Hot soup or stew for dinner? Nah give me some pani keke!
Winter is really making me think so hard about what I really WANT to eat and there are not many gems as delicious as pani keke! These sweet morsels are perfect with a hot milo but if you're not sweet enough, add some strawberry jam and you're in heaven! Made simply with flour, bananas and sugar the batter is formed into palm-sized balls and deep-fried until golden brown. You could get a dozen for $7 but they used to give us extras because we were regulars.
I miss the Samoan mother-son duo who used to fry dozens of these delights from their little mobile stall at the Wesley Community markets every Tuesday and Friday. Since the global pandemic they haven't come back since and my mum has gone without her favourite little cakes for over 14 months now. I hope they are well, the pandemic has changed a lot and the market will never be the same again.
It's amazing what little food businesses can do and I really take my hat off to them for their big smiles and happy conversations. The community is not the same without them, I hope they see this and come back. We also lost the Cook Island couple (way before the pandemic) who sold the greatest doughnuts ever made! I hope they are well too, we miss their crispy and sweet fried doughnuts that had customers racing to the market every Friday morning for a bag. If you were lucky and got to the market by 10 am you'd have a good chance of getting a dozen pani kekes and a ten pack of doughnuts!
It's times like this with winter here and meal time either a big hassle or you're sick of the same old dishes that just a simple Samoan pani keke (or 12) or Cook Island doughnut (or ten) will do just fine!
