The Dinan Family

Our friends Aldo, Megan and their three kiddos had us over for dinner tonight.

Aldo made Mauritian food for us. Yummy!
That is where Aldo is from, Mauritius, Africa.



Mauritius is an island country off the east coast of Africa. To understand the flavors that we experienced you have to know what the history of rule in Mauritius has been, and where it's cultural influences have come from.

1. The Dutch claimed the little island first in the 15th century, that's the 1400's. Then they abandoned it.                                                            
 2.The French took over and taught the people: Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Din, dan, don. Din, dan, don.

3.  The Brits took control during the Napoleonic Wars (that was in the early 1800's). 


4. In 1968 Mauritius became independent. 

 Let's not forget that Mauritius has it's own culture and influences from being apart of Africa and in the Indian Ocean. The have a Creole Culture which according to wikipedia means: "The usage of 'creole' in the islands of the southwest of the Indian Ocean varies according to the island. In Réunion and the Seychelles, the term 'creole' includes people born there of all ethnic groups.^[3] In Mauritius, on the other hand, the term excludes white people.^[3] In all three, 'creole' also refers to languages derived from French." Mauritius is considered to be a blend of Indian, Creole, European, and Chinese influences.

Two facts you may not know:
1. Mauritius was the fifth location ever to use postage stamps.
2. Mauritius was the only know habitat of the extinct dodo bird.

So, last night we had a delicious meal of sausage with a gingery tomato sauce. There were clounds on my plate of lovely fluffy white rice. A beutiful river of garlic-ee Lentils flowed care free around everything else. 

 This isn't what we had last night, but it does look similar. I can still smell the heavenly aroma as if it were hugging my nose.

I hope that if you aren't someone who likes to be adventurous in what you eat, that this will inspire you to try something new.