Food Storage… More Challenging Than You May Think…

How do you store food in Fiji?

 

Well lets look at how food is stored in America for a second… the first thing that pops into my head is a refrigerator,  where dairy products, meat, produce, condiments, eggs and drinks are stored along with leftovers. The second means is in a cupboard or some sort where dry ingredients, baking materials and snacks are stored.

 

Well here in Fiji, I would say 85% of volunteers (those who live in villages) don’t have access to a refrigerator, although some village volunteers do. The other issue is that even though most of us have a shelf for dry food storage, we are constantly haggard by swarms of ants, incessant geckos that poop and run all over everything, cockroaches, and our oh so favorite friend the mouse/rat. So all this begs the question… how do you keep food stored in Fiji?

 

Well we have all invented our own systems based on our pests/ house set up but I will elaborate on my situation here for you all.

 

Dry Food Storage:

• Clear plastic bins. I have one large bin for my dried beans and grains like lentils and rice that has a good sealing lid and is thick enough to keep gnawing mice at bay (at least so far).  I also have my flour and sugar stored in plastic bins that had other items in them that my grandma sent to me.
• Condiments: Well you know how there is that little warning written on most of your condiments that says, “Refrigerate after opening”? You can 90% of the time disregard that. It’s unnecessary. So  all my condiments like honey, sirracha sauce, oil, soy sauce, salt, and vanilla are kept out on my shelf.
• Other. Things that don’t fit into my dry bin are strung up from the middle of my house in a bag  I brought with me from the states. Stuff in here includes breakfast crackers, potatoes, extra rice, oats and sometimes goodies that are sent to me from the states.

Dry Food Storage on my shelves

 

Cold Food Storage:

This is where it gets a little creative and interesting…

• Eggs: We keep eggs out. I can keep a dozen eggs for up to 2 weeks sitting out on my counter top. Once I placed them on the cabinet above my stove and accidently cooked them at the bottom from the heat of the stove… Every once in a while you get a rotten egg. Its not uncommon. Always crack eggs in a separate bowl so you don’t ruin your entire meal. You can also take a little oil and cover the eggs to decrease the shells porosity and susceptibility to going bad from the humidity. Beware! Opening an egg carton left on your counter  can be risky business! I have found geckos, spiders, ants and even a mouse hiding out inside the empty slots.
• Butter: get used to melted butter. That’s all I have to say about that one.  I don’t usually buy real butter because its more expensive so I buy the cheap margarine. It  melts. If you buy a big container it can mold (yeah… it can mold…).
• Vegetables & Fruits: These are also hung up in a bag from my ceiling. A mesh bag I bought from the Co-op in Bellingham before leaving and its awesome. Heavy/bulky things like cucumbers, papaya, and eggplants are in individual bags hung from the ceiling as well. I usually keep my bananas in a bowl on my stove top to keep the ants away and to keep them from getting mashed up before I eat them.

The hanging bags...

• Dairy: I’m not really a dairy person… I only use milk to bake with which means I can keep the dehydrated milk powder for that. For other dairy products I wait until the bogiwalu comes (8 nights of cool weather and winds) and purchase things like cheese and yogurt (only 1 at a time though) to store these you place said product in a basin of cold water from the tap. Yogurt you can just stick in the basin, cheese has to be wrapped in ziplocks and then submerged.  They keep for up to 3-4 days depending on the temperature albeit not well… cheese will go soft and get that oily residue all around it and yogurt gets runnier. For reference, I have only purchased these items once each. Its just usually not worth having to eat that much dairy in such a short period of time…. So I just don’t eat dairy here.
• Leftovers: Tip. Don’t have leftovers. They go rotten in 18-36 hours. Undoubtedly. The heat and humidity are just perfect for mold to start growing on everything and its so sad to see a wonderful creating get taken over in such a short period of time. Its so difficult to cook for one person, but even more difficult when you can’t save any of it. I make hummus all the time and I eat a whole bowl of hummus during one day to save it from the mold.

 

Another problem that you have to deal with is weevils. If you don’t know what weevils are youtube a video or something. They are these awful small brown bugs with pinchers that get into your bagged food, especially lentils and rice. When purchasing these items from a store you must squeeze the bag and look carefully for these buggers because they suck. Once, I didn’t look and got an infested bag. I tried soaking the lentils to get them out, but the weevils had burrowed themselves into the individual lentils making it impossible to get rid of them.

 

Another note… all the “good stuff” aka stuff sent to me from America like dried fruits and trail mixes, mushrooms, coffee, tahini, olive oil, candies, dark chocolate bars,  tortellini, etc are strung up from a reusable (not see through) bag in my room above my bed. Call me stingy, but there are some goodies I don’t want to share.  When I get sent candies I bring them to grog and share with people there… but I just can’t part with those slab dried apricots from Trader Joes… NO WAY!

(Thank you mom, dad & grandma for sending me delicious food that make me not want to share… its is greatly appreciated!!)