What’s Eaten Where: Manono: Where dogs are banned and coconuts are plentiful

In Cyprus, barking dogs are a way of life. So, I’ve started Googling ‘places without dogs’. And top of the list is Manono in Samoa – an island which has Completely Banned Dogs.

Okay, so there are disadvantages to living on this islet. Yes, Manono is a peaceful tropical paradise (swaying palm trees; white sand beaches; glass-clear seas etc) but at over 3,000km from the nearest landmass (New Zealand) it’s pretty remote.

Along with the no dogs, we also get no roads and no vehicles. Electricity was only introduced in 1995. And on Sundays, the sole permitted activity is the walk to and from church. Even the Samoan Tourist Authority bills the island as ‘an off-grid paradise where time has stood still’.

That said, Manono does get its fair share of visitors. Diving in the marine-protected lagoon and jungle trekking through the forest interior draw the more intrepid tourists. And gastronomes can enjoy a feast of delicious island foods…

Good food is a huge part of Samoan culture, and in Manono, it’s traditional fare all the way. Seafood looms large on the menu, with yellowfin tuna, masimasi, octopus and crayfish caught daily. Tropical fruit is another favourite: here, bananas, mangos, papaya, star fruit and pineapple literally fall at your feet, and are eaten fresh from the tree.

Coconut, of course, appears in almost everything. Palusami and oka are the local specialities: the former is baked coconut cream cooked inside coconut leaves in the umu (earth oven); the latter consisting of freshly-caught raw fish cut into chunks and mixed with coconut cream, freshly squeezed lime juice, chopped onion, and tomato.

There’s also a fair bit of free-range chicken (known as moa) on the Manono menu – with no pesky dogs around, poultry can wander at will! And then, after a healthy, hearty lunch, it’s heads down for an uninterrupted afternoon nap – this is one place where I wouldn’t need my noise-cancelling headphones. It’s almost worth the €3,000, four flights, and one long boat trip it would cost to get there. I think I’ll start saving.