I'm in Fiji and we're on a cruise. a seven night cruise through the remote. Lao Islands in Fiji and I'm gonna show you some of the delicious food that we eat on the cruise. Hey everyone, hope you're having an amazing day.

It's Mark Wiens I'm in Fiji We're on our way to the first. Whoa yeah, oh yeah, it's a little bit. Rocky Today and we are going on a seven night cruise with Captain Cook cruises. They have some amazing food on the ship thanks to Chef Jackson Here we've got a full Fijian meal spread and I'm gonna share with you all of the delicious food and some of the best meals that we eat on the ship.

Some delicious Fijian food coming up for you right now in this video as we are on the cruise. Laughs: foreign. oh yeah, it's a little bit. Rocky Today a little bit, uh, a little bit windy.

Oh, we're in good hands Thank you! Actually starting off with our first meal, we just arrived to Tivua Island This is a private island which is just an hour offshore from the main island of Fiji and we are going to meet up with Chef Jackson First, this is actually going to be our very first meal on the cruise on the ship. right here on the beach. Uh, it's spectacular. Weather is a little bit cloudy and pretty, but we're gonna make the most of it and it's going to be an incredible time and we're gonna go First, get started cooking our first meal.

What type of fish do we have here? Chef Jackson This is a Spangled uh Emperor so we'll just try and feel like this break through the spine bones. What will you be making with it? Oh we're gonna do some coconut from one side, fill it and from the other half we're gonna make some grilled fish we run out of. We're gonna encase that in our foil. so like I unpop a lot with some lemongrass, a bit of chilies, a little marinated and then Chuck it on the grill.

with the head and the little rest of the body we are gonna make some soup. Okay, ready for some kokonda? Yes I've been uh, saving my appetite for this and so the first dish Chef Jackson is making is kokunda which is the Fijian version of raw fish. I mean similar to Ceviche but a bit different and we're gonna see the process, especially with coconut milk. I think it's coconut always with coconut milk? Yes, yes yeah.

Bush level Bush lemon. Yeah, it's kind of like a cross between a lemon and an orange. almost. but it's really fresh and vibrant.

Maybe three fillets should be enough? Bush lemonade. Do you like chilies? Yes! The Bongo Chilies Yeah! So we look at all this leftover goodness. Yes, all the juices. Yeah, the flavor.

We're done. You can put this on the grill right now I'll just put it maybe not not on the hot side, but like medium hot. Okay so this Tigua island it. is uninhabited.

It's just a very small island, but they do have a full facility here with some kitchen accessories and things because people often take day trips here and they can do events or meals here. The Fish soup. Just cut up some onions. Maybe I'll just use half of this one.

it's only just thinly slice. This Ginger yeah some of the sporty liquid. this is a red curry based tiger base. that's good.

Yeah. so we put in the head and the Tails yeah slowly 10 to 15 minutes and then we wait for the for about 15 minutes and you can already see how it started to turn a little bit milky right? yeah and started to cook from the acid. Tomatoes Some scallions, some cucumber and a bit of chili. Got a bit of salt so this is ready to serve.

We'll serve this in a bit and this is your coconut freshly made grounded fish on the side. like this coriander. Cut up some veggies for the soup people and that's it. Our veggies: cabbage, beans, bean sprouts but this seasoning seaweed pie.

Seaweed pie. what does that include? This is in Fijian we call it Lumi So Lumi Pie: We boil coconut milk with onions and garlic and even if you want to put some chilies with some salt then you put in the seaweed. so the seaweed will is your natural. uh it's like a natural gelatin.

okay the richest firm. put it on that one pan and we put inside the cooler. Tooth firm up and this is octopus. We cook it with coconut cream.

We got some Taro for you. Yeah nicely done Lemon. You always need lemon with seafood. Yes spring onion and then there we have it.

Cool Thank you Chef No problem. Andy Here we are for our first meal on Captain Cook cruises and what a setting weather is not cooperating too well but it makes for a cool breeze that's for sure. Thanks to Chef Jackson here we've got a full Fijian meal spread. Okay I'm gonna open up the packet here.

This is the grilled fish with some lemongrass with some chilies with some lime juice. Oh yeah, well that smells good. Squeeze on that lemon. some of those chilies on there.

Yep, yes, all right. Andy Go for it man. oh firm. that's really firm.

Yep. oh cheers thank you. Hmm wow. oh yes.

Good right? Fresh. Really firm fish? Yeah, really firm. Very good. Oh it's heart-shaped It's heart-shaped like table.

Island This island is. oh yeah. okay you were telling me that. Okay.

I'm gonna go in for one more bite. I'm just gonna watch you eat with the chili. see you from the side. Oh yeah, um it goes up your mouth, your your nose, your nostrils a little bit.

The marinated fish and coconut milk cucumbers Tomatoes coriander in here. Oh wow. I Think that technique the way they do it in Fiji is marinate it first in lemon juice and so that kind of tenderizes it. Those are like Cooks the fish definitely with the acid yes and then you add that flavor, the layer of flavor with the coconut milk bringing it all together.

Andy What is this dish called? there's in Fiji we call it which is octopus cooked in coconut milk Taro is one of the major Staples of Fiji we gotta scoop in with that octopus. That dish looks incredible. So I think Chef Jackson made this on the on the ship before bringing it out here to the island. Foreign.

Oh wow yeah okay I think that's that. That's the dish right there. Well the condensed flavor of the coconut. It's so thick and creamy and the octopus has this Smoky flavor that would have been smoked before.

Oh really? okay. yes and it's really tender too. The octopus is so tender. um I like the flavor of onions in there as well.

Man, that's tasty. Finger Licking Good Looking good. Seaweed cakes are Lumi Okay, this is fresh seaweed from I'm guessing it's from the Asawas which is just around to the West part of where we are right now. Okay and Chef Jackson was telling me that it's jelly like this is natural from the seaweed that makes it gelatin and um, that is so good.

You do you taste the salinity? Yeah, that saltiness coming from the seaweed the sweetness of the coconut cream was just been curdled into a jelly. And then the onions in there. Yeah, the onions in there combination. Wow, that's it's Rich really rich.

And then we have the fish head soup. Oh yes, it's top head section. Wow. Fresh definitely.

but I can I can actually taste the lemongrass? Whoa the wind. This soup is perfect for weather like this. Yes, a gingery broth with vegetables in it. Here you go.

Andy Um, it's really nice. Yeah, you actually feel that the heat of the ginger. oh that's tasty and just the essence, the flavor coming from the head. What a meal and we're gonna sit here.

Enjoy this! Really pretty strong Breeze up the island and I think in about 30 minutes or so we need to take the boat back to the main ship and we are going to continue on with this cruise and continue on with more delicious food. Foreign for the next meal on our cruise. we're in the beautiful Makongai Bay We sailed all last night and we're waking up well actually for lunch is a curry buffet and so they're getting started on some of the curry. Some of the Curry's already going and we're gonna watch the process of the prawn Curry being made before we have a curry buffet for lunch on the ship.

Foreign that prawn Curry needs to cook for a little while but I love the aroma. I mean Curry leaves Mustard Seed cumin seed in there, a lot of turmeric and then fresh coconut milk. The coconut milk the coconut cream in Fiji is just on the next level. Jeff Jackson What are some of the main dishes on the menu? We got beef Curry fish chicken and we got the prawns as have you seen and we got also vegetarian and we've got Dal and rice, papadums, rotis I'm getting a little taste test in the kitchen here of that the fresh prawn curry with the coconut milk I'm just gonna eat the shell and all.

um oh Brown is so sweet. Oh with that coconut milk with the turmeric and the mustard seed. oh yeah well that is tasty, cooked perfectly, not overcooked at all. The prawns are sweet and bouncy, fragrance of the coriander and the curry leaves.

oh wow, that's tasty. The curry is well underway but it needs to boil for a little while longer so we have about an hour until lunch. But and the views today it's such a beautiful day. the weather, the breeze, the sunshine and then after we eat lunch we will be going to the village and if you can see it right there and taking a little bit of a tour of the village and probably doing some swimming and I'm also excited to see some of the gigantic turtle-sized clams we're making big sizes of Roti because we're normally feeding 60 to 70 kind of fruits.

If you make small one, it's going to take us the whole day. Okay, so big size. the Roti big size foreign they're dishing out. It's almost time.

We are sitting down for the curry. Buffet we've got all the different curries, six different curries plus some of the chutneys. and the Green Mango we've got Roti we've got papadums We've Got Rice Okay, so I'm gonna dish out a little bit of everything onto my plate. the prawns Curry and coconut milk that we saw them make vegetarian curry with eggplant.

We've got the the fish curry. we've got the chicken curry. oh the oily juices, the curry leaves the chicken curry. and then we got the beef.

Curry it's the doll right? Yes, this is the doll. Onto my rice. and then we got some Bongo chilies on the side. yes you could thank you Micah sprinkle that on top.

Yes! the Whole Bowl yes oh yes, now we're talking oh I'm going in doll. rice fish curry Bongo chilies I'm gonna add that chili to warm up the taste buds. Um oh all the chili, no coconut milk mixed in with the doll. All the fish is nice, very firm.

All right let's move into that chicken curry. uh with curry leaves, big whole pieces of chicken, onions, the turmeric, the tomato paste in here, ginger, garlic. oh I might want a bit more of that gravy. oh the chicken curry is nice.

um nice tomato tomato paste in there giving it a nice tartness. um plus really the fragrance of that the chicken oil has come out there from the chicken skin. the ginger garlic the curry leaves temper down in there. No.

I'm gonna try the beef Curry next. Okay we have the beef. Curry Big boneless chunks of beef, tender absorbed with all of that. Masala you look at the size of this roti, huge sized rip a piece of the Roti I'm gonna dip into that beef Curry Top it.

Um oh the beef is great with that extra chili with a crispy Roti Mango Pickle man I Love love Indian Achar mango pickle like this? you can. It's so creamy and it's been cured with spices. Mix it with the rice, takes on whatever you mix with that. it's going to take on the flavor in a big way.

Um oh wow, yes the sourness. The Mustard Seed hmm so good. okay and then got a salad plate. some of the cabbage salad with cumin seed and Curry leaves and then some of the the onions, tomatoes, coriander.

just fresh and crisp. Let's try the cabbage salad. She really toasted off some cuminage and some uh Curry leaves so just give it a fragrance. It's light and fresh and crisp but just with that punch of flavor from the cumin seed.

Oh oh, that was good I need to lean back in my chair. um recline from here on out. Oh wow, that papaya is insanely good. Oh that tastes like honey is gushing out of it.

Um, another excellent meal. Well so after lunch we've taken the boat to the shore pulling up to the island. Now that color of the water is so clear and clean. This is Makongai Island.

It is located in the Loma Viti province in Fiji and one of the stops for the cruise. So the special thing about this island is it used to be a leper colony back in the 1900s and so you'll still see some of the remains of the buildings. The original Hospital steps is behind me I Believe this was in the year 1911. Okay, when they built this by the French and the Catholic nuns that used to live here and so the building doesn't remain anymore.

but we the steps do remain to the leper. Hospital Whale bone monuments on this island? Well, surprisingly light I think because it's been petrified. so old? Yeah, I think you can carry it and drop it. So one of the interesting things is that Andy was mentioning that this is not actually a village, but it's a government station and so that's why we can just show up here in normal clothes whereas if we go to a real authentic Village which we will be visiting um, we need to have a more of a traditional ceremony to welcome us And we've come up to parts of the old city.

These are the ruins of the old Cinema Fiji's first Cinema Like a lot of ruins, it's just been overtaken by the jungle. Okay, let's try to go see some of those giant clams foreign mine. Oh so happy right now We're sitting down for our next meal on Captain Cook cruises. And today is a special meal because the staff have invited us to try their dish which is called sui.

It's a Fijian dish. Oh look at that. huge chunks of meat also known as meaty bones in English and so these are Big beef bones. all briskety chunks of tender beef which have been boiled down in a soup with some of the green cabbage, some of the greens, um some herbs in there and it's like a just a rich meaty bone soup to be eaten with cassava to be eaten with some of the Bush limes of Fiji and of course the Bongo chilies.

pretend all the ribs oh it's just gonna fall out. you can feel how tender it is. briskety tender nuggets of beef. oh yes, always some of the the greens as well.

Oh wow, it melts in your mouth. um shimmered down. It's so beefy, so pure. maybe some onions, maybe a little bit of ginger in there, but mainly just the flavor of the bones and the beef and what you can do is make your own dipping sauce with the Fijian lemons, habanero chilies.

Oh yeah, break that in. did you break it up and actually add some of this? This is a like a sesame oil dressing as well to add to your yeah oh with vinegar too. Oh it's a dipping sauce. Oh the tenderness.

reduce rehydrate it. then go in here. Oh wow, that's delicious. That's the way to eat it.

That burst of chili. The vinegar, the lemon. oh there's a little coriander in there as well to brighten it up. Um in that sauce.

And then you can grab pieces of cassava you can just dip it in. You can eat it with some of the meat. All the creamy kind of the strandiness of the cassava with a starchiness of it goes well with the richness of the of the meaty bones. I Love it with that sauce and that.

Citrus Oh man, look at the way the beef is so tender it just flakes strings apart. finger finger tender, melt in your fingers before it melts in your mouth left. and then you can start drinking that broth as well. Oh you actually taste the sweetness of the bones and the meat.

just rich and beefy. So tender. It's just completely effortless chewing, but you don't need to chew, just like bite and swallow. The food on Captain Cook Cruises has been amazing.

They really give you a good variety of food. There's buffets. there's been an Asian buffet. there's a steak night.

Sometimes you have the a la carte meals it ranges. They feed you breakfast, lunch, dinner, but there's snack time. There's tea time in between. There's so much food you will not go hungry.

and I want to say a big thank you to Captain Cook Cruises here in Fiji for hosting me on this trip and then also to my friend. Andy for organizing and for setting everything up and that's going to be it for this video. and I want to say a big thank you for watching. Please remember to give this video a thumbs up! Thanks again for watching! Subscribe for lots more food and travel videos and I'll see you on the next video.

Thank you.