21 June – Fatu Hiva, Marquesas 10° 27S / 138°29WYesterday, we awoke to find the dinghy upside down with our small, 2HP motor in the water. The wind gusts coming down from the mountains are not to be believed. Five dinghies were flipped. Lots of flushing of outboards going on yesterday. Happily we noticed ours quickly and didn’t have any damage from saltwater. We didn’t go to shore in the morning because we simply would not have made it against the winds and chop. It was amazing. In the afternoon, the winds slacked enough that we could go to shore to pick up the bread we had ordered.
The “bakery” is a small wooden shack next to a small house. Flour and other ingredients are mixed in long wooden troughs and the lumpy, round loaves are baked in an ancient looking stone oven. Order a day in advance and pick it up the next afternoon. Unfortunately, the lady had forgotten to write down our order the day before so no bread for us.
We did have a nice time wandering around the small town and visiting with the locals. I carried a nice supply of Chiclets gum and had a great time surprising kids with a small gift. These types of treats are not generally available, word spread quickly through the town and I was constantly approached by shy, smiling children. In a few cases the parents also were delighted by the gum.
I had taken photos on our previous visit and gave a few prints to people we especially enjoyed. Several cruisers have digital cameras and color printers these days and you see prints proudly displayed on walls in houses.
Woodcarvings and tapa cloth prints are much higher priced than in years passed. Cruisers, and tourists in Tahiti, have bid up the prices over the years. We passed on the $150 carved tikis and the $180 manta rays since they looked like something you could buy at Pier One Imports. However we did get hooked on tapa art. Tapa is made by stripping tender young pieces of bark from trees – banyan and mulberry are popular. The pieces are laid on stone and pounded with a wooden mallet to form a thin, fabric looking rectangle. A black ink, made from a local plant, is used to draw very intricate art. Only a small number of ladies create this laborious art these days and now only on a couple of the Marquesan islands. We asked ladies on the street, chased rumors, approached several houses with our best Marquesan “kaoha” and finally found a lady with nice art and very reasonable prices. We bought a couple of her pieces and are delighted with our finds.
The winds died overnight and we were anxious to escape the windy anchorage so we sailed the few miles to Tahuata. It as tempting to anchor in Resolution Bay, named after Captain James Cook’s second ship, but our guide book showed a more protected bay a few miles further north. We joined a few other boats at Hana Moe Noa (Long Sleep).
Our two day stay was spent harvesting coconuts and limes from an abandoned grove, an evening fire on the pristine sand beach and diving on the boat bottom to scrape a few goose barnacles picked up crossing the Pacific.
Our new culinary treats are breadfruit and pamplemousse. Breadfruit is supposed to be treated like a potato. We made thin, salted fried chips from ours. It was interesting but I would hate to live off the stuff. Pamplemousse on the other hand is wonderful. This is a very large, sweet grapefruit growing all over the Marquesas. Delightful!
Saute the garlic, onions and tomato in oil. Add breadfruit and meat. Cook until meat and breadfruit are done.
Beat eggs well and add to the breadfruit mixture. Pour into pan. When one side is cooked, turn and cook the other side until done. serve hot.
Saute onion in butter. Blend in flour and add water while stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat until thick. Add taro and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour cream into the mixture and season. Serve hot. Can substitute breadfruit for taro.
This past week I found some eggplants in the outside refrigerator that were about to go bad so I needed to find something to do with them. Then I remembered Madison’s favorite party contribution so I decided this was the perfect answer — Baba Ganosh. Madison’s go-to recipe for his version is in “My Paris Kitchen” by David Lebovitz. Fortunately, I have that cookbook as well so I was off to the races! This recipe lets you use one of my specialty kitchen gadgets — a culinary torch! It is far cleaner than using the flame on the stove and certainly much more fun. you can find this recipe on David’s website. You can also change the basic recipe by adding some other flavors like roasted peppers, cumin, black pepper or any other combination of spices you feel like using. My only caution is to use small amounts. you can always add more after you taste it. Thanks, Madison for the inspiration! My recommendation is to have it with some fresh pita bread, maybe a little wine and think about your next dive trip.
Bon Appetite!
