The Duchess of Sussex tried her hand at Fijian cooking today when she helped make a traditional fruit breakfast dish.
She was attending a morning tea at the residence of the British High Commissioner where she met a room full of women who have broken out of their traditional roles.
They included a female pilot for Fijian Airways and a number of women serving in the police and military.
At a culinary demonstration she watched as cookery trainer Alisi Delai showed her how to make lote, which involved scraping the coconut flesh and using a hot stone to extract the juice.
“That brings out the smoky flavour,” Ms Delai told her.
Ms Delai said afterwards: “I was showing her how to make lote. This is something we Fijians have for breakfast instead of porridge, or as a dessert. It is made from smoked breadfruit – the breadfruit that we used was picked from the High Commissioner’s garden yesterday afternoon.
“We have some banana and papaya, and then it is finished with infused coconut, which has had the hot stone added to the grated coconut to release the flavour.
“She wanted to mix all the ingredients together, to participate in making the lote.
“She also enjoyed me demonstrating how we sit with the coconut scraper.
“She found it very interesting, how we use our traditional methods of cooking, and how in Fiji we are very alive with our culture in terms of local cuisine. We like to show the local cuisine by using the local produce.”
The duchess also met a woman whose village was destroyed by Cyclone Winston in 2016, and has since earned a living by making baskets and beach bags which are sold through a not-for-profit organisation, Rise From The Reef.
Temalesi Vere, 44, who is married with five children, said three people were killed and 98% of the homes were destroyed when the cyclone hit her stretch of the coast in Ra province.
“I told her that the handicraft helped our family, and helped us to earn money,” said Ms Vere, who is a local coordinator for the organisation. “She really appreciated what we are doing here.”
Janet Lotawa, the director of Rise From The Reef, said they helped by offering the services of a product designer specialising in hand-made artefacts who can advise them what will sell.
The resulting products – which are collected every two weeks, instead of the women having to make their way to markets – are sold in hotels and are also distributed by aid organisations.
“It is a way for women to have more choices in their lives,” said Ms Lotawa.
She said of the duchess: “She definitely seemed to be interested in marginalised women.
She seemed pretty adept at understanding the dynamics of economic development for women.”
