Whether or not you take into account your self to be a foodie otherwise you merely get pleasure from increasing your pallet with new dishes whereas on trip, there are various unique meals choices you will need to strive on the island of Tahiti. There are such a lot of distinctive dishes you merely can not discover anyplace else.
From uncooked fish to juicy, colourful fruits, Tahitian delicacies could be very distinctive and extremely impressed by the island’s tropical local weather and miles of breathtaking shorelines.
Study extra about fashionable Tahitian meals and drinks you will need to strive in your subsequent journey journey.
In This Article
What Is Tahiti Meals Like?
Tahitian delicacies entails a novel mix of Polynesian, French and Chinese language influences. Many dishes revolve across the following staple elements:
- Seafood and shellfish
- Coconut and coconut milk
- Banana leaves
- Lime
- Rice
- Native fruits
Vacationers will discover the prevalence of contemporary coconut and uncooked fish in lots of the native dishes. With its stability of tropical and candy flavors, Tahitian meals are very distinctive in comparison with different areas all through the world.
Tahiti is known for its expansive choice of meals vans and stands. A delicious meal is at all times simply across the nook, whether or not you might be in search of heat breakfast pastries or a savory seafood kabob.
Types of Tahitian Cooking
When discussing Tahitian delicacies, there are a number of types of cooking which can be highly regarded within the area. Two important options of Tahitian cooking embody hima’a and tama’ara’a.
Hima’a refers back to the in-ground ovens used for making ready giant meals for festivals and banquets. These making ready the meals use banana leaves to cradle meats and greens as they prepare dinner over the oven’s flames. These in-ground ovens are highly regarded in Tahiti as a result of they’re excellent for making ready varied meals, starting from crayfish to coconuts. They use sizzling volcanic rocks and hearth to prepare dinner every meal.
Tama’ara’a is a sort of Tahitian-style feast for particular events akin to holidays or competition celebrations. These are expansive meals with a wide range of meats and greens which can be typically ready utilizing a hima’a. This fashion of cooking is essential to Tahitian tradition as a result of they worth human connection to nature and group. Outside cooking is a staple of Tahitian delicacies and lots of the dishes on our record prepare dinner over these in-ground ovens.
11 Meals to Attempt in Tahiti
Tahitian delicacies has a novel mix of flavors and elements. Vacationers exploring these islands ought to try the next dishes for the total Tahitian expertise:
1. Poisson Cru
Poisson cru, additionally referred to as is ota or e’ia ota, is a colourful dish consisting of the next elements:
- Coconut milk
- Uncooked fish (often tuna)
- Lime juice
- Greens
To arrange this dish, a chef usually marinates the uncooked fish in contemporary lime or lemon juice. The acid from the citrus adjustments the fish’s proteins and creates an identical impact to cooking the fish. To high this dish off, they add a wide range of crunchy, uncooked greens, akin to:
To deliver down the acidity of the citrus juice, the chef provides a splash of coconut milk. This can be a must-try for vacationers as a result of it’s Tahiti’s unofficial nationwide dish.
2. Chevrettes à la Vanille et Coco
Chevrettes à la vanille et coco is a tasty Tahitian dish with freshly cooked shrimp served with a creamy vanilla-coconut milk sauce. This appetizer celebrates and showcases Tahiti’s spectacular domestically sourced vanilla beans.
The candy vanilla taste of this dish pairs finest with a aspect of rice or spinach.
3. Pahua Taioro
Any foodie on a visit to Tahiti should strive Pahua taioro. It’s an beautiful and distinctive dish product of a mix of snails and clams. Preparation consists of soaking these in contemporary water for a few hours. A chef crafts a sauce for the combination usually product of the next elements:
- Grated coconut
- Shrimp
- Seawater
To high it off with a small crunch, they add a sprinkle of onions and garlic cloves, adopted by salt and pepper.
4. Poulet Fafa
Poulet fafa is considered one of Tahiti’s hottest native dishes made in an in-ground oven. To arrange this dish, a chef fries reduce items of hen in oil till they start to brown. After eradicating the hen, the chef sautees ginger with onion and garlic within the remaining oil. The hen is then added again and cooked within the ahima’a till it’s tender.
In the meantime, let a heavy serving to of chopped taro leaves cooked in salt water or spinach simmer till it’s time to stir in coconut cream and cornstarch. After combining every little thing, this vibrant inexperienced dish appears nearly as good because it tastes.
5. Ahima’a
Ahima’a, to not be confused with the kind of oven, is a nationwide dish that has a novel preparation course of. To make this dish, you place volcanic stones on the backside of the pit, adopted by wooden and coconut husks.
After the wooden burns, you cowl the cooking space with banana leaves the place the pork and hen get cooked. Seeing the preparation of this dish is an expertise in itself for vacationers.
6. Fafaru
Fafaru is a extremely uncommon conventional Polynesian dish that’s identified for smelling sturdy and pungent. Regardless of its unusual aroma, this fafaru is a candy dish served with fermented coconut milk.
When making ready this dish, a chef marinates crushed shrimps in seawater for 2 to a few days, leaving it out within the daylight. After filtering the combination, the remaining liquid ferments slices of tuna for anyplace from three to eight hours.
Most vacationers skip over this well-known dish, however a real foodie will love giving it a strive throughout their travels to Tahiti.
7. Sashimi
Sashimi is a well-known Japanese dish that could be very a preferred menu merchandise in Tahiti. This dish consists of thinly sliced items of uncooked fish or meat and usually pairs properly with soy sauce.
Nevertheless, the Tahitian twist on this Asian dish is its particular sauce. Tahitian-style sashimi sauce consists of the next elements:
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Oyster sauce
- French mustard
- Canola oil
- Onions
- Garlic
- Ginger
This dish has a salty, memorable style many vacationers love.
8. Breadfruit or Uru
Attempting out uru, additionally referred to as ulu, is a should for any traveler visiting Tahiti. Uru is the fruit of a breadfruit tree and a staple of Tahitian delicacies and has cultural roots due to native legend.
There are a whole lot of sorts of breadfruit and locals get pleasure from them each uncooked and cooked in an open flame, in-ground oven or fried in oil. With its starchy, bread-like style, this fruit is scrumptious when dipped in candy coconut milk. You may as well make a yummy breadfruit butter out of the fruit to pair with bread.
9. Contemporary Fruits
Along with breadfruits, Tahiti is known for its abundance of gorgeous tropical fruits.
You possibly can cease at practically any native roadside vendor and discover a plethora of unique, colourful fruits, typically together with:
- Pineapples
- Candy coconuts
- Papayas
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Grapefruits
- Mangos
- Watermelons
These contemporary fruits typically provide a special tasting expertise than what you would possibly decide up at your native grocery retailer. For instance, the mangos are crunchier and the grapefruits are sweeter, making it really feel such as you’re making an attempt these meals for the primary time ever. Foodies will love evaluating the flavors of contemporary Tahitian-grown fruits with what they’re used to.
10. Casse-Croûte
In French, casse-croûte means “breakfast.” In Tahiti, nevertheless, this time period refers to a crunchy, scrumptious sandwich not like every other. These sandwiches are made with crusty baguettes and stuffed with totally different meats, often coconut milk marinated hen, topped with the next elements:
Some Tahitian hotspots serve casse-croûte with uncooked fish as an alternative of meat. And most notably, this distinctive sandwich features a serving to of spaghetti or Chinese language chow mein noodles.
It doesn’t matter what’s inside this sandwich, casse-croûte is a lunchtime staple that anybody touring to Tahiti should give a strive.
11. Pizza
Whereas contemplating what meals to strive in Tahiti, pizza most likely doesn’t come to thoughts. Nevertheless, pizzerias are highly regarded all through French Polynesia. Vacationers could also be stunned to study concerning the abundance of pizza all through the islands.
Yow will discover many alternative choices all through Tahiti. The preferred topping decisions embody Tahitian pineapple and cooked ham, much like a Hawaiian-style pizza.
5 Desserts to Attempt in Tahiti
Along with yummy meals, there are additionally some Tahitian dessert dishes that vacationers should strive whereas on trip:
1. Po’e
Po’e, referred to as poke in locations aside from Tahiti, is a scrumptious pudding dessert with its origins in Polynesia. This dish is strikingly tropical. Cooked bananas are mashed and mixed with arrowroot flour, a starchy gluten- and grain-free flour.
The combination is then wrapped in banana leaves then positioned on an in-ground oven the place it cooks till it bubbles and begins taking up the consistency of pudding.
Some serve po’e reduce into cubes and coated it in coconut cream. Whereas banana po’e is commonest, it will also be made with:
This dessert is bound to be a crowd-pleaser amongst vacationers.
2. Firi Firi
When taking a visit to Tahiti, remember to order firi firi for breakfast not less than as soon as! These scrumptious donuts marinate in candy coconut milk and are fried in oil. The deep-fried dough folds right into a figure-eight. As soon as these donuts are brown and crispy, they’re dusted in sugar and served with the next:
- Espresso
- Sizzling chocolate
- Fruit jam
Vacationers will see the locals dipping their firi firi into their morning espresso. These pastries have a light coconut style and crunchy, delicious texture. Yow will discover them made contemporary at many avenue meals stands and shacks all through Tahiti.
3. Tahitian Vanilla Cake
Tahitian vanilla is a particular number of vanilla that grows solely within the Tahitian Islands and is known all through the world for its distinctive, candy style. It is without doubt one of the most profitable crops all through all of French Polynesia and a staple ingredient in lots of desserts and dishes.
As a result of Tahitian vanilla is so fashionable, vacationers can get pleasure from a plethora of candy treats that includes this putting ingredient. Truffles made with Tahitian vanilla are identified for having a fragile and nearly fruity taste, whereas conventional vanillas have a barely spiced style.
4. Kato
Kato refers to a French croissant-inspired breakfast biscuit that could be very fashionable in Tahiti. They’re made with coconut milk and often served alongside a contemporary cup of espresso.
These biscuits could be candy like a cookie or on the savory aspect and are a staple breakfast merchandise discovered at bakeries and roadside meals stands.
5. Tahitian Candy Bread
Whereas vacationing in Tahiti, it’s important to present Tahitian candy bread a strive. What makes this bread so distinctive is its candy dough made with yogurt and the juice from an orange.
Items of dried mango and pineapple go into the dough together with whipped egg whites. This candy, chewy bread could be a scrumptious deal with any time of the day.
4 Drinks to Attempt in Tahiti
Whereas making an attempt out new dishes in your travels to Tahiti, don’t overlook to check out some delectable drinks. There are a number of staple drinks each customer ought to give a go, together with the next:
1. Hinano Lager
Hinano is Tahiti’s nationwide beer and its been a preferred beverage of selection for locals for greater than 60 years. Its identify is impressed by white flowers which can be indigenous to the South Pacific islands. This deluxe lager has a vivid golden coloration and a notably bitter but refreshing style that’s not like different beers.
A visit to Tahiti is just not full with out giving this lager a strive. It’s a beloved beverage that locals get pleasure from throughout festivals, together with the Heiva i Tahiti and Tiurai.
2. Tahiti Drink
Tahiti Drink is a novel mix of scrumptious contemporary juices and flavors that embody the tropical essence of the island. It’s a blended drink generally made up of the next elements:
- Pineapple juice
- Passionfruit juice
- Orange zest
- Vanilla
- Fruit liquors or cane spirits
Tahiti Drink is a candy and refreshing cocktail that’s been a success with locals because the Eighties. Many examine Tahiti Drink to a Mai Tai cocktail, however not like most alcoholic drinks, you purchase this drink in a carton.
3. Espresso
Vacationers visiting Tahiti should remember to get pleasure from not less than one cup of Tahitian espresso. Due to the number of espresso growers all through French Polynesia, there are a number of frequent choices to select from, together with:
- Rurutu
- Manureva
- Noanoa Grand Cru
- Paradise Island
Historically, espresso is served with a number of drops of Tahitian vanilla or blended with sugar and candy coconut cream for a dreamy cup of java on trip. Some vacationers have mentioned that there is no such thing as a higher espresso on earth than in French Polynesia.
4. Wine
Whereas the South Pacific will not be some of the fashionable wine areas on the planet, Tahiti and the accompanying islands do have vineyards that produce uncommon, scrumptious wines.
The preferred grape varieties in Tahiti embody Muscat and Carignan. Muscat grapes are usually made into a lightweight, refreshing rosé, whereas Carignan grapes produce a darkish, deep crimson wine. Carignan is a neighborhood favourite due to its strong and daring flavors.
Begin Planning Your Trip to Tahiti Right now
Whether or not you’re a foodie or want to discover new locations, a visit to Tahiti is bound to impress any traveler. And top-of-the-line components of trip is making an attempt new, unique dishes from the native communities.
Should you’re trying to discover all that Tahiti has to supply, take into account taking a visit! With Windstar Cruises, you possibly can get pleasure from yacht-style cruising in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Our crew is enthusiastic about making certain our passengers really feel welcomed and excited to be on board.
Are you interested by getting extra details about a life-changing journey to Tahiti? Contact a Windstar Trip Planner to study extra at this time!
