Food & Drinking Culture

What food pairs well with Mauritian rum? With the cuisine of Port Louis and the markets of the north: mine frite, fried noodles with vegetables and egg; boulettes, small dumplings in broth; faratas, soft filled flatbreads. The island blends Indian, Chinese, African and French influences, and nowhere is that clearer than in its street food.

With biryani made from chicken or mutton, an aged molasses rum would pair well, since its caramel carries the spices without overpowering them. With fried noodles and dumplings, a young, light rum is the better choice, since it has enough acidity and freshness to stand up to the fat.

A cold drink belongs alongside street food — Alouda, for instance, a sweet milk drink with basil seeds. As a cocktail, a rum with lime, sugar and soda makes a simple, refreshing choice. Pineapple with chili salt, a popular snack, also pairs well with a young rum, since the heat and fruit complement each other.

Those wanting to see the history of sugar will find the museum L'Aventure du Sucre in the north, on the grounds of Beau Plan near Pamplemousses. It traces the journey from sugar cane to sugar and shows just how closely rum and sugar are intertwined on Mauritius. Not far away lies the botanical garden of Pamplemousses, one of the island's well-known attractions.

A rum made from molasses is a companion to food, not a substitute for it. A small glass after the biryani, a long drink with lime and soda alongside the fried snacks: that way the alcohol remains a complement, and the rum shows what sugar cane and oak have made of it. Anyone coming out of the sugar museum in the afternoon will understand every glass a little differently.