Delicious from Mauritius.
Of course I’m not talking about my ‘not-so-secret-anymore’ nickname...just about food from Mauritius J
I could not have been any happier born in another country. Mauritius, (does it lie in the middle of nowhere?), is in the Indian Ocean AND the Indian Ocean has nothing to do with India, FYI! If you know where Madagascar is... well it’s just to the right of Madagascar, a tiny island.
A tiny piece of land bursting with so many different cultures. It is a shame that some people get so into the (WRONG!) idea that the country needs a sense of belonging to a particular culture, religion, you name it. I’m kicking myself but I have to admit it is relatively true. Well, thank you people for holding back my country!
Ok, enough of a rant.
In an ideal word, Mauritius should be what it should be – a free country where everyone can exist and embrace diversity. (And for those who can’t, the ocean is certainly not too far! ;) )
I feel so blessed having been exposed to different cultures throughout my childhood – whether it was when ‘little me’ was all excited about going to eat ‘ti puri 7 caris’ at a Hindu wedding, all the Eid cakes we would go share with our neighbours and family friends, my mum’s friends’ bringing us cakes for Divali, easter chocolate that my ‘tantine’ brings for me every year or my favourite ‘gato la cire’ for Chinese New Year.
If I had to sum up the Mauritian values that I grew up with is that it’s all about sharing – sharing your celebrations and joy with others, be it your neighbours, friends or family. My depiction of sharing here is a bit biased but it is true that most of it is carried out with food.
This post is (obviously) about the food heritage of Mauritius which is still being kept preciously as it should (I hope!) When I think about Mauritian food, I can’t help but picture people selling dhall puris, gato piments and rotis on the streets, little ladies making ‘gato poutou’ in the markets, ‘gato patate’ - fondaaaaant (the memory of the seller coming on his bicycle and just screaming ‘gato patate fondanttttttt’ and people rushing out of their homes in order not to miss it) or going to the Chinese shops to buy gato cravatte doux, baton fromaz, boulettes. OMG, I need to go home ASAP! (Can’t keep writing this now, let me wait until I get homeJ)
BREAK.
Now that I’m here, there’s so much that I forgot to mention before – poisson saler (salted fish), octopus, fresh coconut, ‘salade confit’ (fruit/veggie pickles), goyaves de chine, pudding mais/vermicelle or glacon raper. We all have our personal favourites! To be honest, 10 days is NOT enough to try all these delicacies. Due to the limited time I was going to spend back home, I had already sent a list of home-cooked food that I SO missed and wanted to eat to my mum (guilty - I’m a bit of a freak when it comes to food!). I was not disappointed! Being home was great, I stayed in and spent time with people I care about and had loads of food exuding love and warmth. There were times when I had 2 dinners just because I didn’t want to miss mum’s dishes or someone else’s :) The sleepless nights then were worth it!! (truer than l’Oreal adverts HAH!) J
Let’s go to… Picture time! I’m quite gutted that sometimes I’d be in such a rush to eat that the picture quality was not good enough or I wouldn’t bother taking one (Marginal utility people! J)
 |
| My favourite dish on my first day. Briani (deg svp) made by my parents :) |
 |
| Breakfast - as usual I toast my bread just like you toast marshmallows, literally! |
 |
| dipaindiberfromazgatopima should be one word. |
 |
| Mum's nan katai. |
 |
| Feelin' peckish.. afternoon snack, dipain tikka :) |
 |
| WOOOOHOO briani mariaz! |
 |
| Fruit pickles. Confit, didn't have some :( |
 |
| Goyaves de chine. |
 |
| Yuuuuum glacon raper, with extra tamarind syrup. They now have a new (at least to me) option, milk syrup? Have you ever heard of it before? The seller said it's the original one? |
 |
| Street Food - Dal puri <3 |
 |
| Boulettes/Dumplings de chez Jim. |
 |
| Mine Paul, not my fav. |
 |
| Coconut Jelly sighh I miss this a lot. |
 |
| OMG OMG OMG some of mum's food from heaven. |
 |
| Passion fruit from our family friends' garden :) LOVE fresh passion fruit juice. |
 |
| My favourite drink ever that my 'tantine' brought for me <3 :) |
This post is a bit messy, too much to talk about . I hope to have a better post about Mauritian food in the near future with more pictures.
A little anecdote: a Saturday afternoon, I had three mad dashes to the balcony because I thought the ‘gato patate’ seller was around and I wanted to stop him to get some cakes. (FYI the three runs were in vain, it was just a weirdo shouting out something) :(
P.S. The Michelins can still not compare to a few of my favourite Mauritian dishes.
