One of my main influences is my mum who was born in Mauritius and lived there for about 6 years before she and her family skipped across the Indian Ocean and Madagascar to land in Durban, South Africa. My Grand Mere and Grand Pere have a strong family history in Mauritius and they are great Mauritian cooks, something that they have passed down onto their children
Mauritius is a very small island but is filled with many different cultures including French, English, and Indian. This mix of culture is apparent in the cuisine of the island too, it’s a melting pot of Indian, Chinese, African and European flavours.
The base of most of the dishes contains obvious notes of European cookery including garlic and thyme. The distinct difference comes with the addition of ginger, which is where the Chinese and Indian influence comes through (in the garlic too). Onion is another prominent ingredient in Mauritian cookery and is often fried with the above aromatics – this is known as the fricassee. To this base you can add stock and vegetables to make your vegetable dish. Or, to make curry you add your spices, tomato, stock and meat/veg of choice. To make the milder stews simply leave out the spices. There are other ingredients you can add to the dishes but the fricassee, in essence, is the foundation of most Mauritian dishes. The Indian and Chinese influence comes through again with the other staple, rice, which is eaten with most meals. It is this mix of ingredients that gives Mauritian cooking its uniqueness
On a recent trip back home I was lucky enough to be treated to one of my favourite Mauritian and favourite all time dishes, Rougaille.
Rougaille is one of the milder stews and is very versatile and easy to cook. The star of the rougaille can be changed to suit your mood and can include sausages, corned beef, fish or beans (anything really!). There is a great Mauritian Cook Book at the family home called ‘Genuine Cuisine of Mauritius’ by Guy Felix. He uses salted fish, salted meat, bacon, Bombay duck or beef for his rougaille. There are some other great recipes in the book including; Unicorn Fish Curry, Monkey Curry, Roasted Beef Tongue, Tenrec Curry with Madagscar Hedgehog, Fried Wasp Grub with Bombay Onions and Stew of Green Turtle Meat. – I think I might stick with my mum’s recipes for now.
My favourite star for rougaille is sausage. The sausages are browned first and then removed while the sauce is prepared. In goes the onion to fry for a few minutes before the crushed garlic, ginger and chopped thyme are added. We also add green pepper to the dish. There is something about green pepper that gives a great flavour to rougaille and it wouldn’t be the same without it. When the green peppers start to soften, tip in some tomatoes and simmer for about 10-20 minutes to reduce to a thick sauce before adding the sausages (we like to cut them in half so they can soak up all the juices). Leave to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Rougaille is served with brede, lentils and rice. Brede is a vegetable dish made using the fricassee (onion, garlic, thyme and ginger) some water, or stock if fancied, and fresh watercress. You can also use Chinese leaf, lettuce or cabbage. My mum has had it with pumpkin leaves in Mauritius but you can’t find them easily in the UK.
The lentils are similar to dhal though you can keep the flavour simple without adding anything extra to them. We often add the fricassee ingredients to the lentils once they have been cooking for about 10 minutes. You can leave as is or add a pinch of ground cumin and coriander to spike with the Indian flavour.
Once everything is cooked and ready to eat we pile some cooked rice onto our plate, top it with the rougaille and spoon lentils and brede on the side. At the table there are some accompaniments we eat with the meal (and most other Mauritian dishes) which include mazavaroo (a hot chilli – my Grand Pere makes his own killer version), achar (or atchar, a vinegar and turmeric based pickle which can contain all sorts of fruit and veg including mango) and chutneys. Sometimes we have a simple sambal as well which is a mix of fresh chopped tomato, onion and fresh coriander.
It doesn’t look much like fine dining but this is what I call fine food – delicious simple dishes packed full of flavour. I have tried to cook rougaille myself, a few times, and although mine is good I can never quite get it as yummy as my mum’s
Recipe – for 4:
Rougaille
- Sausages, meaty ones - about 8 (2 each)
- Onion - 1 large finely chopped
- Garlic - about 5 cloves
- Ginger - thumb size piece about same quantity as garlic
- Thyme - few sprigs finely chopped
- Parsley (optional) - a small bunch finely chopped
- Green bell pepper - 1 sliced
- Tomatoes - 1 tin or 8 fresh medium chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Brown the sausages in a frying pan and remove. If you need to, add more oil to the pan and fry the chopped onion until transparent. Crush the garlic and ginger in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of salt and add to the onion along with the thyme and parsley (if using) and fry until aromas are released.
The chopped green pepper goes in next– be careful not to brown or burn the garlic – turn the heat down if needed. Once the pepper has softened; stir in your tomatoes, a dash of water (to loosen everything) and a squeeze of tomato puree. Taste and season with freshly ground black pepper and salt if needed, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes to thicken. For a good sauce you need to let the tomato cook down for quite a while.
Cut the sausages in half and chuck them back in, continue to cook for about 20 / 30 minutes. Taste the sauce again, season if needed and serve.
Brede
- Half a small onion finely chopped
- Garlic - one clove
- Ginger - a small piece about same quantity as garlic
- Thyme - a couple of sprigs finely chopped
- Veg stock powder - about ¼ teaspoon
- Water - boiled from kettle
- Watercress (about 2 packets from supermarket)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Heat some oil in a sauce pan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger and thyme until nicely cooked through – avoid burning or browning. I have been informed that my mum will leave out the ginger and my aunt will leave out the garlic – I compromise and use both but it’s up to personal taste
Pour in some hot water to about a couple of cms and let it come to the simmer. The vegetable stock powder can be sprinkled in at this stage
Wash and rinse your watercress and add to the pan – you might have to help it out so gently push with the back of a spoon so it wilts into the water. Put on the lid and slowly simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and if there is a lot of liquid left you can continue to simmer to reduce a little. I like having some of the liquor left to spoon over my rice. Season to taste and serve
Lentils
- Brown lentils - 2 cups
- Cold water
- Half a small onion - thinly sliced (use other half from brede)
- Garlic - one clove
- Ginger - a small piece about same quantity as garlic
- Thyme - a couple of sprigs finely chopped
- Cumin - half a teaspoon
- Coriander - half a teaspoon
- Tomato puree - a squidge
- Bay leaf - 1 or 2
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Rinse lentils then place in a saucepan and cover with cold water to cover double the quantity of lentils. Boil on high for 10 minutes and then turn to a simmer - you may need to add more water at this point
Stir in the thinly sliced onion, garlic, ginger, thyme, cumin, coriander, tomato puree and the bay leaf and leave to simmer for 40 minutes. Season and serve. It is important not to season with salt at an earlier stage as it can prevent the lentils from softening
To Serve:
Boiled basmati rice and any accompaniments you may like
Tips:
The onions, garlic, ginger and thyme are used in all dishes so to save time we will chop all the onions, all the thyme and crush all the ginger and garlic together. We then divide into three for each dish; the majority for the rougaille and two smaller portions for the brede and lentils.
You can also serve with brown rice if preferred
