News

Queen Vic Market 140th year Celebration

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Rosie Fenech

To celebrate Queen Vic Market's monumental 140th birthday there will be a street party this Sunday 29th April. Along with a jam packed program, the Market will host an entire day of shopping discounts, offers and giveaways! Tribal Tastes is very excited to be part of this celebration as our identity is so closely linked with this beloved iconic institution; the home of fresh produce and the heartbeat of Melbourne. There is no other place we would like to have called home for the past two decades. Starting at the Summer Night Market at it's inception then establishing the world's first African Deli of this kind in 2002. We are particularly proud of our ready to heat and serve meals transforming fresh, local & seasonal produce into wholesome meals for market patrons and beyond. Enjoy huge savings across our vegan line this week at QVM and on-line.

Posted in gluten free, QVM, QVM 140th year celebration, Vegan Meals

Food Safari - FIRE

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Rosie Fenech

Food Safari returns in a blaze of glory introducing all you need to know about fire, including an episode on smoking where Maeve learns all ancient art of making Shito from Kunle Adesua. In this flame-cooking master class, host Maeve O’Meara visits Tribal Tastes Food Manufacturing plant in Reservoir to learns from Kunle the secrets smoking fish and of making Shito,

Episode 9 to be aired 3rd March 2016 at 8pm, Maeve explores the ancient art of smoking, a cooking technique that was originally used as a preservative, but is now applauded for its ability to impart flavour and texture.

Smoked fish is an aged old tradition across many cultures around the old world. In West Africa fish smoking is deep rooted in tradition; it is an art that transcends slow food preparation. It is an enduring culinary culture and essential ingredient for making ‘Shito’.

Smoked fish is ‘food for the Gods’. In the worship of ancestral deities and divinities, smoked fish must be present at the alter. In the early days smoked fish were so valuable that, they were means of exchange. Smoked fish is a cultural icon and are still part of the bridal dowry settlement in many cultures across West Africa.

Kunle Adesua is the founder and director of Tribal Tastes Foods. He is a pioneer of physical food processing techniques. Kunle manufactures an array of foods that can last up to 12 months without use of preservatives or excessive salts. Kunle’s foods are naturally sugar, dairy, gluten free. These are not trends they are tradition.

Kunle mastered smoking techniques at a very young age and has been smoking food for Australians for the last 20 years and retails from his shop at Melbourne’s iconic Queen Victoria Market. At Kunle’s smoke house red gum logs are the preferred smoking wood. Why red gum? Red gum is a wood that can burn for a very long time in the smokehouse. The smoking lasts up to 24 hours and red gum completes the cooking process encompassing smoking, cooking, roasting and drying.

The word Shito, pronounced Shi-to is Ga word, which means chilli. The Ga people were Yoruba people who migrated to present day Ghana thousands of years ago. Shito is now universally interpreted to mean hot chilli condiment.

Shito is an aromatic pleasantly hot chilli-condtiment made from smoked fish. It is very tasty and versatile. Shito is traditionally served with fried plantains, blanched green leafy vegetables such as spinach or kale and steamed rice. It can also be used as a natural seafood flavor enhancer by adding to seafood soups or pasta.