Samoa

🇼🇸Samoa

Alaisa Fa'apopo

Alaisa fa'apopo is Samoan rice cooked with coconut milk until creamy and fragrant, served as a rice dish at family and communal meals.

🇫🇯Fiji

Babakau

Yeasted dough cut into triangles and deep fried until puffed and hollow, eaten plain, with butter and jam, or split around a curry.

🇼🇸Samoa

Banana Coconut Dessert

Suafa'i

Samoan suafa'i cooks ripe bananas with water, sago or tapioca, and coconut cream into a thick, gently sweet breakfast or dessert.

🇦🇸American Samoa

Canned Corned Beef

Pisupo

Samoan pisupo is preserved or canned corned beef cooked with onion, greens, or root vegetables into a savoury communal meal.

🇫🇯Fiji

Cassava Chips

Tavioka chips

Cassava sliced thin and fried into hard, salty chips, sold in bags at markets and bus stands.

🇼🇸Samoa

Coconut Bread

Fa'apapa

Thick slab of sweet, fluffy coconut bread; flour, sugar, coconut flakes, and coconut milk mixed into a dough and baked until golden; found in most Samoan households and on breakfast tables; also used to make fa'ausi; simple, sweet, and coconut-rich; a Samoan staple bread.

🇼🇸Samoa

Coconut Buns

Panipopo

The national sweet of Samoa; buns baked in a sweet and sticky coconut cream sauce; served in shallow bowls spooned over with more sauce; accompanied by a hot beverage, preferably Samoan cocoa; can be reheated the next day; soft, sweet, and coconut-rich; a TasteAtlas-listed listed preparation dessert.

🇼🇸Samoa

Coconut Caramel Taro

Fa'ausi

Samoan fa'ausi is baked taro or breadfruit covered with dark caramel and coconut cream, creating a sticky, rich dessert served warm.

🇼🇸Samoa

Coconut Dumpling Soup

Kopai

Samoan sweet dumpling soup; dense, doughy dumplings called puka drenched in a gooey, soup-like sauce of coconut cream and brown sugar; a sweet version of dumpling soup; comforting and rich; served warm; the dessert that turns dumplings into a treat; a Samoan comfort food.

🇦🇸American Samoa

Coconut Dumplings

Faikakai

Samoan coconut dumpling dessert; dough dumplings boiled or steamed and drenched in coconut caramel sauce; sweet, sticky, and coconut-rich; similar to kopai but with a different texture; a traditional celebration dessert; served warm; the dumpling dessert of Samoa.

🇼🇸Samoa

Fa'alifu Ulu

Faalifu ulu is breadfruit cooked in coconut cream with onion and seasoning until the fruit is tender and coated in a savoury sauce.

🇼🇸Samoa

Fish Soup

Sua i'a

Samoan fish soup; fresh fish simmered in a clear broth with onions, tomatoes, and sometimes coconut cream; a comforting dish using the daily catch; tuna, snapper, and other reef fish are common; served with taro or breadfruit; a TasteAtlas-listed dish; the soup that showcases Samoa's ocean bounty.

🇦🇸American Samoa

Fried Lamb

Falai Mamoe

Samoan-style stir-fried lamb; lamb pieces cut small and stir-fried with vegetables and aromatics; lamb is often served meat in Samoa, imported from New Zealand; a hearty, savory dish; served with taro or rice; a reflection of Samoa's connection to New Zealand; a common family meal.

🇼🇸Samoa

Giant Taro

Ta'amu

Ta'amu is giant taro cooked by boiling, roasting, or steaming until dense and starchy, then served as a Samoan staple.

🇫🇯Fiji

Green coconut

Bu

A young drinking coconut opened with a machete at the roadside and drunk straight from the shell, then split so the soft flesh can be scooped.

🇫🇯Fiji

Gulgula

Small sweet fritters of flour, banana and cardamom fried into dark balls, made in Indo-Fijian homes for tea and prayer days.

🇫🇯Fiji

Ika Vakalolo

Whole fish or fillets simmered in coconut milk with onion, chilli and lime until the cream thickens around them.

🇼🇸Samoa

Kale Moa

Kale moa is chicken cooked with onion, coconut, and Samoan aromatics until tender, a savoury poultry preparation for family tables.

🇫🇯Pohnpei State (Capital FSM), Fiji

Kava

Suhka

Kava is a ceremonial Pacific root beverage prepared by pounding Piper methysticum roots, mixing them with water, and straining the earthy drink for communal sharing.

🇼🇸Samoa

Keke Fa'i

Keke fai is a Samoan banana cake baked until the fruit perfumes a moist, tender crumb; it is served in slices with tea or cocoa.

🇼🇸Samoa

Koko Alaisa

Kokoaraisa

Samoan cocoa rice; rice cooked with Samoan cocoa, coconut cream, and sugar; a breakfast staple; sweet, rich, and chocolatey; served warm; the breakfast that combines Samoa's love of cocoa and coconut; eaten with panipopo or alone; a uniquely Samoan morning dish.

🇫🇯Fiji

Kokoda

Raw white fish cured in lime juice until opaque, then dressed in thick coconut cream with tomato, onion and chilli and served in a coconut shell.

🇦🇸American Samoa

Lemon Juice

Vai tīpolo

Samoan juice derived from a local citrus fruit; called vai tīpolo; tart, sweet, and refreshing; made from local lemons or limes; served cold with sugar; a common everyday drink; the citrus refreshment of Samoa; served with meals and on hot days.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Lolo

Coconut cream squeezed by hand from freshly grated flesh, the fat that carries almost every Fijian dish.

🇫🇯Fiji

Lovo

Meat, fish and root crops wrapped in banana leaf and buried over fire-heated stones for several hours, then dug out and unwrapped at the table.

🇼🇸Samoa

Mackerel Coconut Bake

Faiai Eleni

Samoan fish bake with fresh or tinned mackerel, taro leaves, sliced onions, spices, and coconut milk; baked in the oven until crispy on top; traditionally served in a coconut shell; a hearty, creamy fish dish; uses the daily catch or tinned mackerel; served with taro.

🇼🇸Samoa

Mango Pudding

Poi mago

Refreshing Samoan mango pudding; mangoes blended with lime juice, coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla; chilled until ready to serve; recommended over ice; sweet, tangy, and creamy; a TasteAtlas-listed dessert; the tropical fruit pudding of Samoa.

🇫🇯Fiji

Miti

Coconut cream sharpened with lime, chilli and onion into a dipping sauce for fish, taro and lovo meat.

🇫🇯Fiji

Octopus in Coconut Cream

Kuita vakalolo

Octopus tenderised and cooked in coconut cream with onion and chilli until the tentacles soften.

🇼🇸Samoa

Octopus in Coconut Cream

Faiai Fe'e

Faiai feke is octopus baked or simmered in coconut cream with onion and chilli; the seafood becomes tender inside a rich Samoan sauce.

🇼🇸Samoa

Oka I'a

Oka

Samoan oka is raw fish cured briefly in lime or lemon juice, mixed with coconut cream, onion, and chili, and served chilled.

🇼🇸Samoa

Palolo Marine Worms

Palolo

Palolo is the seasonal edible marine polychaete worm gathered from coral reefs and eaten fresh or lightly prepared in Samoa; it is a marine worm, not shellfish.

🇫🇯Fiji

Palusami

Taro leaves wrapped into a parcel around coconut cream, onion and often corned beef, then baked in the lovo or steamed until the leaves collapse.

🇼🇸Samoa

Palusami

Iconic Samoan dish of young taro leaves bundled into parcels filled with coconut cream and onions; baked in the umu earth oven until the leaves are tender and the cream is thick and set; sometimes enriched with corned beef; the quintessential Samoan dish; rich, creamy, and earthy; a TasteAtlas-listed listed preparation.

🇼🇸Samoa

Panikeke

Samoan deep-fried pancake balls; plain or banana-flavored; round and golden; sold by street vendors all over the islands; often served sweet treat; crispy outside, doughy inside; the grab-and-go snack of Samoa; a TasteAtlas-listed snack.

🇼🇸Samoa

Papaya Cocoa Dessert

Kokoesi

Kokoesi is a Samoan coconut-and-taro dessert cooked into a soft pudding with a gentle cocoa or toasted coconut depth.