How do I ensure good results when cooking ?

Make sure that you follow the recipes carefully. However, the ingredients can vary in freshness and composition. For example, the cooking times for rice can vary, depending upon the type of rice being used and their moisture content. Always prepare your ingredients ahead of the cooking. There can be nothing as disastrous, to find that at the crucial moment when a particular ingredient or sauce has to be incorporated into the the dish, to find it missing. Layout your ingredients carefully and within easy reach. Such practice will improve your culinary skills to a great degree just by this one action.

Learn from your own experience, past mistakes, successes and monitor your cooking at all times. Check for such things as moisture content, size of ingredients and the staged cooking process to ensure that the right amount of heat is used at the right time. You can always adjust the sauce consistency by allowing the pot to simmer over low heat or by adding small amounts of hot water. If the sauce is too liquid, you can tighten the sauce by stirring in one teaspoonful of corn starch dissolved in a small amount of water. The corn starch will tighten the sauce and give it consistency. 

Many Mauritian casserole dishes require constant gentle stirring to prevent pan sticking and food burning. Follow the recipe instructions carefully. Always monitor the cooking at all times. Never leave your cooking unattended. You will not only get bad results but it is downright dangerous.

In stir fry as an example, you can cook the fastest cooking ingredients last and vice versa. Another approach in stir fry is to cut the toughest ingredients into smaller portions and the tender ingredients in larger portions. Sea foods cook very quickly and always make sure that your sea foods are not overcooked or they will turn rubbery. In other words, cook intelligently and try to understand the process.

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Where can I find ingredients for Mauritian cuisine ?

Ingredients for Mauritian cuisine can be found in most supermarkets and specialist shops. For Indian ingredients such as spices, these are now available in supermarkets and Indian grocery shops. European ingredients such as salt cod and gourmet sausages can be obtained from Italian and Greek delis. Chinese ingredients can be sourced from Asian grocery shops. Tropical vegetables are now widely available in supermarkets. If not, you can go to Asian shopping precincts where you can find a huge variety of vegetables, meats, seafoods and fruits.  

Fresh sea foods, meats and vegetables are widely available in supermarkets as well. However, take note that the sea foods caught in different seas can be substantially different from those caught in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean around Mauritius. The octopus sold in Australia is easier to cook than the octopus sold in Mauritius. It is believed that the salt content  of the sea waters in which the octopus is caught from and whether the octopus is frozen before being put on sale have an influence upon its tenderness.

Always use the freshest meats and vegetables that you can afford. Some commercial meats are pre soaked in solutions to keep it moist, tenderise the meats and maintain their fresh looking appearance. Buy free range products in preference to farmed or battery produced ones.

You must also choose the freshest vegetables that you can access. This can make a wide difference in the results of your cooking. Be wary of vegetables grown on intense artificial fertilisers, these can have a very high water content and reduce considerably in size when cooked. The latter also do not keep very well.

Some Mauritian shops in capital cities also stock some specialist products such as poisson sale or ourite sec, biscuit manioc or achards. Contact us for their locations and we will endeavour to forward the necessary location information to you.

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Who is Madeleine Philippe ?

Madeleine Philippe was born in Mauritius and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. She started cooking from the tender age of 15. She learned much from her mother, brothers, friend and affectionados of Mauritian cuisine. One of these affectionados is Philippe Auleebux (close friend of the family) whose analysis of the various techniques used in Mauritian cuisine, led to the preparation of tastier dishes.

Madeleine's inquisitive mind and nature also led her into the cuisine of Rio restaurant in Curepipe, where she learned the secrets of the famous chefs at the then very popular Rio restaurant. In the 1970 and 80's, Rio restaurant was well known for its cuisine and the calibre of the chefs de cuisine working there was equal to none.

In 1994, Madeleine and Clancy Philippe saw the potential in the internet media for the promotion of Mauritian cuisine. They established the Mauritius Australia Connection and the Recipes from Mauritius web sites. The rest is history. These web sites were among the very first internet web sites promoting Mauritius and its unique cuisine. In fact, Madeleine and Clancy pioneered the use of the internet for the promotion of the Mauritian Community in Australia and its Mauritian cuisine.

Today, the Mauritius Australia Connection web site receives in excess of 2500 visits daily and provides the Mauritian Community in Australia with a communication network that is accessible online 24/7. Its mailing lists reach in excess of 3000 subscribers. The message board provides a platform where visitors can network with other visitors not only from Australia, but worldwide. The Recipes from Australia section has established itself as the most popular Mauritian Cuisine web site on the internet. It consistently achieves top listing on search engines such as Google.