Henry Onesemo
Executive Chef at Tala
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth
Vaisu Mussels with Coconut Mānuka Dressing & Puffed Buckwheat
A reimagined version of the traditional Samoan vaisu technique, this dish uses chilled mussels topped with a dressing of coconut Mānuka tea, whisky-infused Mānuka Honey, pineapple juice and smoked coconut milk.
Vaisu is the traditional practice of cooking fish using charcoal to caramelise and smoke the coconut milk.
We steamed our mussels and chilled them before topping with a vinaigrette made with coconut Mānuka tea, pineapple juice with a little smoked coconut milk and whisky infused Mānuka Honey.
“When we tried the whisky-infused Mānuka Honey we instinctively knew it was the missing piece of the puzzle needed to round off the balance in the dressing for the mussel dish.”
Henry Onesemo
Executive Chef
Tala
Koko Samoa
Koko Samoa is hot chocolate in its purest form, made by roasting Samoan cacao beans over the fire, then crushing them into a powder, then paste and setting in
styro-foam cups.
We used this chocolate to make a Crémeux (and anglaise folded through Koko Samoa), macadamia cream, dried coffee meringue and grated chocolate.
The dish is best savoured with a spoon filled with a caramel made from the delicious whisky-infused Mānuka Honey and topped with salted burnt macadamia.
Koko Samoa
Koko Samoa is hot chocolate in its purest form, made by roasting Samoan cacao beans over the fire, then crushing them into a powder, then paste and setting in
styro-foam cups.
We used this chocolate to make a Crémeux (and anglaise folded through Koko Samoa), macadamia cream, dried coffee meringue and grated chocolate.
The dish is best savoured with a spoon filled with a caramel made from the delicious whisky-infused Mānuka Honey and topped with salted burnt macadamia.
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