Fine Food: multicultural delights

Fine food in Tahiti and her islands is typically a natural style of cooking based on fresh products, prepared according to either pure local style or various culinary influences from around the world: Local cuisine utilizes fresh local products, of which mainly fish of all kind with local fruits & vegetables. Over time, European cuisine has achieved some kind of a fusion, utilizing local products in classical recipes. Lastly, Asian cooking has also added its own tastes and textures, turning classical Pacific dishes into something surprisingly distinctive and new. The top-rated dishes are undoubtedly raw fish “à la tahitienne” (which is marinated in lemon and coconut milk), and the very popular Chinese ma ’a tinito (which is a mixture of pork, kidney beans, pota and macaroni). Family feasts offer ideal opportunities for huge “tamara’a Tahiti” (Tahitian style feasts) where a meal consisting of suckling pig, fish, breadfruit, yams and fe’i bananas is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed in an earth-dug oven that is filled with layers of hot rocks. The larger hotels often organize big buffet-evenings that offer a vast panorama of local culinary delights, accompanied by traditional dance performances.