The colourful market in St-Leu/ le marche de St-Leu, Reunion

 

Every time I am in a new place/city/country I love to go to the local (fresh food) market...In countries like France and its overseas teritorries the market visit is at the same time gourmet/ nature-discovering&people-meeting event! One can learn a lot about the way people live (and eat) when visiting the local market... During our vacation in Reunion island we went to the weekly market (every Saturday from 6am till 1pm) in the cute and cozy village St-Leu, where we stayed for around a week. Even if we went to the market around 7.30 am, the outside air was already very sticky and heavy (extremely hight air humidity)...

 

However I really enjoyed the bright colours of all local and exotic fruits. I have spotted some unknown to me veggies and even bought one new for me fruit, (tastewise between a melon and strawberry). The home-made soap stand was a great find too. All soaps were produced with local eteric oil and there were some yummy smelling products like choco-mint-soap or orange-lemongrass...

 

We found also forest mushroom, which we prepared later this day with rice in one delicious risotto!

My big cacao adventure: or how to (learn to) make your own cacao

 

Beginning of the year I have received an extremely beautiful and colourful surprise. Jojo, the friend living in Reunion island, bought as a present two fresh cacao pods from a local. I was simply speechless, they were in red-yellow nuances: till then I have only seen the cacao pods in yellow, yellow-green or brown, but never red! So at the beginning I did not dare to think of cutting them open....But then the curiosity won over and we first cut one in half!  We were told to try the fresh cocoa beans, which are still covered in the white flesh...The taste is very particular and almost unpleasant but they are supposed to give you a lot of energy.

 

Once we have tried the fresh beans I have decided to follow the classic way of cacao treatment which is:
step 1: cut open and leave the beans ferment in the sun for several days (from 5 days to 1 week);
at the end of this phase the bean is visible and the white "coat" has disappeared;

 

step 2: dry the beans for a bit more longer and then roast them;

step 3: now the beans may be ground to make cacao mass, pure chocolate in rough form;

step 4: you have all you need to make a big cup of hot and yummy chocolate by adding water and sugar/honey!

 
The beans on the left are 1 week in the sun, the two half pods on the right only 1day-see the difference in colour!

 

ENJOY...and don't forget that the cocoa, known also as "food of God", has several positive effects such as anti-stress, anti-depressant, anti-oxidant, brain-stimulator... this is however valid only for the pure cocoa mass and the dark chocolate, the milk chocolate and the other chocolate bars don't have those effects due to the high concentration of sugar and other additives;

 
Even my home pet, the lady bug above, was in love with the smell of the dried cocoa beans:-)

Churches and temples in Reunion island

 

The religious places in Reunion depict in a very nice way the big melting pot the island is: French, Indian, Africans, Chinese are the "locals" here. Islanders use their ethnic origins to define themselves as "Cafres " (African ancestry) "Z'oreilles " (born in mainland France), "malabars or Tamouls " (from Tamil Nadu southern India), " Z'arabes " (from Gujarat in northern India), "Chinois" (from China), "Malgaches" (from Madagascar), " Comores "(from Comores), "Petits blancs" (poor rural whites living in the highlands), or "Creoles blancs " (white landowners).

I would start with the really vivid colours of the Indian temple in St Andre (which is one of the most famous, although they are some spread over the whole island). Enjoy the mind-blowing colours (some part were just freshly painted) and rich decoration. I was really impressed when I arrived in front of it.

 

Then I would like to take you to the church "Notre Dame de la Lave" located in St Rose. It is called that way as during several eruptions the lava stopped at its door steps. It is really nice to see how good different religions may co-habitit...

Cuisine and food in Reunion island/ la cuisine de la Reunion

 

Reunion island wont disappoint you when you get hungry! Indeed the island food is simply fantastic. French, Creole, Indian and Chinese influence melts here in one yummy and flavoured with fresh spices gourmet-heaven! Its the first place and time I have heart of salade made out of the heart of a specific palm tree ("la salade de palmiste"): so I gave it a try and it tasted really fresh and yummy. A bit nutty-veggie taste! 

 

For the main dishes one may always choose fish or meat prefered in one of the following sauces: "carry", "rougail" or "massale". All of the three listed include different spices such: cumin, garlic, pimento, ginger, cloves or lime caffire leaves...The second picture shows the dish "rougail sousisse", the way main dishes are always served here: with rice and cooked pulse/legumes.

 

Of course the fresh catch of the day is perfect either as sashimi or on the grill...We have cooked several local veggies: on the picture below I had prepared the famous jackfruit cut in small pieces and cooked (for over 3 hours) in coconut milk and fresh spices. Served with raw-green mango-chutney (here known as "mangue rougail")...

 

Some fresh exotic fruits from the market for breakfast or for sweet-snack during the day....and...

 

...last but not least: some "fondant au chocolat" with mango pulp...no better way to finish a meal after the exhasuting walk to the volcano crater:-))

The underwater world in la Reunion: snorkelling in the Indian ocean, part 3

 

As promised finally some videos from the long snorkeling hours in the warm water of the Indian ocean. Next to the colourful trigger fishes and the quick butterfly fishes I had the honour to swim with a huge family of squids (over 20) and one let me (very kindly) film him/her from very close! Doenjoy the video and those fantastic colours. The squids are extremely incredible to watch in therei element (water) as they move with their wings and change colours almost all the time!

The second video shows the huge variety of different fishes in the bay of St Leu after one local crushed a sea urchin and let the passing by fishes have a feast:



And some more pictures from the underwater inhabitants and the snorkeling tourists:-)

The fauna of Reunion island: endormi, tangue and more!

For sure one of the most colourful representative from the fauna of Reunion island is the so called "endormi" (the sleepy one). The male cameleon has its very bright colours, while the juniors and the female ones are less colourful. They are really impressive animals. I do add also one video of the same cutie below. Enjoy his slow moves:

 

Another cute animal is "le tangue", a far cousin of the hedghoge. They are tinier than European relatives and hide in the rainforest, we were pretty happy to spot a group of some baby ones during one of our walks! Plenty of other exotic insects are flying around: like the purple dragonfly, the black-red bugs and beautiful butterflies!

 
One of the first things that will strike you in Reunion island are the birds...They are everywhere, it does not matter if you are close to the sea or up in the mountains, there is always singing around you!

About "cases creoles" and architecture in Reunion and French Antilles

 

All around the Reunion island one sees the famous "case creole". Usually painted in very happy colour (like bright green, blue, red, orange or rose) they are cute one-floor houses (in the old times wooden, nowadays also from metal or concrete). They are almost always decorated with some "frise" (beautiful carving under the roof). This lovely detail is made (according to the old tradition) out of special wood such as ylang-ylang, lemongrass or geranium. Like this it keeps the mosquitos away (as well as the rain water) and the inhabitants healthy. The "frise" indicates also the social status of the owner, the more unsual and rich it is, the more healtier the people living in are...

 

The "cases creoles" hide usually in a garden full with exotic flowers and fruits trees (on the first picture you may have already seen the mangos on the left:-) The same houses are also to be spotted everywhere in the French Caribbean. The last two pictures depict some examples from les Saintes and the houses in Terre-de-Haut. They are even more colourful than in Reunion, a real eyecatcher:-)

La Plage de Tremblet et la route des laves, Reunion/ The frozen lava next to Tremblet in Reunion

 

In the south-east part of Reunion island, close to the crater of the active volcano Piton de la Fournaise one may visit and walk on the frozen lava...There are signs indicating the eruption year at different places. On advice of a friend we stopped close to the beach of Tremblet, where the 2007 eruption took place.

 

After a walk in a very greeny scenery we arrived on a beach: partly covered with black sand, partly with the frozen lava from 2007. The lava went up to the sea here...the colours in the lava stones were really breathtaking! We were told that there was so much lava that came out in 2007,  that the road was covered with 10 meters of it!

The underwater world in la Reunion: snorkeling in the Indian ocean, part 2

 

...some more great snorkelling experience the last two days in the lagoon of St Leu...I was so lucky to swim with two squids, such amazing creatures, I have also a lovely video, which I would upload a bit later...