Tribewanted: Vorovoro

back again from my 4th trip to vorovoro, and i am reminded that one of the best things on the island is the way that unplanned, unexpected things can turn into grand adventures that become the highlight of a given week. this time, it was volunteering to help with sunday lunch when the tribe looks after themselves for meals.

this past sunday, we realized that the empty gas tank which went into town for filling on saturday, returned empty on the boat, as it was a particularly busy town trip with much preparation for the celebration on tuesday. so, it was all wood fire and double-barrel oven for us. having decided to revive a tradition from my month as chief, i had planned for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a big, fresh mediterranean salad – only to discover that the tribe had stopped buying bread from the hot bread kitchen in favor of making our own.

so, dan (aka tui flapjack), a proper chef, thrust the recipe book into my hands, told me to double the fijian bread recipe since we had a growing amount of people on the island, said it should be easy, and left us to attend the weekly staff meeting.

well, suffice it to say that 3 hours later, with the absolutely stellar assistance of holly and abi with kneading, rob with general sous chef responsibilities, and, of course, tale and sosi with fire stoking, poke testing (using the same spine of the palm leaf that is turned into brooms), and non-stop entertainment, the tribe enjoyed what came to be known as the “biggest bread in the world” – madrai levu. we ended up with 5 huge loaves – buttered and irresistable.

while peanut butter and jelly was deemed very american, sosi’s twistie sandwich was a new invention altogether. and it worked out perfectly that we had so much extra bread, as hassan had set a menu which included fresh bruscetta for dinner. it was some of the best bread i’ve ever had and certainly some of the most fun. vinaka everyone! and here’s the recipe if you want to try it at home:

fijian bread

15 cups flour (not sure it’s really a cup, as they use a small mug)
16 teaspoons yeast
1-2 jugs warm water (enough to get the right consistency)
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar

mix all dry ingredients
add water to the right consistency
knead dough until smooth
add love, laughter, friendship, and some ee-whos
let rise for 30 minutes
punch down and shape into loaves or rolls
let rise again for 30 minutes
bake for 15-20 minutes
enjoy!