Street food | Page 3 of 7
Panzerotti: Fried Pockets from Bari
Panzerotti are fried pockets of leavened dough filled with tomato and mozzarella - street food from Bari that neighboring Matera fries under the very same name. They take their name from the belly they puff into in the oil, the legend that has them born in the sixteenth century runs straight into the tomato nobody in Apulia was eating yet, and on top of all that, Matera gives them a coat of breadcrumbs.
Gato Arouille: Mauritian Fried Taro Balls
Gato arouille is a Mauritian fried ball of grated raw taro, seasoned with ginger, salt, a pinch of sugar and soy sauce. It's sold hot by the piece as gajak, a street snack to go with a beer. A crisp outside, a soft stringy inside, and an ingredient the cook grates with gloves on, because it stings when it's raw.
Roti and Farata: Mauritian Flatbreads Filled with Curry
Roti and farata are the two most common flatbreads in Mauritius: the smooth round roti and the layered square farata, both cooked on a griddle, filled with curry and rolled up in paper. Indian indentured laborers brought them over after 1834, but it was the island that turned them into a roll. I ate them at the beach bistros in Flic en Flac - 20 MUR (0.40 EUR) for the vegetarian one, 50-70 MUR (1-1.40 EUR) with meat.
Mine Bouillie: Mauritian Boiled Noodles
Mine bouillie are boiled egg noodles with meat and vegetables, the humblest of the dishes the Chinese immigrants brought to Mauritius. One name covers two versions - dry noodles with sauce and an egg, or noodles in a clear ginger broth - and which one you get is up to the bistro. Dan ate them in Flic en Flac and explains why, despite the French name, this has nothing to do with porridge.
Farata Aka Vinoda Bistro: Farata Right on Flic en Flac Beach
A tin-roofed stall on the beach in Flic en Flac has a Google rating plenty of restaurants would be proud of. Farata Aka Vinoda fills fresh farata flatbreads with everything from vegetarian to octopus, the midday line moves fast, and the prices are the same as in places far from the tourist beaches.
Tekwa: A Sweet Mauritian Pocket of Yellow Split Peas
Tekwa is a Mauritian fried pocket of thin dough filled with a sweet mixture of ground yellow split peas, sugar and fennel, often with coconut too. The name was brought over in the 19th century by Indian laborers from Bihar; the filling is the island's own invention. It's sold warm in a bag at the markets and eaten out of your hand, most often as a snack with afternoon tea.
Gâteaux Piment: A Mauritian Fried Ball of Yellow Split Peas
A fried ball of ground yellow split peas, chili and curry leaves is the most widespread street snack in Mauritius. The French name calls it a cake, neighboring Réunion names it after a candy - and neither name tells the truth. Indian laborers brought it to the island in the 19th century, people eat it at any hour of the day, and it tastes best hot, squashed into a baguette with butter.
Quatre Bornes Market: A Clothes Market and Street Food in Mauritius
Quatre Bornes Market is the town market on the central plateau of Mauritius: a food hall on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the island's best-known clothes market on Thursdays and Sundays, and all week long a food court of small bistros and stalls selling dholl puri, gâteaux piment or tekwa. Locals come in from all over the island, tourists are rare and the food is cheap.
Boulettes: Mauritian Steamed Dumplings
Boulettes are small dumplings of fish, meat, shrimp or grated chayote, steamed and sold by the piece from pots outside bistros all over Mauritius. The name is French, the origin Hakka, and the most typical version, niouk yen, is one no one in China would ever have thought up. They're eaten with noodles, swimming in clear broth, or dry with chili paste and scallions.
Kot Ti Baz: Grandma's Bistro with Farata in Flic en Flac
Kot Ti Baz, a tiny bistro on Coastal Road in Flic en Flac, was opened by a grandmother whose grandson kept telling her he was hungry. With one fridge and a gas burner she turns out farata, fried noodles and curry, and a pot of boulettes steams away by the door. Don't look for it on Google Maps - you'll spot it by the sign and the handwritten menu.