Vanuatu
Lap-lap wrapped in heliconia leaves and cooked underground, kokoda raw tuna cured in lime and coconut milk, kava drunk at the nakamal at sunset, coconut crab grilled with chili-lime — the South Pacific in 83 islands.
Lap-Lap
Vanuatu's national dish — grated taro, cassava, or yam mixed with coconut milk into a thick paste, sometimes layered with meat (pork or chicken), wrapped in laplap leaves (heliconia or banana), and cooked in an earth oven for 2-3 hours. Sliced into thick wedges and eaten with the meat juices and a side of coconut milk. Source: Wikipedia (Lap-lap, Cuisine of Vanuatu).
View page →Vanuatu cooking is the food of the Melanesian archipelago of 83 islands, with the Ni-Vanuatu people speaking 100+ languages and Bislama as the lingua franca. The cuisine is built on root crops — taro, yam, cassava, and kaukau (sweet potato) — coconut in every form, banana, breadfruit, fresh reef fish, and pork (the celebration meat). The national dish is lap-lap: grated taro, cassava, or yam mixed with coconut milk and meat, wrapped in laplap leaves and cooked in an earth oven for hours. Kokoda is the Pacific fish 'ceviche' — fresh raw tuna cured in lime juice and coconut milk. Tuluk are taro-leaf-wrapped pork dumplings. Kava (Piper methysticum) is the ceremonial Ni-Vanuatu drink — pounded root infused in cold water, drunk for relaxation at the nakamal.
On the Map
Where this cuisine is found
The Palate
Start Here
Grated taro, cassava, or yam mixed with coconut milk into a thick paste, layered with meat, wrapped in laplap leaves, and cooked in an earth oven for 2-3 hours.
Why start here · Vanuatu's national dish, prepared at every celebration across the 83 islands. Each island has its own preferred variant — Tanna uses pana yam, Efate uses taro, Espiritu Santo uses cassava.
Fresh raw tuna cured in lime juice, then mixed with coconut milk, onion, tomato, chili, and cilantro. Served chilled.
Why start here · The Pacific version of ceviche — the coconut-milk addition distinguishes it from Latin American preparations. The iconic raw-fish dish of Vanuatu.
Fresh kava root (Piper methysticum) pounded, infused in cold water, strained, drunk in a coconut-shell cup. Mildly relaxing, slightly numbing.
Why start here · The ceremonial Ni-Vanuatu drink — Vanuatu strain is considered the highest quality globally. Drunk at the nakamal at sunset for relaxation and social bonding.
The Pantry
Regional Styles
Efate (Port Vila)
The capital island. Modern restaurants and the most-developed urban food culture; the strongest lap-lap-with-taro tradition.
Espiritu Santo and Northern Islands
The largest island and the northern provinces. Coconut crab fishing, lap-lap with cassava, and the strongest fishing village tradition.
Tanna and Southern Islands
The southern islands with active volcano Mt Yasur. Pana yam lap-lap, tuluk pork dumplings, and the strongest custom-island ('Kastom') traditions.
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
