Roots, recipes and a melting pot of culture

By Nitin Gupta
0
3213
Sadhna Wilson

How Indians added fire and spice and a lot that’s nice to Fijian cuisine

Fiji is the melting pot of the Pacific, with a unique indigenous cuisine based on complex root crops, a variety of seafood, an array of life-enhancing green vegetables and herbs, and vibrant fruits that sync with tropical flavours.

But it was only when the Indians migrants started landing in Fiji that things began to spice up in Fijian kitchens and homes.

Combining natural Fijian ingredients with the ancient cuisine knowledge of India, and whatever few spices they managed to bring with them or could procure regularly on a limited basis back in those early settlement days, what emerged and evolved over the next few generations is a fusion cuisine like no other.

Indo-Fijian cuisine or the Fiji-Indian food is a unique manifestation of the Indian diaspora because of the context in which it developed.

For migrants, food, cuisine and food traditions are among the most vital foundation elements of their new evolving culture. Food is central to their individual and collective identities.

It is hard to imagine a Fijian table without curry. In fact visitors to Fiji often comment that the Indian food in Fiji is better than back in India.

In her book Tropical Vegetarian, Sadhna Wilson succeeds in recording her family recipes, the first in a series of Fijian Indian recipe books so that collectively she may be able to have an extended documentation of traditional recipes, cooking methods and stories from Fiji Indian kitchens and homes.

Recipes are not just food: they provide intangible links to the history and heritage. By writing this book, Sadhna reminds us that food is emotional, it is nostalgic, it reassures us that flavours continue timelessly beyond boundaries, and that as recipes and knowledge fall into a new generation of hands, it also reminds them of who they are.


The writer is a Former Ministerial Advisor and a Guest Columnist for The Indian Sun

 

Donate To The Indian Sun

Dear Reader,

The Indian Sun is an independent organisation committed to community journalism. We have, through the years, been able to reach a wide audience especially with the growth of social media, where we also have a strong presence. With platforms such as YouTube videos, we have been able to engage in different forms of storytelling. However, the past few years, like many media organisations around the world, it has not been an easy path. We have a greater challenge. We believe community journalism is very important for a multicultural country like Australia. We’re not able to do everything, but we aim for some of the most interesting stories and journalism of quality. We call upon readers like you to support us and make any contribution. Do make a DONATION NOW so we can continue with the volume and quality journalism that we are able to practice.

Thank you for your support.

Best wishes,
Team The Indian Sun

Comments