SPICE ROUTES
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Cook with vanilla in Mauritius
Sweet, floral and instantly recognisable, vanilla is one of the world’s most treasured flavours, and its story is one of ambition and botanical ingenuity. The plant is native to Mexico, where it’s pollinated by specific bee species, but after many failed attempts to grow it elsewhere, a method of pollinating the delicate blooms by hand was discovered by a slave, Edmond Albius, in Mauritius’s neighbour Réunion in 1841. Within decades, the two islands were supplying most of the world’s vanilla. Today, traditional farms such as Vanill’Art in
southern Mauritius continue to use methods that have changed little since then. The vanilla orchid grows on filao wood, taking five years to flower. The pods spend nine months maturing on the vine before harvest, filling the surrounding orchards with their distinctive creamy, spicy fragrance. Tours of Vanill’Art reveal the painstaking process
behind this prized ingredient. You’re also able to take part in a vanilla-infused rum workshop and enjoy a fragrant lunch featuring samosas and curries subtly flavoured with vanilla. HOW TO DO IT: Vanill’Art is 50 minutes from Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. Tours cost 3,500 MUR (£56) per person.
vanillart.mu
4
Take a spice farm tour in Zanzibar
Not for nothing is Zanzibar known as the Spice Island. Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom are among the crops which fill the island’s groves with a heady aroma, best experienced on a spice farm tour. Zanzibar Spice Co will lead you through traditional plantations in the village of Kisongoni, introducing you to local farmers who will demonstrate how they cultivate the island’s rich bounty, from the expensive and labour-intensive vanilla to sweet, earthy turmeric. The plant thrives in the Zanzibari soil and is used as a cooking ingredient as well as a medicine for digestive complaints in Swahili culture. After tasting some of the raw spices in the gardens
Clockwise from left: The furry fruits of the lipstick tree are one of the many fascinating discoveries on a Zanzibar spice farm tour; Mauritius’s position in the Indian Ocean made it a crossroads for spice traders; pickers climb and gather pepper berries by hand
in which they grow, you’ll take a cooking class, where you’ll learn to whip up fragrant, richly spiced dishes like urojo soup, flavoured with mango and turmeric; octopus curry with cardamom and cinnamon; and coconut-stewed beans flavoured with plenty of coriander and cumin. Be sure to leave room for the local coffee, spiced with nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon and pepper. It promises to put a spring in your step after even the heaviest meal. HOW TO DO IT: The village and farm tours cost $10 (£7.50) per person, while the cooking class costs $25 (£19) per person.
zanzibarspice.com
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