COOKING IS BEAUTIFUL!
Growing up, Leo Vusilai, never had any interest in cooking. All this changed eight years ago when a career’s expo at his high school introduced him to the world of culinary arts.
Leo initially wasn’t interested in a career in cooking but his father planted a seed in him which he is forever thankful for. “USP and VIT spoke to students about career opportunities in cooking at our high school. I wasn’t interested in this career path. But my dad told me you can be a pilot or doctor but one day you will have to retire. Cooking is a skill that is always needed, people will only stop eating when they’re 6ft under”. With those words in the back of his mind, Leo signed up for a course in Culinary Arts at the Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) and that is where his love for cooking was born. “After I started I realized, Wow, cooking is beautiful. It is an art”.
It didn’t take long for Leo to flourish in this field. Six months into VIT, he participated in the Salon Culinaire organized by the Vanuatu Chefs Association and he won the Vanuatu Student Chef of the Year Award receiving a gold medal. After graduating from VIT, Leo worked in kitchens in various hotels, restaurants, cafes and pubs refining his art and gaining experience.
In 2018, under Vanuatu Skills Partnership, Leo was sent to Noumea for a symposium. On his return flight to Vila, he met a man that led him to an opportunity that catapulted his career. “I got to my seat on the plane and saw a guy sitting there. I said to him, I recognize you, you’re the author of Me’a Kai and I was the first person to get that book in Vanuatu as an award for the Vanuatu Student Chef of the Year”. The man Leo was referring to is accomplished New Zealand chef, award-winning author and TV presenter, Robert Oliver, who was on his way to Vanuatu to hold auditions for a reality TV cooking show. Leo’s interest was already piqued as he learnt more from Oliver about the cooking show, Pacific Island Food Revolution (PIFR). “I wanted to do it and I was already thinking about who I wanted to cook with and it was my friend, Knox Taleo, who was a trainer at APTC”. Pacific Island Food Revolution is no ordinary reality cooking show. It is a development program with a vision that local food and knowledge underpin economic development, tourism, health and wellbeing in the Pacific. “It’s about putting the spotlight back on Pacific Island food. We all want to cook different cuisines, forgetting about our food culture. And we think that island kakae is only for our homes and not for the public or for restaurants. Pacific Island Food Revolution wants to change that mindset.” On his experience being on the reality TV show: “It was scary to be in front of cameras. It felt like a lot of eyes watching me even though there were only a few of us in the room… at times I almost burnt myself. The biggest challenge was going up against mama’s who are more experienced. But it was a great experience”. Leo and Knox went on to win Season 1 of Pacific Island Food Revolution and travelled to Fiji to compete against contestants from other Pacific Island countries.
Following the success of PIFR, Leo decided to focus on catering and opened Island Kakae. “People kept asking me, when can we eat your dishes, when can we sample your meals so I thought, ok maybe I should try catering”. Island Kakae is a mobile food delivery service that prepares lunches on alternate days and takes bookings via their Facebook page. They also cater for cocktails, buffets, weddings and birthdays. “We have been very busy and I feel bad because sometimes I have to turn people down”. Island Kakae uses local ingredients for their healthy, nutritious meals. Leo says that with the growing number of non-communicable diseases in the country, the need to eat healthy is even more pertinent.
He has big dreams for the food culture in Vanuatu, one he hopes will be adopted by restaurants throughout the country. “I would like to see our local food culture with the western fusion techniques in restaurants in the future”. With COVID-19 changing many of our practices and habits today, this just could become a reality.
