Three local dishes to try this Christmas

Christmas is approaching, and if you're lacking inspiration, here are three simple local recipes to impress your guests on Christmas Eve.

Roast eggs (Dizef roti)

Making roast eggs, or dizef roti, is incredibly easy and is a must-have for Mauritian appetizers. Start by boiling eggs. Meanwhile, mix red wine, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Once the eggs have cooled, place them in the mixture and cook over low heat, turning regularly. Continue cooking until the eggs turn a beautiful brown, and there's hardly any marinade left in the pan.

Camaron with tomato sauce

A favorite among Mauritians, camaron is a large river shrimp called Caridean Shrimp. Sauté an onion with two cloves of garlic and ginger in oil before adding your cleaned camarons. Add peeled tomatoes and a bit of water. Season with salt and simmer for a few minutes. Add soy sauce and white wine, and throw in chopped coriander and one or two green chilies. Serve it on its own or with pasta of your choice.

Exotic Yule log

Christmas marks the mango season! To wrap up your meal with flair, consider swapping the traditional chocolate log for an exotic fruit log.

Start by preheating the oven to 200°C. For the cake, beat 4 egg yolks with 100g of sugar until the mixture whitens. Add 100g of sifted flour, a sachet of baking powder, 30g of almond powder, vanilla extract, and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt, then gently fold them into the egg yolk/sugar mixture. Spread the mixture on a rectangular baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Once cooked, let it cool and gently roll up the cookie.

Next, chop 7 mangoes and blend them to make a coulis. Heat the coulis with 50g of sugar in a saucepan. Dissolve some gelatine in the mixture and let it set in the fridge. Prepare the Yule log by spreading the mango cream on the cookie and rolling it out again. For the finishing touch, decorate with coconut shavings and pieces of fresh mango. Bon appétit!