Vanuatu is an island country that is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, within the Melanesia region, along with three other island countries: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. It is roughly northeast of Australia and east of New Caledonia.
Vanuatu’s food culture and storage tradition revolves around starchy root crops (taro, yam, cassava), green bananas, coconut, and fresh seafood.
This article shares how Vanuatu's banana-mash, ginger tea, rum, and other foods naturally fit into glass jars and bottles, some recipes and how anyone, even in the UK, can efficiently prepare and store some of these recipes at home.
Vanuatu's Food Culture and Where They Traditionally Stored Food
The Melanesia region, where Vanuatu is located, has one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth, which is relative to its population, with over 100 unique languages spoken across its islands.
This diversity across the region has also further influenced the food culture in Vanuatu. Starchy root crops such as taro, yams, cassava, and sweet potatoes form the dietary basics in Vanuatu and across most of the islands in Melanesia. Other food items include bananas, coconuts, local fish, and wild pig. Coconut to be precise, features in almost every dish, serving as cooking fat, as a liquid, and as a wrapping and lining material for traditionally preserving food.
Glass jars and bottles were not traditionally used as storage containers in Vanuatu. In time past, they only relied on what the environment provided, such as woven baskets, banana leaves, coconut shells, and earth pits.
Glass jars and bottles were relatively new to Vanuatu's food tradition, which came into the country through trade, commercial food production, and development-focused food-security projects. As time passed, the ni-Vanuatu (citizens of Vanuatu) adopted the use of glass jars and bottles for storing/preserving, and serving food.
Vanuatu’s Mara Technique of Preserving Banana-Mash in Pits to Glass Jars
A popular and interesting food storage technique is the mara technique of preserving banana mash in a pit. It is said to be a food preservation method practised by women across the Vanuatu islands, which is a centuries-old technique that sees the communities through lean seasons/food shortages, storm seasons, and periods of isolation.
The Process of the Vanuatu Mara Technique
The mara technique is traditionally a labour-intensive process and resourceful as well.
To use this technique, unripe bananas are first harvested and mashed by hand into a thick, dense paste. The mash is then packed into baskets woven with banana leaves and coconut fronds, then placed into pits lined with coconut husks and banana leaves and buried underground. Because the pit is cool and more like an insulated environment, the banana mash ferments gently and remains stable for months, sometimes, over a year.
When the community needs it, they dig up the banana mash, recook it with coconut milk, and eat it as a savoury, sweet staple.
The mara technique is one that is not related to the European food preservation methods, and it works entirely without glass, metal, or manufactured packaging. But it also follows the underlying principle of sealing food away from air and contamination, so it lasts.
Banana Mash Spread Recipe in Wide-Mouth Jars
Ingredients
● 4 large unripe or just ripe bananas, peeled
● 100ml coconut milk
● 1 tablespoon sugar (optional, to taste)
● A pinch of salt
Method
● Mash the bananas thoroughly until smooth, then combine with the coconut milk, sugar (optional), and salt in a small saucepan.
● Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
● Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then spoon into a sterilised wide-mouth glass jar, seal with an airtight lid, and refrigerate.
● Use within two weeks as a spread on bread, alongside rice dishes, or as a base for desserts. The wide-mouth jar is preferred because it makes it easy to spoon from the jar directly.
Vanuatu’s Ginger Tea, Fruit Cordial and Jams in Glass Jars
Vanuatu, just like in Antigua and Barbuda, has been running value-added food-preservation initiatives across its islands, which are led by development organisations and community groups aimed at helping families turn surplus produce into shelf-stable products that can be sold, shared, or stored for leaner months.
Over time, the products that have been coming out of these workshops are precisely the kind of foods that glass jars and bottles were designed for:
● Ginger-tea concentrate: which is fresh ginger simmered with sugar and water into a thick, aromatic syrup that can be diluted with hot water for tea or cold water for a refreshing drink.
● Fruit cordial juice: which is made from local tropical fruits like pawpaw, pineapple, and passion fruit, cooked down with sugar and strained into a flavourful cordial.
● Tropical fruit jams, which include banana jam, pawpaw jam, and mixed tropical preserves. They are hot-filled into sterilised glass jam jars and sealed for long-term storage or sale.
● Root-crop-based products: This includes taro-based pastes and spreads.
Ginger-Tea Concentrate Recipe in Jam Jars
Ingredients
● 100g fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
● 300g caster sugar
● 600ml water
● Juice of one lemon
Methods
● Combine the ginger, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
● Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the syrup thickens slightly.
● Stir in the lemon juice and strain through a fine sieve.
● Pour immediately into sterilised glass jam jars while hot, seal with airtight lids, and leave to cool completely.
● Store in a cool, dark cupboard for up to three months
● Once it's opened, refrigerate and use within four weeks. To enjoy it, dilute one to two tablespoons with hot or cold water per cup.
Vanuatu’s Rum, Soft Drinks and Coconut Oil in Glass Bottles
When it comes to drinks, Vanuatu has a well-established glass-bottle culture, which is driven partly by commercial production and partly by reusing glass bottles for a more eco-friendly approach to sustaining the environment and economy, especially in the islands where imported packaging is expensive.
Tusker is Vanuatu's best-known local beer, and the packaging technique used is the refillable glass bottle system, where bottles are returned, then sterilised, and refilled rather than thrown away.
This glass packaging system is common across Pacific island nations to help in waste management and keep glass in circulation for a far longer period than single-use alternatives like plastics.
Vanuatu also has a local distillery called the 83 Islands Distillery, which produces Yumi Rum and Faea Kava Spiced Rum, both bottled in glass bottles. The use of glass bottles for packaging spirits is the global standard because glass is completely inert, does not interact with high-alcohol liquids, and preserves the taste of the rum throughout its shelf life.
Another food item stored in glass bottles and jars is virgin coconut oil, which is produced across Vanuatu's islands from fresh coconut flesh because glass is a food-safe material for an oil that is sensitive to both light and the off-flavours that plastic containers can result in over time.
Tropical Fruit Cordial Recipe in Glass Bottles
Ingredients
● 300g fresh or tinned pineapple, roughly chopped
● 150g fresh pawpaw (papaya), roughly chopped
● 200g caster sugar
● 400ml water
● Juice of one lime
Method
● Combine the fruit, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
● Simmer for 15 minutes until the fruit has completely softened.
● Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the fruit pulp to extract all the juice.
● Stir in the lime juice, leave to cool, then pour into a sterilised glass bottle like a 500ml clear glass bottle, and seal.
● Refrigerate and use within three weeks, diluting with still or sparkling water to serve.
Overview of which glass containers are suitable for Vanuatu’s foods and drinks:
| Vanuatu’s Food/Drink | Suitable Type of Jars and Bottles |
| Banana-mash, taro-based pastes/spread | Wide-mouth jars, food-graded jars |
| Ginger tea/syrup | Glass jars, glass bottles |
| Fruit cordial | Glass bottles, jam jars |
| Fruit jams and preserves | Jam jars |
| Virgin coconut oil | Glass jars, glass bottles |
| Rum, spirits, and soft drinks | Juice bottles, alcohol bottles, spirit bottles |
3 Interesting Things About Vanuatu's Food and Jar Culture
1. Mara Technique of Banana-Mash Burial
In the Melanesia region, the Mara technique of banana-mash burial is one of the Pacific's great food preservation innovations, which is a method that predates refrigeration, canning, or any manufactured packaging by centuries. It was developed and is maintained by women across several of Vanuatu's islands, which is a direct response to the cyclones, droughts, and seasonal shortages that have always characterised island life in Melanesia.
2. Vanuatu's Food-Preservation is Centred on Women and Families
The Vanuatu food-preservation tradition has always centred on women and family groups as the primary keepers of knowledge of food. For example, basket-weaving, banana-mash’s pit preparation, and the general banana-mash production are skills passed down through generations of women, and the same community-focused approach applies to the modern value-added food initiatives in Vanuatu.
3. Vanuatu’s Value-Added Food-Preservation
The value-added food-preservation initiatives in Vanuatu hold workshops to teach families to make ginger tea, fruit cordials, and jams in glass jars, as part of a broader food-security agenda aimed at helping island communities generate income from surplus produce and build pantry reserves that do not depend on imported food. In these projects, glass jars are central because they are the most reliable, food-safe, and reusable containers available for the products being made.
Using the Right Glass Container in the UK for Vanuatu’s Style Food & Drinks
If you are already interested in Vanuatu’s banana-mash, fruit cordial, rum or jams, then you don’t need to live in the South Pacific to prepare and preserve like a Ni-Vanuatu family. If you are in the UK or anywhere in the world, the same principles apply: choose the right food container, sterilise it, and keep it airtight.
Here are more tips:
● Use wide-mouth jars (like Le Parfait or standard preserve jars) for banana-mash, spreads, and taro-based pastes.
● Use jam jars for ginger-tea concentrates, tropical fruit preserves, and chutneys.
● Use Glass bottles (including alcohol bottles and swing-top bottles) for cordials, rum-based drinks, and coconut oil.
● When choosing, consider the size of the jar based on the quantity (usually 250ml to 1 litre or more), and for the type of lid, consider plastic-lined metal for short-term, and rubber seal for ferments.
● With respect ot the colour glass bottle, use amber bottles for oils and spirits sensitive to light.
Investing in reusable glass jars and high-quality lids allows you to minimise kitchen/food waste while preserving your food items from spoiling easily.
If you are in the UK and you are looking to purchase some glass jars, lids, and bottles for Vanuatu-inspired food and drinks, explore our wide collection of spirit.