water to sugar. So how about selling a bag filled with tablets of koko that are just enough for one cup. If you want to make three cups of koko, throw in three tablets. What could be simpler than that?


Add sugar
Instead of selling tablets of just koko, why not pound the sugar together with the koko. That way, there's no guesswork in how much sugar to add to your drink - one tablet takes care of everything except the milk, which is optional.


Add flavouring
How about having plain tablets and flavoured tablets? I've seen organic vanilla beans being grown in Samoa, as well as ginger, and chilli. These could be added to the tablets for an extra layer of flavour. The Mexicans do it with cinnamon and almonds, so why can't we? 


Offer two grades of koko
Why not have finely ground and coarse (eg. with pegu) koko. Not everyone is a fan of pegu (nibs), so a finer koko might appeal to those that want the taste of koko without the accompanying sediment. 


Give the tablets a unique shape
My final idea is to give the tablets of koko a catchy shape - How about little cacao pods? Or mini Samoan fale (houses)? Tiny coconuts?


What do you think? And do you have any ideas to add? Jot them below and maybe a Samoan koko producer will stumble across our ideas and do something to raise the culinary profile of this wonderfully unique ingredient.


http://panipopos.blogspot.com

Best RecipesMangoes - Mago News Recipes

Did you know that potatoes and tomatoes are related? A farmer once told me that these two vegetables come from the same plant family and you can see this connection by the shape of their leaves. 


Guess which plants the mango is related to? Surprisingly, it's a cousin of the cashew and pistachio (which btw, are both seeds and not nuts, but that's a whole other blog post). 


Back to the mango...

Mango pudding

Mangoes grow right across the Pacific and Asia where they originated and it is one of those superfruits like blueberries and avocados. The ripe mango has lots of vitamin A (good for healthy eyes and your immune system) and the unripe fruit is high in vitamin C (helps your body absorb iron). Like the banana, mango has lots of potassium (for regulating your blood pressure) and if you eat just one mango, you've consumed about 12% of your daily fibre requirement. 

When buying your mangoes, give them a quick sniff. The more fragrant the fruit at the stem end, the tastier it is likely to be. Also give it the squeeze test, as you would with a peach or avocado. If the fruit 'gives' a little, then it's ready to be eaten. Remember that the redness of a mango is not an indication of ripeness. Use mangoes in fruit salads, drinks, poi, or baked desserts. Or simply eat them fresh. That's how most Samoans enjoy them.


For more info about mangoes, please visit the National Mango Board.


http://panipopos.blogspot.com

Best RecipesPoi Mago - Mango pudding News Recipes

By panipopos

It always amazes me that the fruit that grows so abundantly in Samoa is sold in my supermarket for $5 a piece (That's 15 tala per mango for those of you in Samoa.) In the islands, these fruit are abundant, free to the earth, trees so heavily laden the fruit are dropping off the tree and rotting on the ground; and these jokers slap a sticker on them and charge me five bucks a mango. Shheeesh...


A medium mango should give you enough fruit for this recipe. 

Poi Mago 
(serves 2) 
1 cup mango flesh
juice and zest of 1 lime or 2 lautipolo/laumoli 
½ can (200ml) coconut milk 
½  teaspoon vanilla 
sugar to taste 
ice for serving

Blend everything until smooth. 
If you find the poi too thick, add ½ cup of cold water. 
Chill for at least 30 minutes. 


Serve well-chilled, or over ice. For a spicy kick, sprinkle a little black pepper over the top. Don't mess around with exotic flavour combinations (because you are not Jamie Oliver) and simply eat this as is. 


http://panipopos.blogspot.com

Best RecipesA Gentle Reminder News Recipes

I post my recipes on the internet for all to use. But if you copy my text and/or pictures and repost them to your facebook page or blog, please have the courtesy to acknowledge SamoaFood.com as your source. It's only fair, don't you think?

Best RecipesChicken and Taro Leaves...I wish News Recipes

By panipopos


Finally gave in. 


I didn't want to make anything that required lautalo (taro leaves) because I can't get those where I live. And I wanted to be as true-blue-baby-I-love-you to Samoan food. When email requests came in for palusami, taro leaves baked with coconut milk, I faithfully replied "No can do. Cannot source genuine ingredients. Over and out." 


But there comes a time - a 'defining moment' in Oprah-ese - when you just have to face facts: sometimes you have to substitute. 


When koko samoa is unavailable, you use cocoa powder; when coconuts don't grow in your back yard, reach for a can; when you can't afford butter, mash an avocado; when you got no candy, chew on some sugar cane...I could go on.


So I've used spinach in place of lautalo. Actually, spinach is not a bad substitute for taro leaves. It's just not as good as the original. Once you've had the real deal, it gives you a food memory that is hard to overwrite.


The following recipe makes a quick, satisfying dinner and I haven't met a single person on earth who doesn't like it. 

(Serves 2-3)


1 pound (450 gr) chicken (dark meat)
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
1 medium onion
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 pound (450 gr) cooked drained spinach OR 
        1 pound (450 gr) of uncooked young taro leaves

If using spinach: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a medium saucepan with the coconut milk. Chop the onion and add to the saucepan. Add salt and stir to mix. Bring to the boil then turn down, simmering until the chicken is cooked. Add the spinach and bring to the boil once more, then turn off the heat. 


If using taro leaves: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a medium saucepan with the coconut milk. Chop the onion and add to the saucepan. Add salt and taro leaves stir to mix. Bring to the boil then turn down, simmering gently until the chicken is cooked.


Serve hot with taro, green bananas, breadfruit or rice. 

http://panipopos.blogspot.com