Seychelles food and local delights

Fish and chips anyone? During your stay in the Seychelles you will be treated to fish and chips with a twist, as instead of the thick batter covering a very thin slice of cod, you will get red snapper, with barely any coating of batter looking ready to melt in your mouth.

But fish and chips is just a normal dish, something people in Seychelles only have when they have not had the time to prepare the intricate food customarily eaten for any of their meals.

On the savoury side, fish is always the plat du jour, although there are creative ways through which the locals prepare meat. Even the names of the dishes in the Seychelles have a melodic ring to them, mirroring the country’s rich cultural past. Seychelles food is a mixture of dishes from the Asia, Europe and Africa.

Plantains are sold as crisps in the shops, whereas there are sauces like Bouyon Blan, which is in essence a cousin of the French Bouilla baisse – a fish soup. The Chinese as well as the Indians have also left their mark on the Seychelles food, with chow mein and an assortment of curries being prepared in all the local households and eateries alike.

If you are feeling rather adventurous and not worrying too much about your figure the La Daube – a local dessert with plantains, breadfruit and sweet potatoes- is a must.

All the ingredients are cooked with coconut milk with spices such as nutmeg and vanilla added in for good measure. The final product is simply lip smacking delicious! La daube can be tasted at its best at the Bazar Labrin, an event held on the Beau Vallon beach to show visitors the culture and cuisine of the Seychelles islands. In fact a tour of ‘Labrin’ as the locals affectionately call it will also get you introduced to toddy or Kalou. A local drink made from coconut sap, which can be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic depending on the duration after it was drawn. But while tasting the Kalou –which sometimes comes as far as La Digue island- don’t let the sweet taste fool you, it is strong enough to knock out a grown man!

Other typically Seychellois dishes to be found at Beau Vallon are very hot chutneys served with a piece of boiled cassava. Tasting the local delights, while locals play the moutia drum in the background is quite an educational experience to those newly introduced to the Seychelles cuisine. Just a word of warning for those not used to have spicey food, Seychelles food contains all the exotic spices you can imagine on top of an array of local ingredients which is bound to have you hooked on them!