ROBERT MAKŁOWICZ MAURITIUS odc.164 „Kto zjadł ptaka dodo?”

ROBERT MAKŁOWICZ MAURITIUS odc.164 „Kto zjadł ptaka dodo?”

Dear friends, the partner of this episode is the Zen card and application… which works perfectly for the most distant journeys, and in addition, Mauritius is extremely developed in terms of banking, so ATMs are everywhere here and the euro also works. However, the partner of our entire stay in Mauritius

Is the holiday.pl website, and this is Mauritius. My dears, we are now in a place that connects the whole of Mauritius with a water spine. This is the Grand River South East . Big, because it is the largest on the entire island, and southeastern, because it is in this part of

The island that it flows into the ocean and this is more or less, I am talking about the southeast, the direction of our journey. We will see various things, but this is where we should start. Grand River South East, heavily swollen after recent rainfall, its depths darkened by rain.

We are on the outskirts of the town of Mahébourg. The name Mahébourg comes from a certain French governor of the island, Mahé de La Bourdonnais, and it was this man who brought this plant to the island of Mauritius. This is cassava or cassava. A spurge plant whose leaves are poisonous

Because they contain prussic acid, but the tubers are edible. Initially, cassava was brought here with cattle feed in mind , because that’s what the cattle were fed with, but later the local poor started eating it, until in 1870 a local family came up with a brilliant idea.

Well, I will tell you about all this a little later. In 1870, the Rault family came up with the idea to use cassava as a raw material for making biscuits, a type of biscuit. And it still works almost the same here as when it was installed.

This is the starting raw material, i.e. cassava tubers. Here we have an antique scale, probably from the time of its founding, on which the raw material is weighed. Then you have to crush and peel the cassava, and then the peeled cassava goes to a machine

That grinds it all, and when it’s ground, it turns into something like flour. It is here, it is finally sifted to separate the dark pieces of the remaining skin. Here it is still unsifted, here it is sifted, without these dark fractions, and then bisques are formed from it

, i.e. the powder is poured into such molds, it is not baked in the oven, but placed on a plate, as we would say. This is wood fired and this tray is hot. And it just gets baked. After each baking, the ladies clean the baking tray. Here we have ready biscuits.

Then they travel further and are simply hand-packed. That’s how it works. Invariably. It is simply a working factory and local food pride. At first, cassava biscuits were not very popular because people associated cassava with poverty. To this day, the Dutch do not eat mussels en masse,

Like the Belgians, because they associate them with the poverty of the occupation, and we do not eat turnips en masse for the same reason. But times have changed. What I have in front of me is extremely important. Tea. Tea with milk, i.e. the British cup of tea.

The English began to rule the island after the French and they needed some bisques for their cup of tea. Moreover, at the beginning of the 20th century, an exhibition of British-colonial products took place in London and the biscuits won a medal there. And that’s how their fame, which continues to this day, began.

There is a basic version, but there are also versions with various flavors. Only natural ingredients. I’ll start with the basic one. Namely, buttery. For the English, these must have replaced the famous butterscotch cookies, which probably did not reach here in large numbers during the colonial times. Well, great stuff. Slightly sweet, slightly buttery.

Haven’t you seen it, ladies, actually not for these molds they put masses of such dough in our understanding, but a powder that binds in this way under the influence of heat. One more local thing, I’m talking about the local spice, namely coconut, which is ubiquitous here, i.e. cassava and coconut flakes.

I’m telling you, it’s great, and I love tea with milk anyway, and I don’t call it tea at all. As you already know, Mahébourg is named after a certain French governor, while the bridge leading to the town is also named after a governor, but a later British one. This is the Cavendish Bridge,

Built in 1908. This river is called La Chaux, and the town on the other side of the bridge is Ville Noire, i.e. the black village, because black slaves, brought here from Africa by colonizers, once lived there. Our destination is Mahébourg. Mahébourg is administratively a village, but its importance

Is much greater than its administrative classification. The famous market is proof of this. The market is open every day, but most stands are open on Monday. People from all over the island come here and this market is one of the most important market places in Mauritius.

The market is one of the most important market places. The market is one of the most important food places. Oh, that’s good. When you enter the market, you immediately notice something very beautiful and delicious – lychee. Lychees are sold here in bunches and one bunch costs 150…

Oh, you can see the bunch here. It costs 150 local rupees, or approximately PLN 12. It’s dark inside, so what else does the light fall on? The light falls on the local lemons, on the local bananas. The grenades are probably being imported. Great pineapples. Small, extremely juicy.

I even ate it with the core, which is most often cut in Poland. This is a first class pineapple. Well, let’s move on. What conversations do you hear at the stall on market day? Of course, you can hear conversations in Creole. And what’s on this stall, or more precisely, on the stalls?

Well, here, for example, we have curry leaves and next to it we have thyme. Thyme is a very popular spice here. Plus various types of onion and chives. Yes, this is a combination also used, for example in Jamaica , scallion and thyme, i.e. spring onions and thyme. Eggplants.

The eggplants are delicious, local, because I try to show you local products. There are some imported ones here too. Let’s move on. Oh, it looks just like in India, i.e. great chili peppers. And something that works great in curry dishes, namely bamia aka okra. The lady carefully selects one piece after another.

He chooses the most beautiful specimens. Let’s go further, because out of the corner of my eye I noticed that there is something here that we probably don’t have in fresh form, and something that is wonderful is this. This is bitter lemon. Gourd. Here it is already cut into pieces.

Perfectly refreshing and very good. This is a bean that is extremely popular in Southeast Asia. You can now buy it from us. Perfect for stir fry dishes or the famous som tam salad in Thailand. It is made from such beans. Okay, let’s dig deeper. My nostrils register two overwhelming and very contradictory smells.

And that’s right, because on the one hand we have a stand with salted, dried fish. And not only fish, because we also have dried shrimps. Oh, pieces of fish are sold by weight. Well, you know what it smells like, but next to it there is something that smells completely different.

Namely, divine and heavenly, I mean, such dried raw fish smells unpleasant, but when it is cooked, for example in coconut milk it’s much better. Well, this smells great. Firstly, vanilla pods, but lots of other things. Cardamom, cinnamon, chili mixtures. It’s all local history. There are plenty of eateries and bars near the market

. This particular bar is called Pyramid Snack. And it specializes in only one hot dish. This is biryani, i.e. basmati rice made in the Indian way, served with stewed chicken. This is a piece of potato I guess. And the sauce. We have red pepper sauce here. We have green pepper sauce.

Let’s check the sharpness of this red. I rashly took a large portion. They don’t have a beer license, but they do have orangina. Well, the French influence, apart from the Creole language which is based on French, is still clear here. Orangina, and they also sell cold sandwiches served in baguettes.

It saved me a bit. We have one more sauce on the table. Well, I’m afraid to introduce so much of it into the mouth. Also spicy, but in a barbecue style, i.e. smoky. Well, that’s fine. Well, what could be wrong with a big, curry-spiced bowl of rice? Nothing. This is…

This is very good and sharp like a light thread. Mahébourgski, seaside boulevard. This place witnessed very violent war events in 1810. Namely, at that time the French still ruled the island, and the English tried to conquer it, and the British Royal Navy fleet was defeated here, which prevented

The English from taking over the island. Not for long, however, because Napoleon’s fall soon followed. First exile to Elba, then final exile to Saint Helena. Napoleon died, poisoned. The empire collapsed and Mauritius fell into British hands. Today, when we look at this idyllic ocean landscape, it is hard to imagine that such dangerous

Ships came here, that holes in the sides opened and a whole series of volleys were fired from there, and the sailors were killed. At that time they were dressed very elegantly, like parrots. All this happened here, and now there is peace, quiet and tourists. This is how it should be.

Here is the monument dedicated to the said battle. From our point of view, the battle called the Sea Battle of Grand Port may seem completely marginal, but also to the English and French, the Sea Battle of Oliwa, which they teach us about in schools, seems marginal .

Meanwhile, it was so important for the English and French that the English built this monument after conquering the island. More British sailors died than French, and for the French this battle is so important that it was placed among the triumphs of French arms on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

If someone is very interested in sea battles , here we have a graphic representation of them, and if someone is interested in literature, I recommend the Arc de Triomphe by Remarque. Looking at the terrain, we can clearly see that the ocean in this place creates a natural

Bay, which is sheltered in several places by small islands. So this is where the port was built. Le Grand Port. But before it was built, the Dutch landed in this place in 1598. And where does the name Mauritius come from? It was from them that the island was named after

Maurice of Orange from the Orange dynasty of Nassau. The French changed the name to Ile de France, but it did not stick. This is still Mauritius today. On the outskirts of this town, administratively a village, we have a wonderfully preserved former French colonial residence from the 18th century. Interestingly, both

The commander-in-chief of the French fleet and the one who were wounded in the Battle of Grand Port who commanded the British fleet and were treated and treated in this house. They lay in one room. One was treated by French doctors and the other by British doctors.

I wonder if they had any consultations between themselves. Anyway, today it is the National Museum, and in this museum we will find something unique to the island. The Dodo bird, an obvious symbol of the island. Endemic, once living only here. Nowhere else in the world. Long dead, the last Dodo

Was killed in the 17th century. This is a painting of this magnificent flightless bird, and here we have its preserved bones. The only complete skeleton is in the capital, Port Louis. What killed the Dodo? Well, first of all, the colonists, the Dutch, because it is a flightless bird,

Just like a turkey, so they hunted it very easily, and they ate it, but to tell the truth of history, not only the Dutch themselves contributed to this, but also the animals that they brought with them. they brought. Animals that they brought with them knowingly, namely the mongooses, which ate snakes and ate

Them successfully, but also devoured Dodo eggs and rats, which they brought with them unknowingly on board their ships and ships. And rats swarmed the island and also ate Dodo eggs. Well, the Dodo is only in museums or on stamps, but to be fair to the Dutch, they

Brought something living that lives all the time. This is the very characteristic deer, typical of Indonesia. Java, Sumatra, Borneo. The Dutch brought it here from their previous colonies and it still exists today because it runs much faster than the Dodo, and rats and mongooses are not enemies of the deer.

A typical Mauritian landscape, i.e. the ocean looming in the distance, and here a different ocean, namely the ocean of sugar cane. It was sugar cane that pushed Europeans here. The plantation was already established by the Dutch. Well, remember I talked about this in many places around the world.

Once upon a time, sugar cane was the only plant from which humanity was able to produce sugar. Then the British obtained most of their sugar from here. Moreover, the association of Mauritius with cane sugar is still valid. Once upon a time, when I barely knew anything about the world,

I only knew about three things from here. About the Dodo bird, postage stamps and the famous local cane sugar, which is still famous around the world. In order for the reed to reach such a shape that it is suitable for harvesting, it must grow for a year.

Of course, today these harvests are most often made by machines, combine harvesters, and not, as in the past, by slaves, or later by hired workers. The year grows, but one field after seven years sterilizes the reed. The reason why, after seven years of growing in one

Place, is that there is little juice inside and the cane is less efficient. Therefore, after seven years, the field should be cleared completely, the roots pulled out and the reeds planted again. Fortunately, what was done in Cuba was not done here, when during the great cane sugar boom,

A practically cane monoculture was introduced, and when the boom ended, Cuba got into big trouble. Not only are many other things grown and grown here , but the local sugar, as I mentioned earlier, has the status of a delicacy. In Poland, from time to time I buy muscovado,

Which is the local sugar, thicker, darker, stickier than molasses, with a very distinct nutty, even caramel-like taste. I do it when I want to give myself an extraordinary sweet pleasure. This is one, one basically of the seals, and one of the culinary stamps of this island. Sugar from sugar cane and cane itself.

The island is full of water, full of rivers, so there are also quite numerous waterfalls. We chose a very beautiful one, but also one that is the easiest to get to. Rochester Fall. In such conditions, you have to fight your way to others for about two hours, and some of us are

Simply in so-called flip-flops. I don’t, and that’s fine, but this is probably the most dangerous moment of this transition. The water was also flowing here a few days ago when it was raining. We’re going there, we can already hear the sound of the water. Well, it’s a real waterfall or even a waterfall.

This is the widest, but not the highest, waterfall on the island. I can imagine a wonderful scene from a B or even C-grade movie, when a lady and a gentleman are bathing here, under this waterfall, and the stream of water ruffles their hair beautifully and they try to take off their bathing suits.

The only thing that is wrong with this idyllic picture is the color of the water, but it is only temporary. It rained a lot, so the water is just gray now. It can be beautiful, azure. We even wanted to shoot a scene from that B

Or C class movie, I mean, I wanted to go there, but my wife didn’t agree. So, you have to content your eyes with the sight of the waterfall itself and imagine what it would be like when this falling stream of water made me a seductive movie lover.

We reached the only part of the island’s coast that is not surrounded by a coral reef. From here the coast looks completely different. Well, there are no wide, sandy beaches and calm ocean, which in other places crashes in waves on the reefs , here it simply crashes on the shore.

Hence we have characteristic cliffs, the rock on which I am standing is very famous throughout the country. Its name is Rouche Qui Pleure, which means the rock that cries, or in short, the weeping rock. To visualize once again where we are, imagine the following fact.

If we were to travel by sea in that direction, the first permanent land we would reach is Antarctica. In that direction, between Mauritius and Antarctica, there is nothing but ocean, and it is not Billy Ocean. This, my dears, is the Indian Ocean. We finally reached the village where we live,

Because it is a small village, so apart from eateries, elegant restaurants are available only in a few local resorts, and after this intense day, we greatly deserved an elegant restaurant. Well, that’s her. His name is Ti Moris. Original cuisine, but local, because there is a whole

Separate section in the menu with Mauritian cuisine. Let’s start with what is not Mauritian. It’s in the glass. There is no wine here, in the sense of vines, but South Africa is quite close, relatively close . These are great bubbles made using the champagne method from South Africa, exactly.

And now for the appetizer, the appetizer is black angus beef carpaccio. The nose is already screaming to eat it, because the nose is extremely truffle-like. This is treated with truffle oil. Truffles do not grow here, it is an imported product, but when I talk about local cuisine, I also mean the

French influence, which is very visible in the local gastronomy. This dish is called dry venison curry. And this is a reference to what we saw in the museum. Namely, the deer imported from Indonesia by the Dutch and it is curry. This does not mean that this deer is dried.

Dry curry means that it doesn’t float in the sauce. This is a so-called dry curry made in a short sauce. Here it is served separately with each curry. That’s the sauce. And basmati rice. This sauce is very mild and the curry… It is extremely spicy, fragrant and perfect.

Moreover, deer is a very good, also gastronomic, material. This is called salmis. Salmis is also a type of curry, but made from octopus. The accessories are the same as in that case, but… A different kind of masala. Yes, much different. It’s as sharp as a bright whistle. Very good, but spicy.

The deer is gentle. It is also soothed by peanuts. This is, also à propos to what I was talking about a moment ago, French influence, bouillabaisse, but bouillabaisse creole, i.e. pureed, long-cooked fish soup, bouillabaisse, in the local style, made from local fish. Wonderful. Bouillabaisse in Marseille, eating a good one

Is said to be a great art, it’s bouillabaisse, it’s different from the Marseille soup, but it’s also great. Well, my dears, you have seen this snapshot of today’s events. Rice and stewed chicken diner. Lots of attractions, and the highlight is this extremely elegant dinner. This is what it is like in Mauritius.

W kolejnej relacji z pobytu na wyspie Mauritius odwiedzimy wioskę Mahébourg, która szczyci się największym targiem w kraju, tam też zobaczymy, gdzie rozegrała się słynna francusko-brytyjska bitwa morska, odnotowana na paryskim Łuku Triumfalnym. W dawnej kolonialnej rezydencji, a dziś muzeum dowiemy się, jaki los spotkał legendarnego przedstawiciela maurytyjskiej fauny, ptaka dodo. Pokażemy również, który z wodospadów na wyspie najłatwiej odwiedzić piechotą oraz przyjrzymy się miejscowej kuchni w wydaniach barowym i restauracyjnym.

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