Palm hearts and piments: a foodie exploration of Mauritius Posted on 12 September 2012 Tags:Chinatown, Mauritius, Phoenix, Port Louis I’ve just returned from one of my best travel assignments for Getaway Magazine so far: a week-long trip to Mauritius with photographer Russell Smith. Our mission: to discover the best food on the island, from roadside snacks to gourmet dishes in top restaurants. In a week, we drove around the entire island (getting lost once for about 10 minutes), and explored a Mauritius that many tourists don’t ever see from the confines of their resorts. We found the best dhal puris (rotis filled with dal and pickles) on the island (at Dewa in Rose-Hill), ate Creole feasts of curry, stews and chutneys, discovered delicious peanut rougaille in a 150-yr old colonial mansion, chowed gateau piments (chilli cakes) on the beach in Grand Baie, ate octopus curry (chewy) in a tiny restaurant booming Rihanna in Trou d’eau douce, found the best dim sum this side of Hong Kong at First Restaurant in Port Louis, cooled down with alouda and tamarind juice in the Port Louis market, ate fried noodles with extra chilli in Chinatown (followed by refreshing, but weird-looking black herbal jelly), ate our first palm hearts in the famous ‘Millionaire’s Salad’, drank the best vanilla tea in the world at Bois Cheri (and maybe the worst coffee), and learned to eat chilli (piment) with everything, as the Mauritians do. We nearly got blown off a cliff overlooking a beach called ‘Black Magic’ in an anti-cyclone, ate the best crème brulee ever (made with the world’s rarest vanilla) and the most vanilla-ish vanilla ice cream (not made with rare vanilla), discovered that Mauritius’ big tourist attraction (7 coloured earths) is a glorified sandpit, learned a hundred facts about sugar and that a sugar tasting gives you a glucose high, ate Mauritian pizza (farata topped with local greens and served with atchar) and Mauritian tapas (deep-fried cassava chips), explored 150-year-old mansions trying to imagine the lives of French plantation owners on the once disease-ridden island, sipped from coconuts on the beach as the sun set over the Indian Ocean, found Mauritius’ cemetery with a view, smelled spice trees and saw a rare blooming talipot palm (they only bloom every 30 years) in Pamplemousses’ amazing botanical gardens, ate fried tiny shrimp and chickpeas with chilli and tomatoes in the bustling Sunday Flacq market, did three rum tastings and realised that I still don’t really like rum (even if it is award-winning, aged in French oak for three years and flavoured with lemongrass, star anise, vanilla and kumquat), sauna-ed with naked German honeymooners (in a very small sauna), learned how to make Creole prawn curry, farata and deep-fried sweet potato cakes stuffed with coconut and cardamom, and found that coconut jam and a freshly-baked buttery croissant make the best breakfast ever. Mauritius completely exceeded my expectations. I expected it to be overly-touristy and smothered in tanning Europeans. I didn’t expect a fascinating, diverse food culture, amazingly warm and welcoming people, a huge array of foodie attractions and unspoiled and untouristy beaches and landscapes. If you think Mauritius is full of resorts with nothing to do other than lie on the beach, think again (and then book your flight). Look out for our story in the February 2012 issue of Getaway. Read my blog on the best 25 things to eat and drink in Mauritius. Dhal puri – the favourite Mauritian snack The old and the new in Port Louis Port Louis market Chouchou in Port Louis Market Chillies (piments) in Port Louis Market Giant patty pans at the Port Louis Market The Port Louis fruit and veg market The Port Louis meat market Port Louis Essential Mauritian condiments: cinnamon, sugar and chillies Eureka – a colonial mansion that serves delicious Creole food Sweet potato cakes stuffed with sugar, cardamom and coconut The beach at La Pirogue, Flic en Flac Roti chaud from the back of a motorbike Shrine with a view, near Belle Mare Chocolate rum pudding and vanilla ice cream at Rhumerie de Chamarel LUX Le Morne – my favourite resort on the island Phoenix beer – it’s tasty Chateau Labourdonnais – a wonderfully restored colonial mansion Dorado, brede and calbas at Chateau Labourdonnais Rum tasting at Chateau Labourdonnais Epic scenery on the east coast road of Mauritius Mauritian pizza – farata topped with brede and mozzarella, served with atchar Boulet – Mauritian dim sum Retro fruit stand at Belle Mare Fried tiny shrimp at the Sunday market in Flacq Flacq Sunday market Sunday Flacq market Tiny chillies for sale at Flacq market – tiny but lethal Gris Gris – ‘Black Magic’ beach Cemetery with a view! Prawn rougaille – a delicious tomato-based Creole curry Bois Cheri tea factory Bois Cheri tea plantation Veg seller in Belle Mare Talipot palm in Pamplemousses Botanical Gardens Mountain rose tree in the botanical gardens Deep-fried cassava (manioc) – Mauritian tapas! A vanilla plant (did you know it’s an orchid?) A palm heart for ‘Millionaire’s Salad’ The beach at La Pirogue, Flic en Flac Related Posts 12 sensational Western Cape campsites 30 May 2023 Love camping? So do we. These are some of our favourite Western Cape campsites, our... read more Rewilding Mozambique: Sábiè Game Park 25 May 2023 We went on a recce to Sábiè Game Park, which is setting the pace for... read more Rewilding Mozambique: Zinave National Park 25 May 2023 We went on a recce to Zinave National Park, Inhambane Province, which is setting the... read more PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE
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