Lunch was held in one of the bures, where you will be granted permission and the honour of being one of the family’s guests. We were spoiled with a wide variety of traditional Fijian cuisine, our favourites definitely being the chicken lovo and bamboo rice. Lovo stands for an underground oven which is made by digging a pit into the ground and placing hot coals inside. The food will then be roasted as it is wrapped in banana leaves and then covered by more dirt, keeping the pit hot.
Lovo is mainly served during special occasions in the Navala village and is fundamental to the local culinary arts. Hence, as a guest, this dish will most definitely be prepared for you, a guest of honour. It takes around fours hours for the lovo to cook the main dish, so even if you're hungry, patience is key. The bamboo rice is glutinous rice stuffed in bamboo stalks, roasted over a fire. We had a lot of fun eating it straight from the bamboo. As Fijian cooking has a lot of Indian influences, we also had some curries and roti.