Top 10 Foods in Mauritius!

The Mauritian cuisine is full of diversity, tastes and colour!

Super tasty food that you want over and over again. The food industry is pretty big on the island you will find many snacks and restaurants. People love to eat out or cook delicious home dinners for the family.

Healthy fruits and vegetables are easily available in the supermarkets or on street stalls.

Here are the 10 top foods to have in Mauritius:

1. Mine Frite or Mine Bouille

Mine Frite is Fried noodle and Mine Bouille is boiled noodle cooked in a Mauritian style.

How is it done?

Fresh noodles or egg noodles are tossed in a heated wok with cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables along with chicken, shrimp and sometimes thin strips of meat. The ingredients are seasoned with dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper. It is topped off with strips of fried egg and accompanied with garlic sauce and chilli paste for those who like it spicy.

This dish is the most popular and available everywhere on the island, from hotels, to restaurants and street stalls. It can be a daily food for the Mauritians!

2. Riz Frite

This is similar to friend noodles but Fried rice instead. People either choose between the noodles or the rice depending what they prefer and fancy. It is two different experiences.

How is it done?

Ingredients are simply tossed into a wok and mixed together with soy sauce, fish sauce, chicken, shrimp and egg. This too is served with garlic sauce and chilli paste for an added kick of flavour.

Again this dish is readily available everywhere on the island, from hotels, to restaurants and street stalls. It can be a daily food for the Mauritians and also in households as it is so easy to make!

3. Bol Renversé

In English this translates to ‘Upside Down Bowl’, though it is also known as Magic Bowl

How is it done?

Bol Renversé is a rice-based dish, served with a stir-fry sauce. The thick sauce is made with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sauteed with a variety of vegetables, usually Bok Choi (Chinese cabbage), mushrooms and carrots. Chicken, shrimp, or thin strips of meat is then added to the chop suey and finally an egg over the top.

What makes this dish so noteworthy is how it is served! The ingredients are layered into a bowl, the egg first, followed by the chop suey base and then the cooked rice. The bowl is then flipped over onto a plate and presented as an ‘upside down bowl’.

This is also popular on Mauritian menus but not so popular as the first 2.

4. Boulettes

Boulettes, also known as the Mauritian Dim Sum originates from the Cantonese inhabitants of Mauritius.

These steamed dumplings are usually made from fish, minced meat, prawns, calamari and chayote, depending on the variety.

How is it done?

The dumplings can be served on its own with chilli or in a clear broth seasoned with stock and garnished with chives. You get to choose how many you have dumplings you have from 5 to 20. You can have the same or a mixture.

Boulette makes for a perfect dish on rainy days or during the Mauritian winters where it can really help warm you up. It is a quick dish to eat and it is more like a snack or a lunch!

5. Briyani

Biryani is for sure a favorite! This dish has been modified to suit the Mauritian taste buds, with a flavoursome blend of spices.

How is it done?

Mauritian Briyani is made with basmati rice, lots of herbs and spices for the flavour including cloves, crushed cardamom pods, cinnamon, star anise, saffron and cumin. Potatoes and beef, chicken or seafood is then added in and it is slow cooked, usually in a steel pot called a ‘deg’.

Briyani vendors are not that popular but can be found on the streets, snacks and a few famous restaurants. They are extremely generous with their servings and is a great for a delicious dinner alone or with family.

6. Dholl Puri & Roti

Dholl Puri and Roti are one of the cheapest and a popular street food especially served in the mornings and at lunch. When it is a long line up of people on the street usually indicates a good vendor, where you will be able to pick your fillings and enjoy a very cheap, filling meal. Be ready to eat with your hands.

How is it done?

Dholl Puri is a flatbread stuffed with yellow split peas whereas Roti is simply a pancake-like flatbread. Both are toasted on a griddle, and are universal recipes that can be accompanied with anything. In Mauritius they are usually filled with butter bean curry (Gros Pois), a tomato based sauce (Rougaille), sautéed spinach and accompanied with a spicy coriander chutney or pickles.

7. Gateau Piment

The most popular snack usually called Gateau Dhal, the name Gateau Piment translated directly from French is Chilli Cake, though it often not as spicy as it sounds.

How is it done?

The mixture is shaped into small balls and deep friend until golden brown. It is made from yellow split peas (dhal) and seasoned with spring onion and sliced green chillies. The chillies can be omitted for a milder flavour.

You can start your morning with a hot handful of these snacks, which can also be put it into a bread with butter. If not for breakfast you can enjoy for lunch or as an afternoon snack.

8. Sept Cari

(7 curries) is culturally linked to specific events and occasions but it doesn’t stop it from being a popular dish amongst all ethnicity on the island. You can find it offered at restaurants.

How is it done?

Seven or more vegetable curries are accompanied with “ti puri”, a fried flatbread on a banana leaf. The traditional seven curries usually consist of butter bean curry, spinach, rougaille, mashed pumpkin, chouchou (sautéed chayote) and banana curry, though you may also find other specialities such as jackfruit curry and ‘gato piment’ curry.

Rice can also be served instead of fried flatbreads, along with a different variety of curries including a spicy soup, rasson and a sweet serving of sago pudding with papadum.

9. Rougaille

Nothing can be more Mauritian, then the classic Rougaille dish. This typically Creole dish, is so versatile it can accompany almost anything.

How is it done?

Rougaille is essentially a tomato-based sauce- tomatoes, onions, garlic and chillies are braised into a rich sauce with herbs like thyme and coriander. This sauce can be served plain or other fresh produce can be added to it, such as meat, chicken, seafood including and the popular Mauritian favourite, salted fish (poisson salé). Vegetables and other unique ingredients can be added in as well, such as canned sardines, sausages and corned beef/mutton with added rice or roti.

You can typically find these dishes in restaurants and most of time home cooked.

10. Vindaye

Originating from India, the Mauritian Vindaye is a somewhat modified version of the Indian Vindaloo. Though it does not use the exact mix of spices, it remains true to the Indian version by being rather spicy. It is a “dry-curry” often cooked with thick fish chunks or octopus, though meat, chicken and vegetables can be substituted instead.

How is it done?

Thick slices of fish are deep-fried before being coated with a ground mixture of turmeric, mustard seeds, ginger and chillies. Whole shallots and cloves of garlic are also added together with some vinegar. It is best paired with bread, roti or dhal puri, though it can also be enjoyed with rice or as a “gajak”- an appetizer or snack.

Happy Eating

Bleuphorie 🌞