Seychellois cuisine and its importance |07 January 2021

A tantalizing Creole buffet. Over the years the Seychellois people have made our mark in the culinary world

As Seychellois, we have been blessed with a large variety of deliciously unique dishes.

Our culture has been known to have a rich taste in meals. Over the past few decades the Seychellois people have perfected the art of cuisine, from seasonings to spices to sauces, we have made our mark in the culinary world with our exceptional delicacies.

Ever since the first settlers, our dishes have only been evolving with time. Our first traditional meals were a blend of French, Chinese, Indian and British cuisine.

France was the first country that influenced the national Seychelles cuisine. French migrants added their traditions to the local fish.

Chinese and Indian merchants added spices to the local cuisine.

The British were the first to use cinnamon and coconut for cooking and eating.

To sum up, Seychelles cuisine is a mix of creole dishes with French traditions, Asian creativity, and British solidity.

Seychelles being a tropical paradise has access to a large amount of fruits, vegetables and fish. We make our meals from most of these tropical ingredients such as bilenbi, mackerel, parrotfish, snapper, ‘karang’, eggplants, cucumbers, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, Chinese cabbage, bread fruit, coconuts as well as various spices and herbs.

Some of our staple meals include: satini reken, boulet pwason, asi, roti pork, bouyon bred, pwason griye and many more delicacies

Various curries such as kari zourit,kari sousouri, kari pwason sale and kari poul as well as many other curries, which many are cooked with coconut milk locally known as kari koko. Some of our traditional snacks and deserts include ladob, moutay, nouga, feyte, gato koko, salad fri, bouldou and gato piman.

Our culture is a rich blend of music, dances, clothes languages and meals. In the past few years our love and appreciation for our culture has been in decline.

However it is important to remain loyal to our European, African and Asian ancestors. And as a tribute to our founders, we should help preserve our years and years of knowledge.

Joshua Marie