Mauritian food, a melting pot on a plate

A cuisine of many voices

Mauritian food mirrors the island's history. Enslaved people from Africa and Madagascar, French settlers, indentured labourers from India and 19th-century Chinese migrants (Cantonese, Hakka and Fujianese) each brought their own produce and techniques. The result is a cuisine where curry sits alongside French-style stews and fried noodles come with a homemade chilli paste.

The Indian heritage: dholl puri, farata and biryani

Indentured labourers from India made flour and rice into staples and brought dals and spices. Dholl puri, the king of street food, is a thin flatbread filled with ground yellow split peas, served with a butter-bean curry, rougaille and achards. Farata (or faratha), a flour flatbread, often comes alongside. Briani (biryani), a spiced rice dish with meat or vegetables, is a must at weddings and celebrations. Big Hindu occasions also feature the "7 caris" served on a banana leaf.

The Creole touch: rougaille and vindaye

Rougaille is a tomato sauce cooked with onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and often thyme; it goes with fish, sausages or vegetables. Vindaye, related to vindaloo, marinates fish or octopus in vinegar, mustard seeds and turmeric. Mauritian curries are generally made without coconut milk and use European herbs such as thyme.

The Chinese influence: noodles and dumplings

Chinese migrants popularised noodles, fried rice and oyster-sauce dishes. Mines frites (fried noodles) are everywhere, and boulettes, dumplings of fish, meat or chayote served in broth, make a light lunch.

Street-food essentials

• Gâteaux piments: small split-pea fritters spiked with chilli, cousins of the Indian vada; they're often tucked into a buttered roll.
• Achards: vegetables (cabbage, carrot, beans, cauliflower) cooked with garlic and onion, served as a relish.
• Alouda: a cold, sweet drink of milk, basil seeds (tukmaria) and cubes of coloured agar-agar jelly, often flavoured with vanilla or almond. The Port Louis market is famous for it.

Eating tips

To taste real everyday food, follow the queues at street vendors, especially at lunchtime. Ask for "pa tro pike" (not too spicy) if you're wary of heat, and start with a tiny bit of the homemade chilli: it is often fierce.