Mauritius, paradise island

I realise that I never made a post about where I come from, where I was born and became an integral part of my family, the society, the world and the universe!!
My home land is Mauritius, for those who do not know much about it, here is a map of the island. Mauritius is situated between the latitudes 19⁰58.8 and 20⁰31.7 south and longitudes 57⁰18.0 and 574⁰6.5 east. 

The island is quite small being only roughly 80 km long and 50 km wide, totalling a land area of some 1,800 km square. However, the beaches are so beautiful partly because of their sheltered lagoons which is protected by the third largest coral reef in the world! It's surprising but if you have been there and experienced the warm waters and pleasant bath in the clear sea water, you know there is no comparable feeling to this...simply divine.

In the twelfth century, the Arabs discovered the island but did not settle there (they named it Dina Arobi). It took about another 300 odd years for the Portuguese to come across Mauritius and they called it Cirne but still did not find it suitable for settlement. In 1598, the Dutch found the island and settled there. They cut down the ebony trees that covered most of the land to make furniture and repair their ships. At the time, the Dodo bird existed on the island and it is the only place in the world where it ever existed. Yet the Dutch killed the bird for its flesh and in the long run, the species became extinct. There are skeletons of the Dodo that can now be seen in the museum of natural history in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. The island later on became French (1710-1810) before being taken over by the British (won from the French in 1810 in the battle of Grand-Port) and remained under British legislation until 1968 when it obtained its independence. Mauritius has been a Republic since 1992.

If you ask a Mauritian what is the typical food there, we are at a loss for choice because our food is as diverse as our people. A Mauritian person could be anything between white and black, as well as Indian, Chinese and Tamil. The main religions are Hinduism, Catholicism, Buddhism and Islam. In colonial times, there were white people (from France and Britain mostly) and African people mainly and the influence is clearly reflected in the dishes and everyday food. As time went by, Indian indentured labourers came to Mauritius to work in the sugarcane fields and most of them remained there. Nowadays Mauritian food includes curry, biryani, fried noodles or rice, rice noodle soup, "rougaille" (a tomato based sauce cooked with any meat or fish you want), gratins, pulses....the list is long. The only thing that is for sure is that the food is always tasty and full of flavour.