Taste of Tonga

We made a date with Sam of SV Suvretpa to take a tour of Taste of Tonga. This is a zero waste enterprise (www.tasteoftonga.com) that was fully explained to us by the owners, Ian and Vanessa. We saw how they:

• make virgin coconut oil for baking and frying, using on salads and ice cream, or just eating from a spoon
• make taro and manioke chips for snacks
• make coconut vinegar and cheese
• using dried shredded coconut, make pig and chicken food
• grow maggots in shredded coconut as protein for pig and chicken food
• from discarded coconut husks, make a type of peat  moss
• make charcoal by burning scrap wood and tree cuttings around barrels filled with empty coconut shells

Ian and Vanessa have fully automatic, biodegradable, multiplying lawn mowers - sheep! They also have chickens, a rooster, and pigs. At the start of our tour, we witnessed 1 of many wild roosters being trapped in a Tongan trap which Ian then discreetly slaughtered for dinner that night (this was not supposed to be part of the tour!)

After the tour, we were treated to a sample of their coconut cheese with Vanessa's homemade chili jam. We purchased some of this delicious cheese along with the coconut oil after learning of all of its benefits. We chose to buy the coconut oil packaged in a squeezable pouch rather than a round hard container as the pouch would not spill in a moving boat!

Coconut oil, as well as tasting great, has claims of showing improvement for Alzheimer's Disease patients, is good for diabetics as it has zero cholesterol and helps to stabilize blood sugars, and contains Lauric Acid which has the same benefits as breast milk.

Jordan and Sam at Taste of Tonga