Women cooking in the traditional way on the island of Malicolo — using open fires, earthen ovens and ingredients foraged directly from the surrounding jungle. Vanuatu is one of the Pacific’s most remote and culturally diverse archipelagos, comprising over 80 islands and speaking more than 100 languages. Its cuisine is simple, rooted in the land, and deeply connected to nature.
Chinese Pan-Fried Dumplings (Jiaozi)
These beautiful Chinese dumplings, known as jiaozi or potstickers when pan-fried, are a true labour of love — thin, hand-folded wrappers filled with a savoury pork and vegetable mixture, then cooked until crispy on the bottom and steamed to perfection on top. Topped with black sesame seeds and served with a dipping sauce, they are utterly irresistible.
Ingredients (makes about 30 dumplings)
- For the dough: 300 g plain flour, 150 ml boiling water
- For the filling: 300 g minced pork, 200 g Chinese cabbage (finely chopped and squeezed dry), 2 spring onions (finely chopped), 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp fresh ginger (grated), 1 tsp rice wine, 1/2 tsp salt, white pepper
- Black sesame seeds for topping
- Vegetable oil for frying
For the dipping sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Chilli oil to taste
- Fresh ginger, grated
Instructions
- Make the dough: gradually add boiling water to flour, mix until combined. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Rest covered for 30 minutes.
- Mix all filling ingredients thoroughly until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Divide dough into small balls. Roll each into a thin circle (about 8cm).
- Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the centre. Fold and pleat the edges together to seal.
- Sprinkle each dumpling with black sesame seeds.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Place dumplings flat-side down and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden.
- Add 80ml water, cover immediately, and steam for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.
- Remove lid and cook until all water evaporates. Serve with dipping sauce.
🥟 Chī hǎo! (Bon appétit in Mandarin) — these freeze beautifully before cooking.
Christmas Gingerbread (Pain d’Épice de Noël)
This festive pain d’épice is a deeply aromatic Christmas spice cake — rich with honey, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and orange, it fills the kitchen with the most wonderful scent as it bakes. This version is wonderfully moist and keeps beautifully for weeks, making it perfect for gift-giving. Decorated with festive spices and dried citrus, it is as beautiful as it is delicious.
Ingredients
- 300 g honey or dark honey
- 250 ml warm milk
- 300 g plain flour
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 2 tsp mixed spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, star anise)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 eggs
- 50 g butter, melted
For decoration
- Dried orange slices
- Cinnamon sticks
- Walnuts
- Star anise
- Vanilla bean
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Grease and flour a loaf tin.
- Warm the honey and milk together until the honey dissolves. Cool slightly.
- Beat the eggs into the honey milk. Add the melted butter and orange zest.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and all spices. Fold into the wet ingredients until smooth.
- Pour into the loaf tin. Arrange the decorations on top before baking.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Test with a skewer — it should come out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out. The cake will firm up as it cools.
🎄 Joyeux Noël! Wrapped in cellophane, this makes a wonderful Christmas gift.
American Pumpkin Pecan Pie (Tarte Américaine Potimarron Noix de Pécan)
This showstopping autumn dessert combines the best of American pie traditions — the silky warmth of spiced pumpkin filling with the rich, caramelised crunch of pecan nuts. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any autumn gathering, this potimarron (red kuri squash) version has a beautifully deep, complex flavour with notes of cinnamon, ginger, and maple.
Ingredients (serves 8-10)
- 1 portion shortcrust or pecan pastry
- 400 g pumpkin or potimarron purée (roasted and blended)
- 3 eggs
- 150 ml maple syrup or honey
- 100 ml double cream
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- Pinch of cloves
- 150 g whole pecans for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F). Roll out pastry and line a 24cm pie dish. Blind bake for 15 minutes.
- Roast the pumpkin at 200°C until soft, then blend to a smooth purée.
- Beat together the pumpkin purée, eggs, maple syrup, cream, and all spices until smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pre-baked pastry shell.
- Arrange whole pecans decoratively over the top of the filling.
- Bake at 180°C for 40-45 minutes until set but with a slight wobble in the centre.
- Cool completely before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or crème fraîche.
🎃 Happy Thanksgiving! This pie is even better made a day ahead.
French Apple Tart (Tarte aux Pommes)
The French apple tart is a true masterpiece of simplicity — a crisp, buttery pastry base topped with perfectly arranged thin apple slices, brushed with a golden apricot glaze. This classic tarte aux pommes lets the quality of the ingredients shine, making it both impressive and deeply satisfying. A staple of every French pâtisserie!
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
- For the pastry: 250 g flour, 125 g cold butter (cubed), 50 g icing sugar, 1 egg, pinch of salt
- For the filling: 4 eating apples (Cox, Gala, or Golden Delicious)
- 30 g butter, melted
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- For the glaze: 4 tbsp apricot jam, 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Make the pastry: rub butter into flour and icing sugar until breadcrumb-like. Add egg and work into a dough. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry and line a 24cm tart tin. Blind bake at 180°C for 15 minutes.
- Peel, core, and very thinly slice the apples. Arrange in overlapping concentric circles over the pastry.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake at 180°C (360°F) for 35-40 minutes until the apples are tender and the pastry is golden.
- Heat the apricot jam with the water until runny. Brush over the hot tart for a beautiful glaze.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
🍎 Bon appétit! This classic tart is the perfect ending to any French meal.
Azouglou Sida (Tunisian Semolina Dessert)
Azouglou Sida is a beloved Tunisian dessert — a dense, syrup-soaked semolina cake with a rich, warming flavour of cinnamon and orange. Found at celebrations and family gatherings across Tunisia, it is intensely moist from the honey syrup poured over it while still warm. A true taste of Tunisian home cooking.
Ingredients
- 500 g fine semolina
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200 ml vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 sachet of baking powder
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the syrup
- 300 ml water
- 200 g sugar
- 3 tbsp orange blossom water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 dried orange slice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a baking tin (30x20cm or round).
- Mix together semolina, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and orange zest.
- Beat in the eggs, oil, and vanilla until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make the syrup: combine all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the hot syrup over it. Let it absorb for at least 1 hour.
- Cut into diamond shapes and decorate with a dried orange slice and cinnamon stick.
🌙 Sahtein! This dessert is even better the next day once fully soaked.
Courgettes with Mint (Courgettes à la Menthe)
This simple and refreshing Mediterranean side dish transforms humble courgettes into something special. Sautéed until golden and tender, then finished with fresh mint and lemon, this dish is a staple of North African and Provençal cooking. Light, healthy, and packed with flavour.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 4 medium courgettes (zucchini), diced or sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Optional: a pinch of dried chilli flakes
Instructions
- Cut the courgettes into rough cubes or thick slices.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the courgettes and cook without stirring for 3-4 minutes to get some colour on them.
- Add the garlic and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden.
- Remove from heat. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Add the chopped fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon juice. Toss to combine.
- Serve immediately as a warm side dish, or at room temperature.
🌿 This pairs beautifully with grilled fish, lamb, or alongside couscous and harissa.
Baklava (Tunisian Style)
Baklava is one of the great jewels of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pastry — layers of paper-thin filo dough filled with crushed nuts and soaked in a fragrant honey syrup. This Tunisian version features almonds and walnuts with a delicate orange blossom syrup. Each bite is an explosion of sweetness, crunch, and perfume.
Ingredients (makes about 30 pieces)
- 500 g filo pastry sheets
- 200 g unsalted butter, melted
- 300 g mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios), finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 50 g caster sugar
For the syrup
- 300 g honey
- 150 ml water
- 3 tbsp orange blossom water
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F). Butter a 30x20cm baking tin.
- Mix the chopped nuts with cinnamon and sugar.
- Layer 8 sheets of filo in the tin, brushing each with melted butter.
- Spread half the nut mixture over the filo.
- Layer 4 more sheets of filo, brushing each with butter.
- Spread the remaining nut mixture. Top with the remaining filo sheets, brushing each with butter.
- Cut through all layers into diamond or square shapes before baking.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until deep golden brown.
- Meanwhile, simmer all syrup ingredients for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pour the hot syrup over the hot baklava immediately. Leave to cool completely (at least 4 hours).
🍯 Sahtein! Baklava improves with time — the flavours deepen overnight.
Tunisian Orange Cake (Gâteau Tunisien à l’Orange)
This fragrant Tunisian orange cake, known locally as “Meskouta”, is made with fresh orange juice and zest, giving it an intensely fruity, moist crumb. Soaked in a delicate orange syrup and decorated with cinnamon and star anise, it is a beloved dessert across North Africa. Simple, aromatic, and utterly delicious.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 150 ml neutral vegetable oil
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 sachet of baking powder (11g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the orange syrup
- 100 ml orange juice
- 50 g sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease and flour a round 22cm cake tin.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
- Mix in the oil, orange juice, zest, and vanilla.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Fold to combine.
- Pour into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- Make the syrup: combine all ingredients in a small pan, bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then cool slightly.
- When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour the syrup over the top. Leave to soak for 15 minutes before serving.
- Decorate with a cinnamon stick, star anise, and orange slices.
🍊 Sahtein! This cake keeps beautifully moist for several days.
Austrian Apple Strudel (Apfelstrudel)
Apfelstrudel is one of Austria’s most beloved pastries — paper-thin strudel dough wrapped around a fragrant apple filling with raisins, cinnamon, and breadcrumbs. Whether you make the traditional hand-stretched dough or use ready-made filo, the result is always spectacular. A Viennese café classic!
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
- 6 sheets of filo pastry (or traditional strudel dough)
- 6 cooking apples (Bramley or Granny Smith), peeled and thinly sliced
- 100 g raisins or sultanas
- 100 g caster sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 50 g toasted breadcrumbs
- 100 g butter, melted
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Mix the apple slices with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, and lemon zest. Leave to macerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Butter a baking tray.
- Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a clean tea towel, brush with melted butter. Repeat with remaining sheets, layering them on top of each other.
- Scatter the breadcrumbs over the pastry, leaving a border.
- Arrange the apple mixture along one long edge of the pastry.
- Using the tea towel, roll the pastry up around the filling, tucking in the ends. Place seam-side down on the tray.
- Brush all over with melted butter.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with cream or vanilla sauce.
🎼 Mahlzeit! Enjoy this Viennese classic warm from the oven.
Feuilleté Apéritif à la Tapenade (Tapenade Puff Pastry Rolls)
These crispy puff pastry rolls filled with tapenade are the perfect Provençal aperitif bite. Golden, flaky, and intensely flavoured with black olive paste and herbs, they disappear in seconds at any gathering. Quick to make and impossible to resist!
Ingredients (makes about 20-24 rolls)
- 1 sheet of ready-made puff pastry
- 4-5 tbsp tapenade (homemade or store-bought)
- 50 g grated Parmesan or Gruyère (optional)
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- Sesame seeds or poppy seeds for topping
- Fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Unroll the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.
- Spread the tapenade evenly over the pastry, leaving a 1 cm border around the edges.
- Sprinkle with cheese if using and add fresh thyme leaves.
- Roll up tightly from the long side into a log. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Cut into rounds about 1 cm thick. Place on the baking tray cut-side up.
- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
🫒🥂 Serve warm as an apéritif with a chilled glass of rosé!
