Back to Tahiti…
Teahupoo. Not your average wave.
Loosely translated…“to sever the head” or “place of skulls”. I think they mean it.
Back to Tahiti…
Teahupoo. Not your average wave.
Loosely translated…“to sever the head” or “place of skulls”. I think they mean it.
Tahiti came along at a perfect time – it was a beach week for me. I sat under an umbrella near the ocean and read, and when it came time to cook, I had access to the freshest seafood. The shrimp for this dish came right off of the boat – you cannot beat that. Fun and easy to make, this was a very subtle dish and enjoyed by all.
A side note: half of the dinner crowd that night were landlubbers and didn’t want shrimp. My husband grilled up some chicken, and I put aside some of the sauce before I tossed in the shrimp. Final verdict: the poultry eaters were pleased as well. This sauce is really versatile. With the rice alone, it was the start of a potentially fantastic rice pudding …some experimenting perhaps? I promise updates if that does indeed happen…
Adapted from a recipe at http://www.whats4eats.com/fish/chevrettes-vanille-coco-recipe
My reading habits tend towards the very serious non-fiction side…always having to learn new stuff…
But you can often get just as much knowledge through a well-told tale and that’s what I found in my choice for Tahiti.
A novel published in 2004, Frangipani by Célestine Hitiura Vaite, is a lovely and lively read. I did know that at the very least I wanted to learn something solid about life in Tahiti – so often with places that are so beautiful (and not English-speaking), you can’t find much outside of travel guides and/or writing that tips towards the “exotic”. The latter…not too interested in that.
Family, friends, school, work, annoying neighbors, money problems, the weather, what’s for dinner; when you come down to it, that’s the raw material of existence no matter where you hang your hat. And this book does a great job of letting you in on that side of life in Tahiti. The characters are all well-developed and likable; I totally want to get invited to one of the family get-togethers! I got a great sense of place from this story, and enjoyed it very much. I also read it on the beach, which never hurts…
Country #9 will be my first stop in Oceania: Tahiti! I am so excited! Beyond being aware that it’s in the middle of the Pacific, that France has something to do with it, and that I would like to go there, I don’t know much.
And it timed out perfectly; right before a week-long stay at the beach. A beach nowhere near the Pacific Ocean, but I’ll take it anyway.