It's not always possible to venture across the globe and sample an authentic paella from Spain or traditional moussaka from Greece.Which is why it's great that chef Mike Knight from Cafe Ten is serving up savoury dishes from a range of countries — allowing you to save on airfare.Over the past two years he has researched dishes from places like Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Chile, and featured specialities from those regions at monthly events.Most recently the Bermudian chef created a Hawaiian-themed dinner, which was well received by residents. While some of you may have missed last week's event, Mr Knight agreed to speak to The Royal Gazette and gave us tips on how to make the dishes at home.“You take raw tuna, ginger, seaweed and a bit of chilli then blend the ingredients together for about five minutes or so,” said Mike Knight, while preparing a tuna poké dish from Hawaii.The professional chef said the uncooked fish dish was similar to tuna tartar, but used more exotic spices. The tuna is also cut in slightly bigger pieces — so it's something that can easily be prepared by a novice cook at home.It's just one of the cultural dishes Mr Knight prepared at a special Hawaiian night at the Dundonald Street restaurant last week.He said fresh fruits, like pineapple, coconut, mangos and banana, feature heavily in dishes from the Polynesian islands. The region is also known for dishes with lots of seafood and pork; natives also have their own unique spices like organic coconut sugar, black sesame seeds and sea salt, made from red clay.Mr Knight said he personally loved the raw tuna poké, but it might not be to everyone's taste.Cooks could also experiment by searing a piece of fresh pork and mixing it with pineapple salsa, with chopped onion and fresh cilantro, he said.Another option is to take a piece of wahoo or mahi mahi and do a quick pan fry, before creating a simple coconut and lime sauce to go on top.He also recommended people try to make citrus rice jasmine rice infused with zest from half a lemon, and a squirt of lemon. “Mix that together and you get yourself a nice fragrant rice,” he said.Mr Knight began cooking when he was a small child, experimenting with breakfast foods like omelettes at age ten.“I just had a general love for food and, I guess, I was creative at a young age. As I got older I just started to progress more, learn more and try to understand as much as I could.”In 2004, he ventured to Toronto, Canada and took part in a culinary arts programme at Liaison College.He has worked with Cafe Ten on Dundonald Street, Hamilton since his return to the Island, in 2005. The chef decided to implement themed food nights two years ago to give residents a better taste for exotic cuisines and to get people interacting.“For me it's just trying to give people something they can't get here on a regular basis and then pair it with wines that they are not used to drinking, so they can get educated on newer wines and foods from different regions.“It gives me the freedom to do whatever I like. It takes me sometimes a week or two to research [the country] and play around with ingredients myself until I get it where I want and then I send that menu off to the sommelier and he would pair the wines with it.“Then off we go, we have a good night,” Mr Knight said.At last week's event, attendees were treated to a first course of tuna poké, then served Mr Knight's Big Island tomato soup with charred citrus and cilantro.The soup contained tomatoes, onions, garlic, charred citrus, cilantro, vegetable stock and coconut sugar. The vegetables were heated up and then blended down into a purée.“I got it down to a medium consistency, where it was not too chunky, not too smooth,” he said.Next he served a golden pineapple carpaccio, with jalapeño oil, spiced pulled pork and a sweet, apple slaw.“Carpaccio means raw so I sliced the pineapple really thin, “ he said. “Pretty much, it's a terminology used for raw fish, but I used fruit instead.“I drizzled the jalapeño oil on top of that and then added the spiced, pulled pork, which has a bunch of my secret spices. I also added caramelised onions and roasted red peppers to the mix.”The main course was an octopus and chilli mango salad. Mr Knight said he marinated the octopus in a soda blend three cans of Sprite, two cans of ginger ale and two cans of ginger beer.To that mixture, he adds the juice of three limes and two lemons, half a bunch of cilantro and a quarter bottle of sweet chilli sauce.He simmers the concoction with the seafood for two-and-a-half hours.“All of these ingredients are easy to find, you just have to put it all in a pot and after the time you check for the texture you personally are looking for.”He said octopus was similar to calamari, but could be chewier if not cooked correctly.For dessert Mr Knight tried to utilise some of the fresh fruits prevalent in Hawaiian foods.He said mixing fruits allowed you to create a mix of sweet and sour flavours, so he combined the mild taste of coconut, with the exotic taste of guava and made a cheesecake.“I mixed both [fruits] together and the result was sweet, creamy, not overbearingly heavy and just a melt in your mouth type of dessert.”The next cultural theme night will take place sometime this month, though a date and country has yet to be determined.Send an e-mail to ten@yellowfin.bm, so you can be added to their regular mailing list and be the first to know about their daily menu specials and upcoming events.Useful website: http://www.portocall.bm/ten.php