Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Vegan MoFo Day 4 - Worldly Wednesdays - Stopover 29 - Marshall Islands

Last year for Vegan MoFo my theme involved virtually travelling around the world in 20 days, stopping in at 20 randomly selected countries to cook a dish or two. The research and cooking was more time consuming than I gave it credit but I thoroughly enjoyed exploring different cuisines and expanding my limited knowledge of global food. Although my plan was to continue cooking around the world regularly I've only managed to complete another eight countries in the year that has passed and have been stuck on my most recent selection for quite some time.

The Marshall Islands are a small island country in the Pacific Ocean which are geographically a part of Micronesia. Politically this group of islands are a presidential republic in free association with the United States which means the US provides defence, funding grants and access to social services to the Marshallese. This connection to the United States is an indicator as to why the only recipe I could find linked to these islands was a Macadamia nut pie similar to a pecan pie that is popular throughout the United States.


My biggest challenge in recreating this dish was sourcing a suitable replacement for light corn syrup which is not widely available in Australia. I read many conflicting opinions on various cooking forums and had wanted to use liquid glucose as it was suggested as the best replacement. I'm sure that liquid glucose used to be stocked at supermarkets but it seems to have vanished these days. After wasting a lot of time with attempting to track down ingredients, I bit the bullet and used some good old golden syrup. When it comes to replacing eggs in recipes I use ground flaxseeds more often than not but I don't think I've ever veganised a recipe originally made with more than 1 or 2 eggs and was a bit nervous that this recipe called for 4 eggs. I wasn't sure how flax would perform in a larger quantity and subbed in some silken tofu with a bit of cornflour instead.

After my pastry dough had rested and been rolled out the filling didn't take much time to beat together. I was slightly concerned that the centre of the pie was a bit wobbly after being baked for the recommended time and didn't want to bake it for any longer as the pastry had browned and the top of the filling caramelised. The filling appeared to have set up properly after it cooled down but it was still a little oozy after it was sliced. The pie accompanied us to a Father's Day dinner last weekend and everyone really enjoyed it despite my woes about it not being quite right. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and found that this was way too sweet for me - I struggled to finish a small slice.

As this isn't something I'm likely to revisit I won't bother posting the recipe for now. I'm looking forward to my next stopover after being stuck in the Marshall Islands for so long!


Did you know?


The Marshall Islands have the highest incidence of leprosy in the world. Apart from humans the only animal in the world that can contract leprosy is the armadillo.

24 comments:

  1. I just saw the dateline on your post and freaked out - is it wednesday already?! Damn that whole time difference! Shame it was so sweet, because it sounds gorgeous - would you make it again with a tweaked reicpe?

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    1. Thanks Joey, the time difference is hard to get a handle on during MoFo! I'm sure I could tweak a version of this but don't think I have the inclination and it's not really the type of sweet my fellows devour which is another reason why I took it along to the family gathering.

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  2. As someone with a pretty epic sweet tooth this pie looks perfect!

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    1. Thanks Jojo, your epic sweet tooth would have been in heaven with this! ;)

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  3. I love macadamias and have never thought to use them in a pie, but I have a feeling this might be a little sweet for me as well! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it :)

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    1. Thanks Mandee, I would have enjoyed it much more with if it wasn't so sweet but I was pleased that everyone else enjoyed it.

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  4. This looks really beautiful. But I know what you mean about things being too sweet and I have a sweet tooth. Usually if something is too sweet, I just accompany it with a huuuuge glass of plain almond milk. Usually does the trick :-)

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    1. Thanks luminousvegans, perhaps I should have topped mine with cashew cream which is how everyone else enjoyed theirs. I've never really been into cream or ice-cream accompanying sweets but I guess that has it's merits sometimes.

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  5. I'm with you on the too-sweet. Macadamia tarts/pies are fabulous though and this looks awesome :)

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    1. Thanks veganopoulous, I do enjoy making tarts and pies but definitely prefer them to be way less sugary than this.

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  6. Too bad that the experiment didn't work out as well as you liked, but I'm glad that everyone else enjoyed it! I'm glad you're doing more of this series. I like learning more about other places through their food.

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    1. Thanks Cadry, it wasn't a total flop but not as perfect as I had hoped either (my standards can be quite high sometimes). Glad you are enjoying the world posts too!

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  7. There was an amazing pastry shop where I grew up (in Townsville, Qld) that made amazing pecan pie that looked fairly similar to this. As long as it tasted good, eh? :)

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    1. Thanks Amy, it tasted great for the sweet toothed people - was just a bit too much for me.

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  8. Oh wow that pie looks yummy! Even though I do have a sweet tooth, I can understand why you are not posting this recipe. Pies are rarely my first choice of dessert because I'm usually put off by how extremely sweet they can get. And it's a pity too because they always look so beautiful.

    I'm really looking forward to your very interesting dishes from various countries around the world. :)

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    1. Thanks Veganosaurus, I quite enjoy making pies but I prefer the sweetness to come from fruit rather than loads of sugar. Hope you enjoy the rest of the countries!

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  9. This pie looks wonderful. I'm sorry it didn't turn out as well as you had hoped. It sounds like it was a huge hit.

    I'm loving hearing about other places.... a virtual food trip. I'm ready for the ride. Thanks for all of you hard work in researching so much.

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    1. Thanks omgoshimvegan, I think my expectations were pretty high as I had been wanting to make it for such a long time. Glad you like the world food posts too!

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  10. I was always a huge fan of pecan pie growing up. But WOW? Macadamia pie? Cannot even imagine how good that is. I, unfortunately, have absolutely no problem with the sweet stuff.

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    1. Thanks Dawn, I've actually never tried a pecan pie but have seen so many recipes for them posted on US blogs. This would have been to your taste if you have a very sweet tooth. :)

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  11. I love that this is a pan pacific recipe combining Australasia and America. I find that it is always tricky to substitute for corn syrup esp as it seems to depend on a recipe and I don't do it that often - I thought you could buy liquid glucose in the supermarket too but these things have a way of disappearing once you look for them

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    1. Thanks Johanna, it is an interesting mix from across the globe. Perhaps macadamias are grown on the Marshall Islands - I didn't think to check that out. The golden syrup may have been a bit too much in this recipe and I should have used less than the corn syrup in the original but at least I'll know for next time!

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  12. This is an impressive veganisation Mel! I have always found pecan pie too sweet too but it is nice in small doses and I am also wary of veganising things with lots of eggs - interesting to know that silken tofu and corn flour can work well (even if not quite as well as you wanted). I also love hearing about your country research and always seem to learn something new!

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    1. Thanks Kari, this was definitely something to enjoy in a small dose if you don't have a very sweet tooth. I think the silken tofu replacement may have worked better with a touch more cornflour so I'll keep experimenting with that in recipes that call for lots of eggs. I'm happy that you like the country posts too!

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