In the aftermath of Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston, Chef Seeto believes we have a unique opportunity to increase our fresh medicine foods by introducing some new exotic fruits and herbs borrowed from our South East Asian cousins
THIS past week’s gargantuan effort to get aid to those in most need has been incredible. It was great to see Australian and New Zealand military assistance to begin the next stage of recovery; replanting those lost crops with seeds and seedlings.
As I watched sacks of dalo and cassava seeds arrive by helicopter, it got me thinking. Why don’t we plant some new species of fruits and vegetables in addition to our root crops? It would give the chefs more local produce to transform into culinary masterpieces, and provide farmers with a regular income of faster growing herbs and fruits compared with their traditional crops.
It doesn’t take a year to grow the aromatic Thai basil or Vietnamese mint, which would be great new local additions to a chef’s dishes. Growing exotic produce opens a farmer’s customers to not only include the municipal markets, but also resorts, hotels and restaurants. It may also provide export opportunity in the future if there is a demand for organic and wild herbs grown here.
If our artesian water and coconut by-products are in such high demand overseas, why not more exotic produce?
Aromatic green herbs
In the past few years, the use of the locally-grown basil leaf as a garnish has at last replaced the imported green parsley of the 1980 and 1990s. The only problem is that the basil is often more tasty than the food it sits atop in some Fijian eateries! That’s because fresh basil grows widely across Fiji today and is seen more as a pretty green or purple flower that is cheaper than parsley.
The traditional Fijian recipes were devoid of fresh herbs because they simply were not around in those days. But the demand for fresh grown herbs has increased over the years, thanks mainly to their use in our tourism industry for cooking, the bar and even in aromatherapy.
The medicinal value of herbs is well documented and with our lush soil, I dream of the day Fiji’s farms are filled with commercially-available fresh and organic rosemary, sage, dill, tarragon, oregano, nettle and marjoram.
Exotic Asian fruits
Some readers may be surprised to learn that the origin of many of Fiji’s traditional fruits and vegetables can be traced to far distant countries.
Papaya has its origins in Southern Mexico, while pineapples came from Brazil, watermelon in the Kalahari Desert of Africa and bananas in West Africa. These fruits are found in most tropical regions of the world but the origins of the Fijian species can be found in South East Asia on the canoes of Polynesian seafarers.
In fact, the supercharged, medicinal orange coconut, niu damu, comes from a Malay species of palm tree.
A look at the exotic fruits of other tropical countries gives some insight into the possibilities to grow them in Fiji with our similar climate and volcanic soil. The list of fruits we are missing on our plates is endless.
Let’s see, there is yellow watermelon, the prehistoric-looking dragonfruit, rambutan, lychee, longan, mangosteen, granadilla, langstat, wood apple, snake fruit and the “king of fruit” — durian.
Some people have experimented with growing some of these fruits but they are yet to reach customers in commercial and consistent quantity. But if they can grow them in other tropical countries, the addition of these exotic fruits would boost and diversify our industry and possibly open up new export opportunities.
Tropical berries and cherries
One of the fruits I miss in Fiji is the availability of fresh berries. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries are superfoods whose antioxidant and healing properties make them an important medicine food but are difficult to grow in tropical climates. I have met some people who are successfully growing strawberries at home but only in small quantities.
These types of berries prefer much colder climates, but in Florida there are a number of exciting small fruits that grow in subtropical regions with very little work and provide a rich palette of deep reds, blue, purple and black for chefs.
The acerola cherry, also known as a “Barbados cherry”, is a delicious sweet-tart tropical fruit that’s packed with nutrition and rich in vitamin C. There is also purple mulberries, black Surinam cherries, jabuticaba, Jamaican cherries, goji berries, kumquats, honeyberries, goumi berries, seabuck thorn, ground cherries and the list goes on!
More research must be done to assess these new herbs and fruits but as we are rebuilding and replanting our crops, now is a good time to consider alternative cash crops with shorter harvest times.
There is a saying that “if you build it, they will come” from the Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams” (he was being convinced to build a baseball field for ghosts!) but in the case of our farmers or market gardeners, “if you grow it, the customers will come!” And Fijian cuisine will be forever in your debt for introducing new tropical produce, colour, flavour and medicine food.
* Lance Seeto is the multi award winning chef at Mana Island Resort and Spa, culinary ambassador for Fiji Airways, and host of Fiji TV’s “Taste of Paradise”.
