Mauritian cuisine has ethnic influences

Mauritius was formed from volcanic activity, a speck in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 km off Africa's southeast coast.

The first humans and, in fact, the second mammals (the only native mammals to Mauritius are fruit bats) to set foot on the land were the Arabs, in a most literal way, putting the island on the map. In the early 16th century, the Portuguese arrived but were not particularly fascinated with the dense jungle they encountered, so they eventually left.

The Dutch followed in 1598, bringing boats crawling with rats, who did light work to extinguish the island's famous dodo. The French then conquered Mauritius in 1715 and introduced slavery.

That slavery was abolished in the 19th century, when the British took over. The British hired half a million Indian workers instead of slaves to get busy in the sugarcane fields.

Along the journey of discovering the Island, a variety of gastronomy were also encountered.

One of the best ways to experience this varied cuisine is to try different Mauritian street foods.

This combination of Indian, Chinese, European and African cultures can no longer be felt and tasted elsewhere than in the Mauritian cuisine. Street food is something popular in Mauritius as they are found almost at every single corner of the island.