Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
papaya are also fabulously sweet. The local vanilla is said to be one of the most flavoured
in the world.
Vegetarians & Vegans
Vegetarians won't go hungry. Réunionnais love vegetables, eating them in salads or in
gratins (a baked dish). You'll certainly come across
chou chou
(choko; a speciality in the
Cirque de Salazie), lentils (a speciality in the Cirque de Cilaos),
bois de songe
(a local ve-
getable that looks like a leek) and
vacoa
(a speciality in the Wild South), not to mention
bringelles
(aubergines) and
baba figue
(banana flower). Salads, rice and fruits are ubiquit-
ous. In Chinese restaurants, menus feature vegetarian dishes, such as chop suey and
noodles. Most supermarkets have vegetarian fare too, and
chambre d'hôte
owners will be
happy to cook vegetarian dishes if you let them know well in advance.
TRAVEL YOUR TASTE BUDS
If you're a gastronomic adventurer, start your culinary odyssey with
salade de palmiste
, a delectable salad made
from the bud of the palmiste palm tree, known as the 'heart of palm'. The palm dies once the bud is removed,
earning this wasteful salad delicacy the title 'millionaire's salad'. For something a bit more unusual, try
carri
bichiques
(a sprat-like delicacy), which is dubbed
le caviar réunionnais
(Réunionnais caviar). You might need to
seek out
larves de guêpes
(wasps' larvae), another local delicacy that is available from April to October. Fried
and salted, they reputedly increase sexual stamina.
You may also want to learn the terms for
carri pat' cochons
(pig's trotter
carri
) and
carri anguilles
(eel
carri
)
so you don't accidentally order them in a restaurant. Réunionnais also drool over
carri tang
(hedgehog
carri
),
which you're not likely to find served in restaurants.
Drinks
Rum, rum, rum! Up in the hills, almost everyone will have their own family recipe for
rhum arrangé
, a heady mixture of local rum and a secret blend of herbs and spices. In
fact, not all are that secret. Popular concoctions include
rhum faham
, a blend of rum, sug-
ar and flowers from the faham orchid;
rhum vanille
, made from rum, sugar and fresh
vanilla pods; and
rhum bibasse
, made from rum, sugar and tasty
bibasse
(medlar fruit).
The family
rhum arrangé
is a source of pride for most Creoles; if you stay in any of the
rural
gîtes
or
chambres d'hôtes
you can expect the proprietor to serve up their version
with more than a little ceremony.
