Kana Vinaka, it tastes good!

I am all for my food and I say that with a passion.

When people come to know about the Pacific you will always hear ‘the sand’, ‘the sea’, ‘the sun’ and then complimented by ‘the food’. That is the absolute truth.

People of the Pacific love their food, and rightfully so. We are surrounded by all these natural growth and are fortunate enough to be able to cook meals where all the ingredients are available at the ‘teitei’ or the ‘veko’ (plantation) or really just from our back yard.

There are places in some parts of the world where the soil fertility is almost zero to none and yet here we are, living in a salad bowl where access to vegetables and everything else is right in front of us.

The Kana Vinaka cookbook takes us into our gardens and local markets and helps us get back to our roots with new exciting recipes.

This brings me to my recent interview with the author Colin Chung. Chung is a renown chef who, in a few weeks, will be releasing his cookbook.

He was born and raised in the beautiful 5-0 Hawaii with his interests based around Pacific food, culture and hospitality. Colin Chung’s love for food started with the influence of his both grandmothers – “Popo”, his maternal grandmother who showed him how marketing can be fun and ran a café in Honolulu and “Maui Popo”, his paternal grandmother who was a Hawaiian weaver and a farmer who showed him how to plant, harvest and grow local produce in Maui Hawaii.

Colin Chung's recipes only use the best local produce

When I asked what inspired him to create a cook book, he said it was the endless badgering and harping from his longtime friend, business partner and tourism consultant and educator Greg Cornwall. “It’s not about me, but a give back to the island people that I have worked with for over 40 years ” said Chung.

So it’s no surprise that he’s taken all that knowledge and harnessed it into a contemporary island cuisine cook book.

When I ask him about where he bases himself, it’s a whimsical picture he paints.

“My own kitchen in Whale Bay, Raglan has everything I need to create great food: every hand and electric tool, the right professional equipment, all the seasonings, spices, oils, dry ingredients, fresh herbs, fruits and veggies from our organic gardens and the best fresh local produce- harvested, bought, traded or gathered locally. Plus the scenic views (surf at my doorstep) and mellow Hawaiian music to cook by. It’s a pleasure to create everyday.”

Kaibu Island also played host to Colin as he locked himself away on the island paradise to draw inspiration for the ‘Kana Vinaka’ cookbook.

Heart of Palm salad is featured in the Kana Vinaka cookbook

As I chat more with Colin about his love of food it’s interesting to note that this Hawaiian native is not trained as a chef but has experience hospitality.

“I’m not really a trained chef, as my training and degree is BBA in Hotel and Restaurant Management but I ran a lot of large restaurants and hotel companies as a young manager, and with my total interest in food and cooking I was drawn more and more to the cooking and creative side of foods.”

Let’s be honest, we’ve adopted lifestyle choices that have impacted our health. The recent numbers on NCD’s in Fiji is alarming and right now we need all the help we can get to inspire people to eat better.

I hope to learn a lot from this cookbook and attempt to create some of these dishes with my nephews. School holidays are coming up and the kids are all for their fruits and vegetables so what a way to pass time.

The cook book set to launch in April and can be purcahsed at the USP Book Shop, Tappoo, Flavors of the Pacific on Denarau, Essence of Fiji Spa and The Orchid Fiji.