Ni-Vanuatu Cuisine

Ni-Vanuatu cuisine is wholesome Melanesian island food drawn from the land and the sea, built on root vegetables, coconut, fresh fish and tropical fruit, with a French colonial influence in the towns. The national dish is laplap, a beloved staple of grated root vegetable, such as taro, yam or cassava, mixed with coconut cream, wrapped in leaves and slow-baked in an earth oven. Alongside come fresh reef fish and seafood, island fruit and vegetables, and the local speciality of coconut crab. Central to social and ceremonial life is kava, the earthy, mildly sedating drink shared in village nakamals at dusk.

What you actually see

• Laplap - the national dish of grated root and coconut baked in leaves.
• The fresh seafood - the reef fish, seafood and coconut crab.
• The tropical produce - the root vegetables, fruit and coconut.
• Kava - the earthy ceremonial drink shared in the nakamal.

When to go

Year-round; the colourful markets, especially in Port Vila, are the place for fresh produce, laplap and island snacks, while French-influenced cafes and restaurants add variety in town. At dusk, the village nakamal is where locals gather to share bowls of kava, a distinctive and central ritual of Ni-Vanuatu social life.

Honest expectations

Ni-Vanuatu food is simple, starchy island cooking centred on root vegetables, coconut and fish rather than a varied or refined cuisine, so its appeal is wholesome, earthy island fare and the cultural experience of the earth oven and the market rather than culinary complexity; kava is an acquired, earthy taste with a numbing effect. For fresh island produce, laplap and the social ritual of kava, though, eaten with island simplicity, it is an authentic taste of Melanesia.

Nearby

Port Vila's market and the village nakamals across the islands are the places.