Fruits & Vegetables

The Seychelles Islands are blessed with many fruits, some are available year round, like lemons, oranges and bananas, whereas others like mangoes, breadfruits, pineapple and avocado are seasonal and in most cases the trees would bear twice a year.

In the Creole cuisine vegetables are divided into two main types: The starchy and the non starch ones. The starchy ones are called gros manze, literally translated as’ big food’, and the non starchy ones, which are the standard vegetables, are locally called  legim.

Gros manze include cassava, breadfruit, yam ,sweet potatoes and taro.
I guess they are called as such because they are heavy and starchy and not as delicate as other vegetables. They are in fact not used as vegetables as used in the Western Cuisine. In most cases they act as a replacement to rice as the starch component of the meal and are mainly served boiled but can also be used to produce some other superb dishes, including desserts and snacks. The starchy vegetables of the islands, although they are botanically different from each other, all have similar uses in our kitchen and can, to a considerable extent, be substituted one for another.

Should you wish to learn more about any fruits and vegetables that are used by the Creole cook, just click on the appropriate one below.