Bienvenue en Martinique! This overseas department of France is an incredible island, blanketed in lush rainforest, sitting on top of jutting mountains and an impatient volcano. It’s located southeast of Dominica and north of St. Lucia in the warm waters of the Caribbean.
As it is an overseas department of France, like Guadeloupe, so the official language is French (though they also speak Creole). The currency in Martinique is the euro. Although it is a stunning country with exotic Caribbean and alluring French cultures, it is best known for its colossal volcano, Mount Pelée. Pelée, in a series of eruptions in 1902, wiped out the entire city of Saint-Pierre, the largest city on Martinique at the time, killing over 30,000 people in the initial eruption alone. Though over the next few years the volcano continued to erupt, it has remained quiescence (active, but still) to this day.
Even without volcanic eruptions, Martinique has had a bit of a turbulent history. Like so many islands in the Caribbean, Martinique was first brought to the attention of the Europeans by Christopher Columbus. He landed there in 1502, and in the 17th century the French settled on the island. The island has been under both French and British control since it was first discovered, and with that came war, slavery, and rebellion. It officially became a department of France in 1946, and it has since become a very popular tourist destination, and boasts a much higher quality of life than many other islands in the Caribbean.
The current population of Martinique is made up of descendants of Africans, French, Carib, and South Asian peoples. The cuisine is therefore a delicious mixture of these cultures, and with local ingredients (exotic fruits and vegetables like pineapple, banana, cassava, breadfruit, guava, mango, pineapple, eggplant, okra, chayote, and peppers; seafood and meat such as conch, blood sausage, octopus, crayfish, mussels, urchin, snapper, chicken, and goat.) they create dishes that “put the fire in your mouth!”
Some of the most popular dishes in Martinique utilize all of the cultural influences, and create a very unique blend of flavours. Chicken curry, using coconut milk and hot peppers, is a very common main dish. Other characteristic dishes of Martinique include: chicken Colombo (aptly named for the Sri Lankan capital), accras (fritters), court-bouillon (steamed fish), stuffed crab, coconut sorbet, and French pastries. Sauce Chien is a spicy sauce made with scotch bonnet peppers, and is a very common addition to many seafood based dishes. And, perhaps most importantly, the drink! French wines are widely available in Martinique, but even more often, rum is served. ‘Ti punch is arguably the most popular drink on the island – want to make it at home? Brace yourself. It’s made with 5 parts white rum to one part cane syrup.
Have you ever been to Martinique? If so, what did you think of the food, and what was your favourite dish?
Coming up next: Food Freeway’s Recipe of the Week!