With the rise of late night food stands across Fiji, Chef Seeto delves into the myths and history of some of our favourite hand-held foods and shares some delicious recipes to enjoy at home or sell on the street.
ONE of the easiest and convenient snack foods commonly found in Fiji is the ubiquitous roti parcel. With just a few simple ingredients of flour, salt and butter, the Indian unleavened bread can be rolled out and turned into a fast snack. Cheap to make, roti vendors across the country start making the bread while most of us are sound asleep and fill them with all sorts of homemade curried meats or sautéed vegetables ready for busy people to grab for breakfast or lunch.
Despite its simplicity, there are many more delicious ways to enjoy the roti parcel, and a closer look at the Mexican burrito reveals not only similarities in their origins, but decades more ideas and flavour combinations.
Origins of roti
Chapati, phulka, puri, roti — no Indian meal is complete without this quintessential flatbread. It’s as much an Indian staple as root crops are to the iTaukei or rice is to the Chinese. And while North India is known to be fixated with this oldest of flatbreads, there is no denying that it is one of the easiest bread recipes to make.
But have you ever wondered when and how this meal essential originate? There are several theories about the flatbread’s origin but is closely linked with the discovery of grains and the beginnings of agriculture.
One story says that the roti came from Persia, but was thicker and made of maida, a white wheat flour. Another says it originated in the state of Avadha in Uttar Pradesh, India, where wheat was consumed and took a slightly coarse form, which was much akin to the hapatti we know today. Another version says roti travelled all the way from East Africa where the production of wheat and the making of round flatbreads without any need of fermentation was evident.
Whatever its origins, the roti has sustained civilisations for hundreds, if not thousands of years. What is really interesting is not when it was first invented, but why.
Eating breads with meals dates back to ancient times but roti became the perfect eating tool for travellers who didn’t have time to sit down to eat. It could be used as a bowl to hold a wet dish or ripped into a spoon to scoop up with four fingers, as is still done today. Unleavened breads were also more convenient and faster to make than a meal with rice.
So what is a burrito?
Burritos are one of the most popular wrapped-foods on any Mexican inspired menu, but instead of a roti, it uses the much lighter tortilla (pronounced tor-tee-yah) made from ground corn maize not wheat. Though, anyone who knows a little Spanish has probably raised their eyebrows at the name. In Spanish, a “burro” is a donkey, and “burrito,” the diminutive form, means “little donkey” but just as there is no ham in a hamburger or puppy dogs in a hot dog, donkey meat was never an ingredient in this famous dish either!
So how exactly did it get its name? It turns out, there are quite a few stories about how the burrito name came to be and little in the way of documented evidence backing any of them.
One of the most popular stories is that a food vendor named Juan Mendez from Chihuahua, Mexico used a donkey to carry around his supplies for his food cart. To keep the food warm, he would wrap it up in a big homemade flour tortilla. Some people believe that it could simply be because burritos look a bit like a donkey’s ears or the rolled packs and bedrolls often carried by donkeys.
However the burrito got its name, it has evolved a great deal since it was first created. The burrito made its way into the US in the 1900s, with roadside carts competing for business and it didn’t take long for the burrito to cross cultural boundaries and evolve in ways Juan Mendez probably never imagined.
What started as a simple mix of meat, cheese and tomato has turned into a full-blown meal that now includes rice, beans, meat, cheese, vegetables, and sauces wrapped up in a heavy-duty tortilla. Now there are burritos made with Thai chicken, Chinese red pork and the breakfast burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, potato, and bacon.
Whereas the simple roti parcel has hardly changed, the influence of the Spanish and American immigrants has evolved the burrito from a roadside snack into nearly a two-course meal.
More fillings make
it more exciting
There is truly nothing like a fresh roti parcel of your favourite meat or vegetable curry but one of the mistakes we sometimes make when trying to come up with new ideas is to assume it cannot be changed. Why not? I always say!
Indian flavours taste natural with roti but really it is just a flat bread. So any imaginable fillings can be used to create your own unique roti. They are wonderful used as a wrap and filled with an assortment of salad vegetables, a spread of chutney or cream cheese, and then jam-packed with whatever you love in sandwiches.
The buttery, seared roti (don’t use margarine, use real cow’s butter when making roti) and its soft texture adds a dimension to a wrap that you just cannot reproduce with a store-bought tortilla, long loaf or bun.
And if you have some avocados around, add some fresh chicken, mayonnaise, lemon zest, salad and cream cheese to be in chicken and avocado roti heaven.
However, the roti wrap is still quintessential Indian. It just needs a few more ingredients to give any burger or hotdog a run for its money.
Try adding some texture the next time you’re making roti wraps, like fried beans, chickpea, dhal or any pulse to it some crunch. Curries are nearly always served with a myriad of chutney, pickles, raita and rice, so why not add these inside a roti parcel as well. Your tastebuds will recognise the flavour combination immediately as the Fijian palate is used to these flavours. Now imagine them all wrapped up in a fresh roti and eaten with just one hand. Or what about a lovo roti wrap with lovo meats, smashed root crops, palusami and a good home made tomato chutney.
But the ultimate way to enjoy roti in a completely different way is as a dessert. Dessert cafes are a big thing overseas and in Japan they’ve come up with a very Fijian inspired roti with chocolate, bananas, toasted coconut, ice cream and chocolate topping. Drool!
Now, someone just has to think of starting up a roadside dessert stand.
* Lance Seeto is a celebrity chef and culinary ambassador for Fiji Airways and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
