FOOD SAFARIS A BIG HIT IN FIJI

Leading Fiji boutique resort Nanuku Auberge on Viti Levu has found that its most popular activity is also one of the healthiest: a food tour focusing on local fresh produce and organically grown fruit, vegetables and herbs. What’s more, the tours are resulting in an increasingly organic five-star resort menu unique in Fiji.

The safari begins with a trip to the local market in Navua, 20 minutes from Nanuku, with a Nanuku Resort ‘buddy’. The buddy wanders around with the guests, who are able to select their favourite fruit and vegetables, which are then used in a rustic Fijian-style cooking experience back at the resort.

The tour also includes a stopover at nearby Ranadi Plantation – a 100 per cent organic farm managed primarily by local women. Nanuku Auberge Resort is gradually incorporating an increasing amount of Ranadi Plantation’s organically grown produce into its resort menu, under the guidance of newly appointed chef Oliver Scarf (ex-Laucala and The George, Christchurch, New Zealand).

Back at the resort, guests learn how to make their own coconut milk, prepare the local dish Kokoda, a fish ceviche that is also popular in PNG, and are shown the traditional Fijian way of cooking freshwater black prawns – in bamboo tubes on an open fire – before enjoying every morsel for a sumptuous lunch.

More adventurous guests can immerse themselves in local ways by taking the tours held on moonlit nights to forage for the freshwater prawns.