Culinary Festival
Indian Ocean and Europe

Since 2006, Mauritius has hosted, on an annual basis, a very original and highly-renowned culinary festival, organised by the Constance Hotels Experience  Group (link to site) and Relais Bernard Loiseau.

Dominique Loiseau, as president of the jury, notes that over the years the quality has risen and is now excellent. Indeed, the Constance Hotels Experience Group has defined a ‘culinary spirit’ with the aim of enabling its chefs to re-invent a sophisticated cuisine which fuses the culinary traditions of the islands with flavours from Asia, Africa and Europe.

The participants include, on the one hand, pre-selected chefs from the islands of the Indian Ocean, and on the other, European chefs who all hold one Michelin star.

They work together in pairs to exchange their know-how, experience and knowledge. The week is marked by a very professional and extremely convivial atmosphere and suspense grows until the results are announced on the final evening.

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Preparation for the finals

On Sunday, the first day of the competition, the chefs who have been selected will meet Mauritian chef Jacqueline Dalais for a tour of the island and she will introduce them to local flavours.

On day two, there is a draw to select the pairs who then set about devising a starter and a main course with two obligatory ingredients. So they all go down to the picturesque market in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, and see the huge variety of island produce. They then have two days, still working in pairs (a European chef with an island chef), to create their recipes.

On Thursday, the day of the finals, the European chef withdraws and leaves the island chef to produce the recipes to be tasted by a jury of internationally-recognised members of the profession (food writers, journalists...).

 

6 star dinner

Once Friday arrives, the six European starred chefs work together to prepare a ‘6-star meal’ to the delight of the hotel guests.

The gala evening on Saturday evening marks the grand final with a dinner prepared by Patrick Bertron, of Relais Bernard Loiseau, in collaboration with the chef of the Constance Belle Mare Plage gourmet restaurant. And the long-awaited verdict of the jury is a moment to be remembered.