One thing this project is teaching me about our globe is that there are a lot of island nations. When you sit and think about it, it makes perfect sense, but it’s not something I put a lot of thought into before this project.

About a quarter of U.N. members are island nations, and for the purposes of this project, that’s going to mean one thing – a lot of fish. That’s the main course here for Fiji, a fish ceviche with a Pacific vibe to it.

We’d been buried in snow for days in Portland, and Emily’s weekly dinner with her family had been cancelled on Sunday, so why not cook up a Melanesian dish rooted in a nation that has never gotten colder than 50°?

The task started with juicing citrus – a lot of citrus – 11 limes, 1 lemon, plus a squirt of lemon juice from a bottle just to save my arms any more struggle. Once the juicing was done, I chopped up some rockfish (thanks for suggesting that, United Noshes) and marinaded it for four hours.

Four hours later, I drained the fish, mixed it with some chopped veggies, a little too much coconut milk and chilled it for another couple hours, before serving.

It was an interesting meal. As I’ve said before, I’m not a huge fish lover, but this was a good presentation, and a relatively easy treat – save for the ibuprofen I needed for my arms later (or maybe that was the snow shoveling) – to cook up for dinner.

Kokoda

• 1.5 lbs rockfish
• 10 limes juiced
• 3 lemons juiced
• 1.5 onions, finely diced
• 3 chiles, minced
• 2 chopped tomatos
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 Tb sea salt