Holiday Ayo - Tuvalu has only a few unique dishes of its own and shares many of its popular dishes with neighboring Oceania island nations such as Fiji, Samoa, Nauru, Tonga, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands.

Tuvalu has a largely subsistence-style economy, meaning that most citizens are fishermen and farmers. Tuvaluans get much of their food right outside their doors or, given the lack of room for large-scale farming, as imports from abroad. Most of their cuisine centers around seafood including coconut crab, fish, and seabirds as well as their main crop, Pulaka. 

1. Fekei

source: Pinterest

Fekei is a dish made of grated pulaka that is mixed with coconut cream and steamed inside pulaka leaves. It is a traditional dish that is enjoyed across all nine of Tuvalu’s islands. 

The dish itself has a subtle flavor, slightly sweetened by coconut cream. It is easily transportable and can be enjoyed as a snack or a dessert. 

The grating of the pulaka has often been a tradition shared by and passed down between generations of women. They use a special tool made of limestone with holes drilled into it, which they scrape the pulaka across. All of the ingredients used in Fekei come from the islands’ resources and are therefore regarded as an important piece of cultural heritage. 

2. Pulaka

source: Notes From a Messy Kitchen

Pulaka is a staple crop of Tuvalu and the country’s national dish. It is included in many meals to add flavor and carbohydrates and is an important part of the everyday diet on the islands. It is also known as “swamp taro,” named for its similarity to taro’s appearance and taste while being grown in below-sea-level pits, where it draws nutrients from the mud around it. 

The corms of the Pulaka plant, while full of calcium, also contain toxins. They must be prepared carefully by soaking them in water for several hours.

Unfortunately, despite Pulaka’s popularity and ubiquity across the Tuvalu islands, this staple ingredient is endangered by rising tides, and so may soon become rare in Tuvalu cuisine. 

3. Toddy

source: Ballantine's

Toddy is what Tuvaluans call the sap of a coconut tree, a thick liquid that can be used in everything from beverages to snacking to flavoring a variety of dishes. 

While coconut trees are surely not unique to Tuvalu, some of the ways in which Toddy is incorporated into Tuvaluan dishes are unique to the islands. 

The flavor is quite sweet and seen as similar to honey. It can be eaten by itself but it is often mixed with other food or drink. Toddy is added to other dishes, especially ones featuring pulaka, to sweeten the dish and combat the bitterness that can sometimes linger with pulaka.