Family ties are very strong. In the past, marriage partners were chosen by the family, but today young people have greater freedom in choosing partners. The tradition of celebrating marriages with feasts and festivities still endures. Diet and Eating Tahitians eat three meals a day. The main meal is eaten in the middle of the day.
Breakfast usually consists of bread and a hot drink.
The evening meal is also light, except when it is a special occasion or when people are dining in a restaurant. The Tahitian diet consists of fish and other seafood, chicken, pork, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, rice, and local fruit and vegetables such as papaya, mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and fafa , a type of spinach. Coconut milk is also used in chicken or pork casseroles that contain fafa. Fish is often marinated before being baked or grilled. Poisson cru is raw fish marinated in lime juice, often served as part of a salad.