From home to market: Celebrating Pacific traditional flavours at Tāmaki’s night market

Sesilia Talamaivao, a proud Sāmoan from the village of Fagaloa, is sharing the tastes of her homeland at Auckland’s night markets through NJCC Island Cuisine, a church-run food stall.

Speaking with PMN intern Jayden Sufia, Talamaivao hopes to introduce the flavours of Sāmoa through their island barbecue offerings.

“Coming here, it’s like bringing our culture, our taste, our Samoan way of living to practice in the night market.

“Bringing our oven, bringing all the utensils and cooking in the night market, just like cooking in Sāmoa and eating the same taste…but earning money,” she says.

Talamaivao recalls her childhood in Sāmoa, where they use local resources to prepare meals.

She highlights the community’s passion for cooking, noting that coming together at the night markets united them in sharing their love for food.

“We grow our own crops, cook our own food from our own backyard,” she says. “Our passion is cooking, and we have been doing a lot within the church where we serve our community with non-commercial catering, but just providing for our community, for our church.”

They decided to test their abilities by starting a business based on what they love.

But the journey was not without challenges. Talamaivao says they faced difficulties in preparing for the business and attending multiple night markets, where some nights were less productive.

NJCC Island Cuisine members at ASB Polyfest 2025. Photo/Njcccuisine/Facebook.

There were moments when they almost gave up, but their perseverance eventually paid off.

“The first week…challenge we faced was preparation, but also the fact that in some markets it’s not very productive.

“We thought we will just wait for a bit and just keep trying until we got the hint of how to work things out,” she says.

A customer from the Henderson night markets states: “Food from the night markets hits different, especially Island food, because it’s not every day where we get to experience what food from home tastes like.”

Looking ahead, Talamaivao hopes to open a restaurant, but for now, her focus is on selling at the night markets to gain more customers.

Talamaivao hopes to give customers a taste of Sāmoa food through selling island food. Photo/Unsplash.

“We feel it’s best to go out to the customers rather than having to wait for customers, but in the long run, when we’re known out there, we will look into a nice fancy restaurant, but still with a Pacific taste,” she says.

Fijian stallholder Prashil Pravinesh Naidu, owner of ‘Gadbsy Night Market’, says that building a business comes with its own set of challenges.

Naidu tells Sufia that every year brings new obstacles. He says that with the rising cost of living, accessing resources has become difficult.

Naidu says starting out at the Auckland night markets wasn’t easy, but improved over time.

Naidu’s worker at Henderson night markets. Photo/PMN News/Jayden Sufia.

“Since I’m selling food, I would say food is the main challenge. It’s sometimes hard to get food. If you do get food, then it keeps going up and up.

“It was hard at the start, but once you get to know the people, once people get to know your food, it was really easy.”

His best-selling dish is butter chicken, which he learned to make after moving to New Zealand.

“We make our butter chicken from scratch. We don’t use anyone’s recipe, it’s my dad’s recipe.”

Naidu selling his best selling dish at the Henderson night markets. Photo/PMN News/Jayden Sufia.

His inspiration for starting his own food business came from working under his parents, who own a restaurant.

After completing a chef course at university, he launched ‘Gadsby Night Market’.

“As soon as I finished my chefing course, I wanted to do something, whether it was to start my own business or work for someone else.”

Naidu says he has many aspirations for his future, but the potential for growth depends on the market.