Best RecipesInterview with a Goddess News Recipes

Tuiga by Goddess

The blogosphere is a small world with only a handful of Samoan bloggers online and I can't think of a better way to herald in the new year than an interview with one of my favourites. 

I return to her blog time and time again because her writing is witty, refreshingly honest and pulls no punches whether she's dealing with a rude commenter or the editor of a newspaper or even herself. She updates more often than the rest of us and posts about everything from current events to family events to non-events. 

Her piece titled Fifty Shades of Savai'i had me laughing out loud and I love the fact that she blogs publicly what the rest of us only dare to think. 

Not only is she a savvy blogger, she also makes amazingly gorgeous tuiga (ceremonial head-pieces), which I don't think many people know how to make these days. 

Enjoy an interview with divinity -the ever-entertaining and straight-shooting Goddess from Fagogo mai Samoa,...aue!

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started in the first place?

Since 2006. I was working for a Samoan govt corporation and was really wary of the dramas in reality, so I resorted to a weird thing called a blog, good outlet to air things without getting slammed to the wall in front of Amau.

2. Can you tell us a bit about your blog, Fagogo mai Samoa?

Fagogo Mai Samoa...fagogos were told to us as children by our elders in Savai'i. We didn't have tv but having fagogo was the most entertaining and calming time of the night, when we were lined on the mats with our ie afu [bedsheets] listening to a story, in our case, a mixture of legends and fair tales and whatever our granma and uncle felt like telling...likewise, my blog is a collection of fairy tales, faiga gukus, and whatever is in my head.

3. We all have moments of drama on our blog (I had a reader cuss me out because a certain recipe didn't work out for them). What's been the most dramatic moment on Fagogo?

- I have had many. Most dramatic ones are some of our villagers sending me hate mail because our family keep winning our matai title court cases. It doesn't affect me, but I am certain they are getting their wrinkled balls in a knot over it.

- The editor of a well-known Samoan newspaper insulting my sibling because of what I write. Mistaken identity....(nice having sisters sometimes to take the backlash, thanks sis).

 - Another editor telling me to go f*** up. Somehow I have awkward relationships with editors.

But I am flattered that people actually read my madness. There are bored people in this world. Indeed.

4. What's a blog you'd like to see someone start?

Samoan whistle blower - about affairs, corruption, anything that is silly and entertaining, because I'm shallow like that.

Tuiga with bore tusks by Goddess

Onto some food questions: 

5. What's your favourite childhood food memory?

The sweet rich aroma of raw brown sugar poured on a hot rock and seeing the liquid pool into the kava bowl....very manaia watching taufolo and faausi being prepared this way by the untitled men (aumaga) while my highness is perched on the coconut pile waiting for the food to cook. Needless to say, I enjoy watching others (ideally men) do the cooking. The stars are aligned. Amen.

Most traumatic food experience

Watching the size 2 pig being choked with a ua mea (steel bar) for dinner. Sucks to be a pig in Samoa. 

6. What's your favourite Samoan food? Least favourite?

Favourite: faausi, and fresh water prawn in coconut cream with taro and pork with limu, sashimi, oops, Japanese - ahem - sasimi. (:

Least: Suafa'i: stupidest invention in the history of humanity, I have my reasons, refer below. I rest my case.

7. If I'm a tourist going to Samoa, what do you think is an essential food/drink experience?

Drink: Vailima Beer, cold fresh coconut. 

Food: Can't go wrong with marinated fish(oka) at popular places like Amanaki, Apia Yatch Club, Schwashbuckles etc. Paddles is very manaia but you don't need to pay heaps to have a more fantastic food experience.

8. Can you recommend a good place to eat in Samoa? 

Encounters for lunch. I love that the chicken salad is more chicken with a dash of salad....Samoan idea of a dream salad! 

Amanaki for poke, oka and other fish dishes, downed with Black Russian.

Savaiian Hotel for Samoan food.

Pinatis for after hours and I'm-too-pissed to-know-what-I'm-eating cuisine experience.

Amanis for cheap but cheerful food, like fancy pork buns and mamoe and other artery blocking goodness. Uma le case!

Tuiga by Goddess on a model

9. How did you learn how to cook?
By doing, watching but more so from, eating.

10. What's the worst mistake you've made in the kitchen?

Being in the kitchen in the first place. 

11. What food will you never give up?

Size 2 crackling, faaausi, pork puns and faiai anything. 

And finally, 12. What's your problem with suafa'i?

More to the point, whose non-brilliant idea was it to get perfectly good bananas and boil the hell out of them, and then add a truckload of diabetes into it ...sorry, I meant sugar. This is the silliest thing ever. C'mon! boiled ripe bananas in sugar and pe'epe'e? Aue Malia e, it tastes as disgusting as it looks....and I don't care what you say Panipopo, this it the one dish i think is a disgrace. I am prepared to start a facebook page called "Suafai is an insult to food, leave the bananas alone and walk away"

So the Goddess has spoken. 

Although suafa'i will always be a sticking point between the two of us, fa'afetai tele lava for answering my nosy questions. I really enjoy your blog (even your family notices which I feel like a bit of a stalker reading) and psst...can you hurry up and write the sequel to Fifty Shades of Savai'i? I think the next one is called 'Darker'.

All the images in this post belong to Goddess. Please check out her blog for her uniquely Samoan take on life or if you need a tuiga for any occasion. 

Best RecipesCoconut Cream Pie Filling News Recipes

Did you guys get what you wanted for Christmas? 

I did. 

Well, I didn't get the peace on earth, love for all mankind or an end to world hunger, but I did get a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader with sleek black leather cover.

Unlike my previous Kindle, this one has a built-in light and it's just the perfect device for gazing at the latest Telesa cover-art. 

What I mean, is that it's the perfect device for reading the latest release from the talented Lani Wendt Young.

That's if you can tear your eyes away from the awfully distracting cover-art. I mean, really. Those biceps. That chest. The tattoo. Oh, right, the book.

Just before Christmas, Lani released a special edition of her Telesa novel. Along with Telesa: The Covenant Keeper, this special edition is packed with lots of reader extras such as: 'I am Daniel Tahi' - A novella that speaks from Daniel's perspective; Leila's Love Poem; Character Interviews; and articles about Samoa and Samoan culture.

AND also included in the special edition are five recipes from yours truly, including the one below.

Coconut Cream Pie Filling

(for a 9 inch (23 cm) round or 8 inch (20 cm) square pie)

½ cup flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup + 2 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

1½ teaspoons vanilla essence

1¼ cup flaked coconut

Meringue Topping:

4 egg whites

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup flaked coconut

In a saucepan, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and 1 cup of milk until smooth. Stirring constantly, heat it until bubbles form around the edges, then gradually whisk in the remaining 2 cups of milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it’s like a thick, white sauce. Turn the heat off.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork. Add a quarter cup of the sauce and mix well. Add another quarter cup and mix again. Pour the warmed egg yolks into the saucepan and heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Cook for two minutes more while stirring. Remove from the heat and keep warm, stirring occasionally so that a  film doesn’t form on the top.

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).

Meringue Topping: Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff, but not dry.

Assemble the pie by pouring the warm filling into the baked pie crust. Top with the meringue (you may not need all of it), sealing to the edges of the crust. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for an hour and then chill for several hours or overnight before serving.

Enjoy the pie, and don't forget to purchase your special edition of Telesa for an entertaining holiday read. 

And enjoy the cover-art. Did someone say that Leila was on there? I didn't notice. she must be standing in the shadows of Daniel's awesomeness. I mean, just look at those arms, that chest, the tattoos...

Best RecipesCyclone Evan - Help! News Recipes

I try not to post non-food related issues up on this blog because, well, the thing is called SamoaFood.com. But I'm making an exception today because Samoa needs your help.

Imagine that the week before Christmas, everything you've ever owned is suddenly blown away. Literally.

And you're left with just the clothes on your back.

This is exactly what happened to people in Samoa when Cyclone Evan raged through. Five thousand have lost their homes and all their belongings and with Christmas just around the corner, there really isn't much to be merry about. 

Photo credit: Samoan Observer

Now I've never asked you guys for anything. Ever. But I'm asking now on behalf of the victims of Cyclone Evan to please help out in any way you can.

Red Cross, ADRA and Caritas are collecting donations and you can be sure that they will be put to good use because these people are on the ground providing relief right now.

If you belong to a church or sports organisation, please consider putting together either a monetary donation or even a container-load of goods to send over. The priorities for relief in the shelters are food, drinking water and water for the toilets. If you're not sure how you can help,call your folks in Samoa and ask what they need or simply donate to the charities up above.

Remember folks, it's Christmas time. A time for giving. So please give generously. 

Photo credit: Samoan Observer

Best RecipesPinati's needs a baker News Recipes

Pinati's is a Samoan food institution. Everyone in my parent's generation remembers his restaurant. It was one of the best places in its day for good-priced, generous servings of hot, filling, delicious food. My grandmother used to fofo (massage for healing) the original Pinati when he accidentally doused himself in hot oil. Twice. 

Anyway, the restaurant extended to New Zealand as a bakery and now, they need a baker to make all those yummy Samoan snacks. I think this would be a fantastic place to work. If you're an island baker in Auckland, why don't you apply?

Here's the ad from the New Zealand Herald:

BAKER-POLYNESIAN

9017724_1

Auckland City

 

Full Time

BAKER-POLYNESIAN Food Pinati's is a leading Polynesian Restaurant located in otahuhu....

BAKER-POLYNESIAN Food Pinati's is a leading Polynesian Restaurant located in otahuhu. The company serves authentic Polynesian dishes and baked goods to the broad polynesian community. We currently have a bakers position available for a suitable person experienced in hand making Polynesian foods. The successful apllicant must have at least three years experience in making polynesian food such as Keke Pua'a, Pani Siamani, Pani Keke, Fa'a ausi, Masi saiga, Masi popo. Must also have a food hygiene certificate and ability to manage staff. applications in writing to pahleong@gmail.com

Best RecipesMiti - Coconut condiment News Recipes

It doesn't take much to make this hot and sour sauce which goes well with taro, ulu (breadfruit) or any seafood dish. My father used to keep this seasoning sauce handy for every meal, and he thought that the sourer the sauce, the better. 

Miti

(makes 3/4 cup of sauce)

1/2-1 lemon
1 spring onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 green or red chilli peppers, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely diced
1/2 cup thick coconut milk*

* You want to use the thickest possible coconut milk for this, ie. the stuff that's collected at the top of the can. Of course, freshest is bestest. 

Juice the lemon - If you like a really sour sauce, use the whole lemon. I prefer it milder so 1/2 a lemon is good enough for me.

Put the juice and everything else in a small bowl and mix. Adjust salt as necessary. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

The spring onion is entirely optional but I find it adds a pretty colour. You can also add finely diced sweet red peppers or tomato. If you find yourself adding raw fish, then you're making oka, so back up cowboy and leave the sauce alone. 

Serve over, under or alongside any starchy root (cooked, of course) or as a dipping sauce for fresh or grilled seafood.

Best RecipesChef Monica Galetti - MasterChef Elite News Recipes

Chef Monica Galetti is the most famous Samoan chef I know of. For those of you who don't know who she is, I'm not going to ask what rock you've been hiding under (because I'm polite like that), but I am going to introduce her. 

She was born in Samoa, Monica Fa'afiti, and moved to Wellington, New Zealand at a young age. There she trained as a chef and entered international culinary competitions. Bitten by the travel bug, she applied for jobs with leading restaurateurs and Michel Roux, a renowned chef in the UK, took her on.

Since 1999, she has worked at Roux's high-end restaurant Le Gavroche which is all kinds of famous in itself (was first UK restaurant to receive three Michelin stars, trained Gordon Ramsey, has a Guiness Record for most expensive meal in the world). Chef Galetti started there as a lowly Commis Chef and rose through the ranks to become the restaurant's first female Sous Chef and then Head Chef for a Le Gavroche restaurant in Mauritius. 

She returned to the UK Le Gavroche and on top of working there, she is currently a presenter and judge on MasterChef: The Professionals where she judges a fierce cooking competition between qualified chefs. She has also just published her first solo cookbook Monica's Kitchen, and she is Samoa's very own UK Tourism Ambassador. And she's a mother. This is one busy woman so I was really fortunate to get an interview with her for our humble blog. 

Read on to learn more about this magnificent Samoan who has reached the pinnacle of culinary success.

© Charlotte Knee

Can you tell us a bit about what inspired you to write your book?

I’ve been asked a few times to do a book but being an actual chef I felt there was no point in writing up another sauce or meat book or a book about slow cooking. And then my friends came up with the idea, ‘Well, why don’t you just teach people how to cook what you do and make it a bit easier?’ and that’s how the idea came about and it kind of grew from there.

What kind of recipes and flavours can readers expect to find in your book?

It’s a whole mix. My background in cooking has been based in French cooking for the last twelve years while I’ve been here [Europe]. But I’m also a Mum with a young child and I rush home from work and have to knock out quick meals, as nutritional as possible and as quick as possible. It’s all about seasonal availability of what I have at the time, straight from the source and as fresh as possible. And then there’s the Something Different chapter which is different on this side of the world, not so much if you’re living in New Zealand. I’ve got a recipe for the oka and I’ve taken sapasui and deconstructed it – I’ve used veal and made the noodles separate to make it more appealing to this side of the world compared to how we know it.

Umu Galetti-style, seriously,
that's pork, taro and luau

How was it, writing your book?

I think most of it has just been learning to get a balance of working life and family life. There’s so much going on at the same time: filming, the restaurant, writing this, and I think my daughter suffered quite a lot from the timing of it. I’d finish work and pick her up then be at home with her and then sort of rushing to get her bed so I could get on the computer to type stuff out. So if anything, it made me appreciate the time that I have with her and also how fun it is to be cooking with a child. When I was doing the book it actually made me realise how much cooking I do actually do with my daughter, and it's quite a bit.    

With the Samoan dishes that you mentioned from your Something Different chapter of the book, I love the way you’ve taken Samoan food and refined it. Do you have an opinion on Samoan food and how would you like to see it develop?

I’d hate to have it change. You know, it’s just what we grow up on. Luau is luau and I’d hate to have it any other way. For our palates, we know what to expect. Teaching the European palate and adjusting the food to suit, making it more pleasant to the eye is the thing. And also to teach about the ingredients we have - you can eat the taro leaf, the sea grapes or limulimu that we have in Samoa - and showing them that there are other types of things can Samoans can cook other than the coconut bun.

I’m really fascinated by your journey from Samoa to New Zealand and now there to Europe and by how you’ve developed in your career. I was wondering how your French mentors have influenced your cooking style.

I think it’s down to the person. I’ve had to prove myself over the years to be worthy of the positions and the promotions that I’ve earned. Through that, my mentors have seen that I’m very keen and passionate about what I do so they’ve invested in me, sent me off to France to work there for a while in pastry, and I think it’s that. They see I have a passion for it and they’re willing to put back into you what you put into your work.

Sapasui with flair
Didn't recognise it, didja?

You have a bit of a fearsome reputation so if someone wanted to work for you, what would be the top things you’d be looking for?

Always from the beginning, presentation and how you dress yourself is important. I believe that if you can’t respect yourself how are you going to respect the ingredients or the people you work with. So the first thing is self-presentation and hygiene from the beginning. Having common sense is more important than anything. No matter what you are doing, have some common sense and it helps you out with a lot of issues.

I saw you mention elsewhere how you had a trainee who didn’t wash a vegetable before using it.

Yes, it’s just little things like that which people will forget and think is not important, but it does matter, especially at this level of cooking.

With your own kitchen at home, what are some ingredients that you always have on hand?

I always have puff pastry in my fridge. I always have smoked salmon. Lemons. What else do I have? Champagne. My husband is a sommelier so I have a very well-stacked cellar for myself to choose from but champagne isn’t really counted with that. I always have bacon lardons in the freezer. They help with quick easy meals like pasta. And in the store cupboard I’ve always got couscous pasta, tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and fresh herbs, very important.

Do you grow your own?

Yes I do.

I know that people would be intimidated cooking for you. Do you feel intimidated picking a wine for your husband? [He is Head Sommelier at Le Gavroche]

No, because I come from New Zealand and we have some pretty damned decent wines! But I love to leave it up to him and he always tries to teach me something new about wine or grapes so that, I enjoy.

Okra - don't ever cook this for her
(Photo from Columbia Culinary Society)

Is there any ingredient that you won’t cook?

Okra. I hate okra. It’s horrible. People say ‘Oh, you haven’t had it right. You have to put it in a curry.’ But when I’ve had it, it’s slimy and eew and horrible. And I would never use horse meat.

You know they sell that in the supermarket in Holland.

Yeah, I know. It’s not something I like. I lived in Holland for about six months. I wouldn’t cook monkeys, cat, things I don’t think are necessary to eat, I wouldn’t cook with.

Incidentally, do you eat sea (sea slug guts)?

Oh, actually no, it’s been a while, and I think I would eat more of it now.

What are your favourite Pacific dishes?

A proper umu is what I’m dying to have. Roast with the pig, with the luau in there and kalo. So I’m looking forward to Samoa. I’m going to Samoa this Christmas. It’s the first time I’m taking my daughter and my husband and it’s the first time back for me in over twenty years. Part of it is to go back home and rediscover my roots and it’s going to be a really really good trip. 

You mentioned that your daughter enjoys cooking with you. Does she help you around the kitchen and does she have a sophisticated palate?

I think more so now that she’s six years old. She loves cooking with us and she enjoys it. And she always eats her meat medium rare. She won't eat it if it's not medium rare. She loves sea bass and sole. And if we’re having meat at home, if we’re having a steak, she’ll say, “Are we having red wine?” It’s cute.

I’ve read that in Europe when people take their children out for dinner they allow them to taste a bit of alcohol. Is that what you do?

That’s what we do, we encourage her. When it becomes a part of normal eating and dining, it’s in a sense something that’s not abused. So it’s all about teaching her and nurturing her palate as well.

You’re around food all the time and you have such a great figure. How do you keep in shape?

I work out about five times a week. I tend to hit the gym at half six in the morning and I go straight to work afterwards. On the weekends I do boxing training.

And finally, can you tell us a bit about your future projects? What have you got on the horizons?

I just agreed to another three years with the BBC for MasterChef. I’ve got another series coming out for MasterChef in November. We did another series called the Great British Food Revival and that will be out in the next few weeks. We’re also filming a few episodes for another programme with Michel which is called Food and Wine and that will be out in January.  

Fa'afetai tele lava (Many thanks) to Chef Galetti for taking the time to talk to me. It was really a great pleasure to communicate with someone so talented. Thanks also to Ed from Quadrille Publishing who organised the interview.

Monica's Kitchen is a beautifully photographed hardcover book full of sophisticated but simple recipes for the everyday cook. I just received my book today and was salivating over the photos, and I've already marked lots of recipes I want to try out. Make sure you get your copy soon, and if I were in the UK, I'd be doing my darnedest to get it signed by the inimitable Chef Galetti.

    
                                                      

Best RecipesCoconut Cream Pie News Recipes

Before making this recipe I'd never eaten a coconut cream pie in my life. I'd had all manner of fruit pies - pineapple, blueberry, apple, peach, strawberry, apricot - but never a coconut cream pie, or any cream pie for that matter. Oh I'd had pumpkin pie, banoffee pie, sweet potato pie, lots of chocolate pies, even a mango pie ...OK, I'm starting to sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump, aren't I? 

Anyway, a reader once mentioned banana cream pie and that probably planted the seed in my head to make this pie. Now, I read the recipe through a couple of times, not wanting a repeat of the brown sugar chicken situation. I even measured out all my ingredients beforehand, which is something I do only on the most auspicious occasions.

But no matter how good of a cook you are, there are always moments in the kitchen that just knock you back to your childhood self when you tried to peel fa'i maka (green bananas) the traditional Samoan way and you ended up mutilating the banana so badly that the leftover stub was thrown at your head and then you were thrown out of the kitchen. 

This pie had a few of those moments, and I'm not ashamed to share them with you here. 

Recipe comes from Me'a Kai and can be found here. But don't blame the recipe for what you see below. Blame the cook who to this day, cannot really peel perfect fa'i maka.

Started by mixing the butter and sugar for the crust. So far so good, but hey, it's only two ingredients.

Pressed the very soft sticky dough into my baking dish. Smoothed it out as best I could. Not very smooth though, is it?

Prettied it up around the edges with a fork, then baked it.

Crust came out of the oven looking kind of sad and depressed. It had shrunk down to half its height and had just slithered to the bottom of the baking dish, looking like it had lost the will to go on. 

Coconut cream layer thickened up nicely,

as did the lemon cream layer.

Here's the finished pie.

When I was putting the lemon layer on the pie the coconut cream layer spread out to the sides. Not sure if my coconut layer wasn't thick enough or if I was supposed to let it set. In any case, the layers of the pie were not very even as you can see here. Also, my crust was slightly under-cooked in the corners where the pastry had collapsed. 

Of course, none of these points were enough to keep me from devouring the pie. It was truly delicious.