Food

O.K. you’re probably sick of hearing about the boat systems by now. So, I’ll talk about grocery stores instead. With one note about the boat: we’re almost ready. We may take off in the morning for a shakedown tour of French Polnesia. Tahaa or Bora Bora. The three grocery stores in Uturoa are an amazement to me. They’re pretty small, but the variety and French influence make me want to spend hours in them. Plus they’re cool inside.

Try to find in Honolulu any of the following items: cassoulet (French bean stew) in a can, lentils and sausages in a can (French franks and beans), butter in a can, shelf stable fricasee of duck with green peas, or shelf stable milk and cheese. I haven’t really looked carefully at every shelf yet either.

There are fresh baguettes everywhere. Also, madeleines individually wrapped and sold in a big bag. (Not mandolines Howard) Pate’ and fresh cheese. And then there’s the freezer section. There are three kinds of puff pastry, big sheets, smaller sheets and then there’s the block. Duck breast, New Zealand lamb and meats of all sort are available frozen.

The people here couldn’t be nicer. Strangers wave and say bonjour or iorana (Tahitia hello). When they do, it’s with a small smile, no teeth but a very warm greeting. They also look you right in the eye when they do it.

Tomorrow we’re going to pull over to the public dock, which is very close to all three grocery stores. It will be joy to stock up the boat with all the goodies Uturoa has to offer.