Vanuatu Lobster, Mango and Avocado Salad with Chilli Beurre Blanc

With a French inspired sauce, tropical fruit and bountiful seafood, I think it's the essence of Vanuatu's cultural melting pot. (Makes 1 large platter)

Beurre Blanc

Juice from 2 limes

1 mild green chilli, sliced

1/2 red chilli, sliced

4 tablespoons butter, softened

Black pepper

Remove flesh from lobster tails. Clean and slice into medallions approx. 2cm wide. Refrigerate until required. 

Reduce lime juice over heat until it's quite syrupy, and about 1 tablespoon remains. 

Add chillies and 1 tablespoon of butter. Whisk to incorporate butter. 

Gradually add remaining butter, whisking well after each addition. 

Finish sauce with a grinding of black pepper. 

Arrange lobster, mango and avocado decoratively on a large platter. 

Drizzle with chilli beurre blanc.

Fresh Sauteed Snapper Fillets

Ingredients

Snapper fillets 

1 diced onion 

2 tomatoes- chopped in wedges. 

1/2 cup coconut milk 

1/2 cup white wine 

chives 

salt and pepper to taste 

a knob of butter 

a dash of oil 

Method

Fillet the snapper, removing all bones and scales etc.

In a heavy based frying pan, add butter and oil. (The oil is for the heat and the butter for taste.) Add the snapper fillets and cook until almost cooked through.

The length of time depends on the thickness of your fillets (test by cutting to see if the flesh is white.) Remove from the heat. The fish will continue to cook, as it rests on the plate. In the pan fry the tomato and onion until the onion is soft and golden. Add the white wine infusing the wine with the bits of fish etc left in the fry pan, then add the coconut milk.. Bring to a simmer. Pour over the fish fillets. Garnish with chives (or something green)

Laplap

Ingredients
1 small Chicken
6-8 cups Yam (grated)
3-4 Tomatoes
1 medium Onion
1 bundle Bele
1/4 Pumpkin
3 cups Coconut Cream
Salt to taste

Directions
Prepare banana leaves for wrapping food in, about 4-6 good leaves. Wash all vegetables well under running water. Slice onion, cut tomatoes into quarters and pumpkin into' good sized serving pieces. Clean chicken and cut into serving pieces allowing 1-2 pieces per serve. Arrange banana leaves neatly on a flat surface. Arrange in two or three layers, bele, grated yam, chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle each layer with salt and a spoon of coconut cream. Wrap Laplap into a neat bundle and tie securely with string. Bake or steam for 1 hour.
Variation: For meat use any fresh or tinned meat and kimala, banana or breadfruit instead of yam

Additional information
Laplap is the national dish of Vanuatu made by grating manioc, taro roots, or yams into a doughy paste. The mixture is then placed on taro, wild spinach, or banana leaves and soaked with coconut milk. Pieces of pork, beef, poultry, fish, prawns, or flying fox are added after which it is wrapped into a package and placed in a ground oven with hot stones above and below, taking about 2-3 hours to cook. We were able to sample this dish when we viewed the local dancing in Banam Bay. Served hot from the ground the laplap was cut with a bone knife before everyone sat on matting in a circle eating it with their fingers. The day before we had watched the village prepare a communal evening laplap dish with everyone contributing to the contents. The young men had been out on the reef so crabs and fish were the flavor of the day. Once the oven was opened the laplap was divided between the families and taken home. A center fire was also lit and pieces of smoldering wood were carried to each home to be used for starting cooking fires and repelling mosquitoes. Unfortunately our laplap menu of the day was corned beef and not the seafood dish we watched being prepared the evening before, but I guess it was better than dog. Laplap is an acquired taste and requires a green coconut or two to wash it down.