Seychellois cuisine: cooking with spices

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The warm spices and rich flavours of Seychellois cuisine are gathered from the broad ethnic diversity of the country’s culture.

Influences from France, Africa, India and Asia combine to create an intense, vibrant flavour unique to the Seychelles.

With its history as a producer of spices for the British Empire in its colonial past it is not surprising that fresh, fragrant spices such as chilli, ginger, garlic and cinnamon are at the heart of Seychelles cuisine.

Here are some of the key spices used in the Seychelles and some mouth-watering recipes to inspire you to add a little Creole flavour to your cooking.

Chilli

There are more than 10 different varieties of chilli used in Seychellois cooking each with a distinct flavour and each used for different dishes.

• Recipe with chilli: Samosas and chilli cake, mint chutney and ‘love apple’ tomato chutney

Garlic

With its gentle warmth and intense flavour garlic represents the perfect fusion of European food with the heat of African and Asian cuisine.

• Recipe with garlic: Green papaya achard

Ginger

Ginger has always been central to Indian cuisine and is an important ingredient to many savoury and sweet dishes in the Seychelles. It has been popular with islanders throughout the country’s history for its savoury and medicinal properties. And this delicious recipe creates ice cream that’s medicinal in its own way.

• Recipe with ginger: Mango and ginger ice cream

Cinnamon

Grown on the hillside plantations of the Seychelles since colonial times the warm flavour of cinnamon is used in curries ‘cari’, chutneys ‘chatini’ and pickles ‘achar’.

• Recipe with cinnamon: Duck legs and roast pineapple with smoked bacon

Find out more

• Read more about Seychellois cuisine from travel bloggers and adventurers The Planet D
• Discover more things to do in the Seychelles
• Explore the local food markets of Mahé
• Visit our website to find out more about Constance Ephélia, Mahé and Constance Lémuria, Praslin Island.