Eating New Caledonia: a journey where food leads the way

From Kanak feasts to French patisserie by the sea and rustic country cooking, New Caledonia surprises at every bite. This is an island best explored with your appetite as the compass.

New Caledonia has to be one of the most surprising places I have visited in recent years. Yes, I expected crisp white beaches adjoining sun-kissed sunbeds dotted around my resort pool, but I didn’t fully contemplate such diversity in its people and as a result, its food. From its fascinating indigenous cuisine which respects the land and sea so delicately, to the established French traditions brought over almost 200 years ago, the island is teaming with an incredible variety of recipes, and with this comes the most epic buffet of flavour.

The island nation of less than 300,000 people is geographically closer to Australia than New Zealand, and so in my books attains the title of a very close overseas cousin. Despite some familiarity in Australian-like vegetation I notice when landing at the coastal airport, it really feels like you’re a long-haul fight away from Australia. French is the common language around every corner, and while you don’t need to speak it fluently to get around (although it helps to have a few words under your belt), it is certainly a constant reminder that you are well and truly overseas.

Warren Mendes is eating his way through New Caledonia.

I always maintain that my stomach should be my guide to travel, and with just a few days in New Caledonia I allow flavour to dictate my path, and as usual, the method did not disappoint.

Kanak cuisine

The Kanak are the indigenous people of New Caledonia and so for me it makes sense that the start of my food trip is with the people who have known the land the longest. I set off on a one-and-a-half hour drive into the mountains to visit the Koindé tribe where I am greeted by the head of the family, a beaming lady called Rosana. I’m here to find out about their food, but before we start cooking or snacking, her eldest son Patrick formally welcomes me into their tribe. As is customary I bring a small gift from my culture and present it to their family and they accept it to welcome me to spend the day with them and their land. It is such a beautiful way to be introduced with a group of people that makes you instantly feel connected. After a tour around their homes and lush gardens filled with wild raspberries and other flourishing wild crops, we head to the outdoor kitchen to prepare their celebratory feast dish, a bougna.

Warren and Rosana preparing the bougna for the feast.

A bougna is a whole meal of meat (chicken or seafood), root vegetables (like taro, pumpkin, potato), coconut and herbs, all wrapped together in banana leaves and cooked underground surrounded by hot stones warmed in a fire. Its all hands in to get the bougna prepared and I manage to get a few duties too. Whilst it may seem like a simple dish, there is such care taken to layer each ingredient and then wrap it delicately to that every morsel of flavour remains within the leaves. It is tied together with more banana leaves and resembles a huge parcel that I can just tell will be totally unlike anything I’ve eaten before.

The bougna cooks underground for 2 hours and so while we wait, we explore during an unforgettable walk to a nearby waterfall. A quick dip in crystal clear natural pools and a snack or two on the way from thriving fruit trees is all it takes to soak up the time and we head back for a feast. As soon as the bougna is unwrapped, the steam escapes and I get my first inspection of the workings of a bougna. I sit down with the family and we enjoy the feast eaten alongside a simple salty chilli pickle.

The bougna about to be buried and cooked in New Caledonia.

Rosana and her family speak limited English and my French is not great at all, but there is something special about being united by a lovingly prepared meal. The smiles and gestures speak a thousand words and the love and care taken to prepare such a surprising dish will live with me forever. Truly unforgettable.

France in the Pacific

Whenever I travel to a new country for the first time, I head straight to the supermarket. It's here that you get to find out so much about the people and culture. From the snack isle to the fresh produce on offer, it tells a lot about the country and what people eat. Upon entry into a pristine supermarket in Noumea I was immediately surrounded by countless French products, as if I were in Europe. Better than the supermarket to guide your stomach however is meeting up with a true local, and I had a brilliant guide (and now friend) Chef Gaby Levionnois to give me a true taste of France in the Pacific.

Gaby is in fact a true champion of Pacific cuisine (you should check out the Pacific Food Lab he has setup) but his knowledge of French cuisine is incredible. There is no shortage of authentic ‘boulangeries’ (bakeries) around town, but our first stop is at his favourite Au Pêché Mignon. It is here I discover an amazing spread of classic pastries and quite possibly the best chouquette (a light choux pastry filled with sweet cream) I’ve ever had. Bliss.

French pastries by the sea in Noumea.

We take our haul of baguettes and sweets down to the beach (which is never far in Noumea) and demolish them overlooking the aqua blue water of the main bay. Instantly you realise, you’re in a special place. 32 degrees outside, white sandy beach, exquisite French pastry and water so crisp, you’d think it filtered. We stumble over to Le Roof, a restaurant built over the water, where I do my best work: discussing food over wine.

Gaby is incredibly passionate about this place, and it is contagious. Yes he has French roots and a classic culinary background, but it is this place, its produce and people that truly excite him. I realise that this isn’t a place trying to be France, it has its influence and has in fact turned into something totally unique.

The Broussard

My day starts on a horse in the countryside, not just to re-live my childhood hobby, but because I’m fitting right into the new Caledonian broussard way of life.

“Broussard” is the affectionate French term meaning “country person” given people who live outside of the main towns in New Caledonia. They proudly live on the fertile lands of the islands where an incredible variety of fruits and vegetables thrive. Yams and taro are amongst the true native food plant species that grow all over the island, but a lot of the farmed and consumed fruits and vegetables like papaya, bananas and a new favourite, chochotte, are plentiful along the undulating inland hills.

Taking in the beauty of the New Caledonian countryside on horseback.

Technically chochotte is a fruit, and resembles something of a irregular large pear, laden with small spikes. I promise, its nicer to eat that it is to describe! It has a delicate flavour and isn’t too pleasant when raw (although I think it would be great pickled) but when turned into a savoury puree with vanilla, it becomes magic. It is past the village of La Foa I discover this fruit through La Table du Banian. At this family-run guesthouse and restaurant you can sample incredible broussard fusion food, prepared and shared by Ale and Constance - two incredible women whom I would love to spend more time with. The recipes originate from family culture and tradition, but more importantly utilise produce from only the surrounding area of the property. This is true “local only” food that so many places strive (or claim) to have.

After spending time with Ale and Constance and sampling an array of local delights from wild spinach, wild mushrooms, local oysters, local venison and plenty more, I am able to retreat to an incredible yurt setup on the property. There is something about having an amazing and unusual experience during the day and then topping it off by having a totally new experience for bedtime. However, its done in a way which makes you feel like this is home, and I guess that makes sense. People in the country usually have a reputation of being incredibly hospitable, respectful and in this case, brilliant fun – and so I guess the old adage sticks. Its my first time, but I feel totally at home with the broussard.

Hidden Gems

In every new country there are going to be a number of very touristy things to try out, and if I'm honest, its not really my thing. In New Caledonia I feel there is such an array of truly unique “locals” experiences that everyone can easily access. I met up with chef Samuel Machon at the vibrant Port Moselle Market in Nouméa. This seafood market right on the waters edge is truly a local hotspot, but as a tourist its just as easy to walk up and buy some of the freshest array of seafood (and some fruit and veggies next door). We meet here to do my favourite type of shopping as part of an expedition which anyone with decent sea legs can do – a hop to a remote island just off Noumea. There are plenty of water taxis or transporters who can take you, and my day was just about getting the best seafood haul and finding a spot to cook it and enjoy it in pacific style.

A 20 minute boat ride later and Samuel is setting up on a permanent wooden table on a beach so pristine it seems like it’s a movie set. We barbecue our haul from the seafood market, including bugs (or “popinée” as they call it), prawns and my favourite, some exceptionally fresh yellow fin tuna.

A feast of New Caledonian food.

There is something head-rushingly exciting about sitting on a remote island, dotted with tropical palms and digging into a feast of simply cooked (and some raw) fresh local seafood washed down with some icy French rose’. I'd happily pop over here and do it myself, but you can hire a chef like Sam to do this for you, and I couldn’t think of a more unforgettable way to wrap up my island experience. Only topped off by the refreshing dip you get to have just metres away into a tropical aqua wonderland.

Warren travelled to New Caledonia as a guest of New Caledonia Tourism

https://au.newcaledonia.travel/