Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Melanesian recipes. This page provides links to all the Melanesian recipes presented on this site, with 90 recipes in total.

These recipes, for the major part, originate in the Melanesia. Otherwise they are fusion recipes with major Melanesian influences.

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.

The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the Indonesian part of New Guinea, the French oversea collectivity of New Caledonia, and the Torres Strait Islands. Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere.

The name Melanesia (in French, Mélanésie) was first used in 1832 by French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville: he coined the terms Melanesia and Micronesia to go alongside the pre-existing Polynesia to designate what he viewed as the three main ethnic and geographical regions forming the Pacific.

The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Melanesia are called Melanesians. This is a heterogenous set of different genetic groups and ethnicities, different cultural practices (mythology, music, art, etc.), and different unrelated language families. Yet together they form a vast area with a long history of exchanges.

Definition: The name Melanesia, from Greek μέλας, black, and νῆσος, island, etymologically means 'islands of black [people]', in reference to the dark skin of the inhabitants.

The concept among Europeans of Melanesia as a distinct region evolved gradually over time as their expeditions mapped and explored the Pacific. Early European explorers noted the physical differences among groups of Pacific Islanders. In 1756, Charles de Brosses theorized that there was an 'old black race' in the Pacific who had been conquered or defeated by the peoples of what is now called Polynesia, whom he distinguished as having lighter skin.: 189–190  In the first half of the nineteenth century, Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent and Jules Dumont d'Urville characterized Melanesians as a distinct racial group. Over time, however, Europeans increasingly viewed Melanesians as a distinct cultural, rather than racial, grouping. Scholars and other commentators disagreed on the boundaries of Melanesia, descriptions of which were therefore somewhat fluid.

Melanesia

Arms	Flag	Name of Territory	Capital	Name in Official Language(s)
		Fiji	Gitega	Republic of Fiji/Matanitu Tugalala o Viti (Fijian)/ फ़िजी गणराज्य Fijī Gaṇarājya (Fiji Hindi)
		New Caledonia (France)	Nouméa	New Caledonia/Nouvelle-Calédonie (French)
		Central Papua (Indonesia)	Wanggar, Nabire Regency	Central Papua/Papua Tengah
		Highland Papua (Indonesia)	Walesi, Jayawijaya Regency	Highland Papua/Papua Pegunungan
		Papua (Indonesia)	Jayapura	Province of Papua
		South Paoua (Indonesia)	Salor, Merauke Regency	South Papua/Papua Selatan
		Southwest Papua	Sorong	Southwest Papua/Papua Barat Daya
		West Papua	Manokwari	West Papua/Papua Barat
		Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Independent State of Papua New Guinea/Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini (Tok Pisin)/ Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini (Hiri Motu)
		Solomon Islands	Honiara	Solomon Islands/Solomon Aelan (Pijin)
		Vanuatu	Port Vila	Republic of Vanuatu/Ripablik blong Vanuatu (Bislama)/ République de Vanuatu (French)