Holidays in Mauritius - What to Eat and Drink

Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagascar. While this island is beautiful and filled with resorts attracting tourists to the islands pristine beaches, sun and sand is not all this island has to offer.

Mauritius will surprise you with its local cuisine and this is something that you definitely must try if you visit the island. Due to its many settlers, the island's cuisine has been influenced by the French, Chinese, Indians, and Africans. Thus, its food will surprise your taste buds, and you will find a variety in the flavors available to you.

Majority of the meals are served with rice, flat bread, (chapatti) or roti (paratha). These are eaten with the various sorts of curries you can find in restaurant. The food uses large number of spices, including cardamom, cloves, and herbs like basil and curry leaf. So, be ready to have your system go through a minor shock in the beginning.

There are a variety of lentil dishes available together with lentil soup (dal), and you should try the countless range as you will not come across this huge selection of dishes based on lentils in any other country, except for you're in South Asia. You will also find Indian specialties like Dholl puri on street corners which is a regular snack to eat during the day.

One more amazing dish to go for is Biryani. This is generally the rice with meat and potatoes, but involves the use of a large number of spices which are covered with the meat, potatoes, and rice on top of each other in a huge container and then cooked on a low heat. The resultant flavors are intense, yet work so well together that you would be ordering this Mughal dish in your local Indian/Pakistani restaurants every now and then.

Like Dholl Puri, you can find other snacks on the roads as well. The infamous Gateaux Piments, samosas, and octopus curry are all commonly found, and well worth trying out.

The local drink is Cane Rum. It is economical, and gives a very good taste with a Coca Cola and ice. Rum is an ideal drink to have on the island, and go for a coconut water drink with lemon and rum on ice as well. Rum that you purchase should be not less than five years old to be worth the money. The local beer Phoenix, is not just low priced (less than a pound), but also very well-known world over. Therefore, you should absolutely try it in its local habitat, but make sure when it is served to you it is chilled. Black Eagle beer is one more brand you should look for.

So, when in Mauritius make sure you not only see just the beaches and landscapes, but also take some time out to enjoy the local cuisine and drinks. The perfect method to see any country is by learning more about its culture, and the best way to do that is through its food.