Fiji has so much to share with the world. This is not only the happiest place on the planet; this is where your humanity will be tested and your palate tantalised with the foods of life. In tonight’s season premiere, Chef Seeto takes viewers to Makogai Island in the Lomaiviti Group to learn the story of the former leper colony. This is a Taste of Paradise.
Of the many lessons I have learned sitting around the kava bowl, it is the sense of destiny and connection to humanity that stands out in the Fijian culture. Knowing where you came from makes it easier to know where you are going in life. That purpose of civilisation is imprinted into the DNA of every native Fijian, the iTaukei.
But it is the protection of their ancestral land that provides a direct connection to that destiny. The tribal land also provides the iTaukei with security of: home, family and the most critical for survival — food.
LIFETIME OF PROCESSED FOODS MAKE US SICK
The ancestral diet of Fijians is based on life-giving foods from the land, river and sea, with the Tree of Life, coconut, underpinning thousand of years of sustenance and gastronomy. But the introduction and consumption of processed foods and refined foods like sugar, oil, salt and flour has inflicted a pandemic of diseases never heard of in previous generations.
They say that when Western civilisation comes to a native country, the people get sick. And sadly, that is what is happening today throughout the South Pacific.
But the opportunity to reverse the mistakes of the past is still available to every Fijian today, and the answers can be found in the far remote communities and islands who thankfully, are not as sick or tempted by the high salt, oil and sugar foods of the West.
At the far edges of Fiji’s island archipelago, the essence and ancient gastronomy of the South Pacific is alive. And that’s where our adventure and culinary journey begins. We’re going back to the school of life and as a member of the human species; I can’t wait to learn something new from the Fijians in the outer islands.
DISEASE IN MAKOGAI
Our first stop in this series is the old leprosy colony of Makogai Island in the Lomaiviti archipelago chain, and it is here that we learn about kindness and hope.
First contact with the early Europeans brought disease and death to the indigenous people of the entire South Pacific including measles, cholera and leprosy. Between 1911 and 1969, Makogai was turned into the region’s leprosarium to accommodate over 4500 patients from not just Fiji but across the Pacific islands.
Makogai was eventually chosen for its distance away from the main island to contain the spread of the infectious disease which caused skin lesions and nerve damage. A mini city was built to segregate the different cultures, with hospitals, a butchery, cinema and even a jail.
Among the 1241 souls interred on Makogai is Mother Marie Agnes, the kindly Catholic nun who ran the facility with an iron fist for 34 years, when no one else would. Her unlimited capacity for kindness and hope for those with none, was recognised in later life by the British colonial government.
Also buried here is Fijian sister with her own amazing story. Sister Maria Filomena eventually contracted leprosy herself but continued working for 30 years, bathing and caring for those more sick than her. In 1948 an effective treatment was introduced and the colony was phased out over the next two decades.
The closure and abandonment of the leper colony saw Makogai Island slowly resettled and some of the old steel structure including the hospital beds used in the aquaculture project. Fiji’s Department of Fisheries has taken on the challenge of conservation and restoration of two endangered species; the vasua clams and Hawkesbill turtles, once enjoyed as delicacies in the local cuisine. The overharvesting and exploitation of these sea creatures has seen them listed as a vulnerable and endangered species. But just as Mother Mary Agnes saw hope in the eyes of the diseased more than 50 years before, the iTaukei have turned to repopulating two of its ancestral foods.
NO TECHNOLOGY COOKING
Throughout the entire series I tried to use as little technology as possible; only wood and fire, to demonstrate you don’t need a fancy kitchen or electrical appliances to create good food. In tonight’s episode it’s about catching the lairo land crab, cooking in a vasua clam instead of a pot or grilling seafood on a hot stone instead of a BBQ . The cooking is raw, fresh and at times, completely new, even to me! All of the ingredients are available in your village, backyard, farm or outdoor market, and that’s the beauty of this season, there’s no excuse not to cook your family more healthy foods.
The season begins tonight for the next 13 weeks and one of the biggest additions this year is that you will be able to rewatch the episodes at your leisure from the new website at tasteofparadise.tv. We’ve even uploaded some of the older episodes from previous seasons as well as recipes and a chance to ask me questions about cooking. The new website is also smartphone friendly so whether you’re on the bus, in the village, at home or work; you can now get your daily fix of seeing Fiji through the eyes of a chef.
The story of Makogai Island reveals the South Pacific’s history of despair and disease upon first contact with Europeans. But it is the resilience and spirit of the native people that will see their civilisation survive well into the 21st century, especially when kindness and love will be passed down from generation to generation. This is the essence of life in Fiji; welcome to the start of another journey of history, life and cooking. Welcome to this season of Taste of Paradise!
* Lance Seeto is the award winning chef based on Mana Island, and is Fiji Airway’s Culinary Ambassador and host of Fiji TV’s Taste of Paradise. Taste of Paradise begins tonight 7.30pm on Fiji One and online at tasteofparadise.tv
