A challenge involving several popular restaurants and cafes in Samoa has seen some of Samoa’s best chefs breaking new ground with their Samoan-New Zealand fusion cuisines.
The competition celebrates New Zealand and Samoan foods and it challenges the participating restaurants to make a new mix of New Zealand ordinary foods and spice them up with their own touch of Samoan style.
One of the competing restaurants ‘Palusami’ located at Vaitele described the experience as eye opening.
“I have never seen the challenge taken to a level like this. Everyone is just thinking outside the box here and I’ve seen the other entries and man you cannot believe the creativity given in to them,” said head chef Jesse Lee.
“We know New Zealanders love their lamb and so we took that and put a little Samoan flavor to it with eggplant and pumpkin luau,” Lee said.
“We have done the luau so many times, but this time we thought we needed to go to new things and get uncomfortable to create something new. So instead of coconut luau, we used Samoan local ingredients the pumpkin and eggplant, baked it in a taro leaf and turned a normal New Zealand lamb into a Samoan fusion,” said Lee.
“It’s so important for us to try new things, It shows we have potential and when I saw the other restaurants entries I was blown away with the creations and thought of how others’ ideas seemed so original and unique. It really pleased me looking at them,” he added.
Legends Café head chef Leon Tasi says while the competition involves some of the best restaurants in Samoa, he feels it’s a good chance to try his small staff at totally new experiences.
“Win or lose we’re all about making sure our customers enjoy what they eat and the competition has given us a way to show what we have to offer, not only that but also hear what they have to say,” said Tasi.
“Not just the exposure though but knowing we can try new ideas every day, it surprises people,” he added.
Jesse Lee and Leon Tasi both lead in their kitchens and have whipped up something special for the judges and members of the public who have decided to pop in and try some ideal Samoan-New Zealand fusion cuisine.