Rapa was a big hit at the opening of the Austral festival on Monday. Demonstrations of dance, music, culinary arts, and even sports, the delegates made the marquee stage vibrate. An opportunity to earn money for his work by selling traditional dishes.
To fulfill his duties, Rapa’s representatives sent over 40 kg of goats to Tubuai. “Baby goats are easy to cook…They take an hour to cook, they should be tender”says Amélie Tinamoe, a resident of Rapa.
Because when the coconut milk goat bowls are sold, the money collected will be used mainly to establish a school, and to build a house in Tahiti.
Rapa youth are proud of their traditions.
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As we waited under the balcony of the town hall, we were busy before the guests arrived. Around 8 o’clock in the morning, guests arrive, the traditional welcome to the sound of the pahu, the pride of the Rapa youth.
On the stage, the women prepare popoi, a dish very popular with the people of the Austral Islands. And to eat, many people use juice from the roots of auti, ti.
Ti flavored with honey easily replaces sugar in culinary preparations.
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Ancient people used locally made presses to extract the water from the roots. “This sauce will be used as sugar, to add popoi and other dishes. It is like honey”, explains Narii Tuanainai, the mayor of Rapa.
Popoi to make.
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Natural sugar to accompany traditional dishes. At Rapa’s place, bowls of goat’s milk and coconut milk go like hotcakes. “It’s taro, raw fish, and goat and it’s tender. But it’s good!”, exclaimed Maire Hauata, from Tubuai, happily.
It was all over too soon. At Rapa, we know how to please the taste buds and bring in money.
In return, the gift from the people of Rapa to the Tubuai is a large stone with the island of Rapa engraved in the middle. It’s not as soft as a baby goat (!), but it’s a gift made to last.
The famous Rapa stone as a gift to the people of Tubuai.
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