The cuisine of Christmas Island can best be described as an eclectic combination of traditional

Australian cuisine Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine includes several major regional cuisines: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, usually associated with ...

, particularly meals from

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

.''Christmas Island: Food''
by Mark Rochfort (Shorefire, 2006)

Population

, the island had just 1,200 residents - 65% Chinese Malaysians 20% Malaysian Malays and 15% of residents are of European descent. There are also small Malaysian Indian and Eurasian communities on the island.''No paradise on Christmas Island''
by Paige Taylor (

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

, 25 May 2009) Previously an additional 2,000+ people lived at the

Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (Christmas Island IRPC) or commonly just Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, is an Australian immigration detention facility located on Christmas Island in the Indian Oce ...

. Their meals were flown in by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

via operator

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

. The centre was closed in October 2018 but re-opened in 2019, and as of early 2020 hosted only one family of Tamil asylum seekers.

Food supply

Almost no fresh food is grown on the island due to

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s in the soil. However, there are three local gardens on the island that grow small amounts of Asian greens. There is a community garden at Drumsite, another small community vegetable patch in Poon Saan and a temple garden also in Poon Saan. These community gardens are distinctive for their garden beds built up out of the soil, as the worms tend not to come up towards the heat and risk drying out, preserving the roots of the vegetables. Some of the Asian greens and vegetables grown include bok choy, choy sum, kangkong, Chinese mustard, eggplant and okra among others. Locals rely on government-contracted deliveries of fresh food from mainland Australia. there is an additional air-freight of vegetables that arrives from Malaysia via Indonesia each Friday night for purchase on Saturday morning. This air-freight caters mostly to the tastes of the local community bringing in fresh noodles, Asian greens, fish, pork belly, bones and fillets, and other package foods like fish balls and tofu. In recent years, the supply of fresh food has been affected by a number of major incidents. In January 2012, the '' MV Tycoon'' crashed into the island's main dock at

Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove ( zh, 飛魚灣, ms, Pantai Ikan Terbang) is the capital city and main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. Although it was originally named after British survey-ship '' Flying-Fish'', many maps simply label it "The Set ...

, preventing subsequent fresh-food deliveries from reaching the island.''Fresh food fears for Christmas Island''
by Rebecca Trigger (

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

, 10 January 2012) When food supplies by ship are not available, air-freighted deliveries have been known to sell out within hours.

Wild food

Due to the tropical nature of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

's weather, a wide variety of food grows wild on the island. Fruit trees are found dotted around the island and on private properties. Some of the things that can be found by foraging on Christmas Island include: *

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

chilli Chili or chilli may refer to: Food * Chili pepper, the spicy fruit of plants in the genus ''Capsicum''; sometimes spelled "chilli" in the UK and "chile" in the southwestern US * Chili powder, the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties ...

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

* wild

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

* bunga kantan (also known as laksa flower or torch ginger flower - botanical name ''

Etlingera elatior ''Etlingera elatior'' (also known as torch ginger, ginger flower, red ginger lily, torch lily, wild ginger, ''combrang, bunga kantan'', Philippine wax flower, ගොඩ ඕලු (goda olu), ගොඩ නෙලුම් (goda nelum), සිද් ...

'') * manquang (a Chinese turnip also known as

jicama ''Pachyrhizus erosus'', commonly known as jícama ( or ; Spanish ''jícama'' ; from Nahuatl ''xīcamatl'', ) Mexican turnip, is the name of a native Mexican vine, although the name most commonly refers to the plant's edible tuberous root. Jícam ...

) *

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but wh ...

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

Many other well known tropical fruits such as rambutan, lychee and durian do not grow on Christmas Island as there is inadequate soil depth and not enough steady rainfall throughout the year.

Meals

As a result of supply issues, whole fresh

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

can be difficult to acquire and so meals that make use of

processed food Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily por ...

s and

canned food Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although un ...

s are popular. Traditionally,

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s were kept on the island and locals produced their own

pickled egg Pickled eggs are typically hard boiled eggs that are cured in vinegar or brine. As with many foods, this was originally a way to preserve the food so that it could be eaten months later. Pickled eggs have since become a favorite among many ...

s and Chinese

century egg Century eggs (), also known under a wide variety of names (see infobox), are a Chinese egg-based culinary dish made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to severa ...

s. Dishes that made use of the chickens themselves were popular along with dishes that included local

coconut crabs The coconut crab (''Birgus latro'') is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to . It can grow to up to in width from the tip ...

. However, coconut crabs are now a protected species.

Places to eat out

The island has a number of

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Indo ...

bars offering Chinese and Malaysian dishes in accordance with the traditional cuisines of the island's residents. There are 10 places to eat out on Christmas Island * Cari Makan - a Malay cafe at Kampong - different specials each night of the week * Le CLA (Chinese Literary Association) - a Chinese restaurant at Settlement * The Barracks Cafe - an Australian cafe at Settlement * The Golden Bosun - an Australian style pub * The Christmas Island Resort - a restaurant selling a variety of Western and Asian food. * Tracks Tavern - a pub at Drumsite that sells burgers and Thai Food * Lucky Ho - a local Chinese Restaurant at Poon Saan * Seaview Fish and Chips - a local "chippie" in Poon Saan * Seasons Palace - another local Chinese Restaurant in Poon Saan * The Coffee Shop (also known as Poon Saan Kopi Tiam) which sells a different Malaysian hawker dish special each day.

References