Well it was a weekend of carnival and all sorts happening over the city of London, but I decided to shun Notting Hill this year and heading to the Mauritian Open Air Festival held at Down’s Park in Tottenham Hale. I mean how can I not go! A chance to try out more Mauritian food cooked by families, businesses, a great chance to get some inspiration!

I used to go to Mauritian fairs when I was younger, mum and dad used to cart us off with the family, it was a fun day out, surrounded by food, family and live music. A chance to expose the younger generations to what is Mauritian culture.

So the Yummy Choo gang  (myself & Mama Choo) headed up to North London to check out what was on offer, it was not as crowded when we arrived there by midday, but the sega music was slowly building up and the food was ready on over 20 stalls available.

All cooking up dhall pouri, rougaille, grois pois, briani’s, vindayes, cari’s, gajacks and serving alouda(refreshing milky drink) to wash it all down with.

Cant have Mauritian food without a BBQ!
Popular Gajacks (snacks) eaten on the go or with a glass of rum in hand.

Vibrant yellow poudine mais just how it is sold in the street’s of Mauritius, this delicious polenta (cornmeal) made cake, is served cold, dusted with coconut. It’s eaten as a sweet however, it is not noticeably sweet in taste, which means you can also eat more of it…

Dhall Pouri (split peas pouri) filled with Fish Vindaye, you can also have it filled with butterbean curry, tomato rougaille and some chilli sauce! These can be eaten on the go and devoured in a few mouthfuls.

Spicy chilli marinated pineapple, great to eat, adds a chilli heat and kick, they marry so well with the sweet pineapple juice!

Fish vinadaye which we make at our Mauritian supperclub also, is piled into a white baguette here, a great way to eat it, traditional to the culture, great sandwich filler to take down to the beach..

Fruit Salade Mauritian style with some chilli pineapple, cucumber and mango

Gateaux Coco, sweet and coconutty, seriously tempting snacks for those with a sweet tooth and the colours are so bright!

Mauritian products on offer, great to stock up! Kraft cheese,Bois Cheri Mauritian tea (we use in our spiced chai).. it’s so exciting, like a child in a sweet shop!

I mean look at all those alarming bright red chillies all dotted around on that pineapple..

So you can see from all these pictures, food was in abundance, sega music was loud and shaking down the house, the sunshine was out and everyone was in great spirits. Thousands of Mauritians and visitors new and familiar to the culture packed out the park, enjoying the music, food and joviality. Glad I went along to experience this, will have to check out next year’s http://www.mauritianopenair.com/