About the Thalassa Cookbook
’Thalassa’ is a greek word meaning ’god of the sea’. We are a long way from Greece here in New Zealand, however, ‘Thalassa’ was the name of the catamaran we hired to cruise the Vava’u group of islands in the gorgeous Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. There were 12 of us on board – 6 adults and 6 children. This was the 2nd trip for some of us and the third trip for others, the challenge was to feed 12 people healthy and exciting food worthy of this fantastic holiday with what we could carry from N.Z, buy in Vava’u ( a small and isolated community) and hunt and catch for ourselves. These recipes were prepared for this holiday and have evolved into a collection of recipes for all our holidays near the sea in the beautiful South Pacific. They have been gathered with a number of criteria in mind;
- Where possible we must use the local produce or seafood that we have gathered.
Thalassa in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga
- Or, we use ingredients that we have brought with us and will usually keep for a period of time – often refrigeration is not available when you are camping or boating.
- Holiday meals often need to feed a large crowd AND entice the children.
- The food must be fun to prepare and be flavoursome, healthy and satisfying.
- And most importantly, this must be food that is a celebration of holidays, fun with wonderful friends and a celebration of life.
Enjoy the recipes and let us know your thoughts!
Credit: To the McLean and O’shea Families – Good Times!
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