Rarotonga amazes gourmets and those who prefer exotic dishes. The isolation of the island was the main reason for special culinary traditions to appear. Recipes of many local treats have remained unchanged for more than one hundred years. One of the main innovations of the national cuisine is using rice and meat, as a hundred years ago meat has been used exclusively for cooking holiday treats. Rice appeared on the island relatively recently; today it is considered an important component of many classic treats and everyday meals. National cuisine would appeal to seafood lovers and vegetarians, as numerous interesting vegetable dishes are cooked here. Cabbage and zucchini, eggplant and rice are main components of local dishes. Chefs cook a lot of interesting and savory treats of these simple and well-known ingredients. There is also the national drink here, a special kind of malt beer called Tutunu. A typical example of an old national dish is umukai. Like many years ago, this special dish is cooked in a mud stove. Umukai is steamed seafood with vegetables. Several decades ago, indigenous people began to invent different kinds of umukai; it was the time, when locals started cooking meat and adding seasonings such as garlic and onions. Mat Rory is the most unusual among exotic treats; that's meat of sea cucumber or trepang fried with a special variety of green bananas. The taste of the dish is just amazing. Local chefs cook very interesting dishes of white crabs, which are
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