Food memories stretch back to her early and tender years. For Monique Labat stirring egg yolks with locally produced sugar on the Island of Mauritius together with home grown vanilla pods was a technique taught and passed down from mother to daughter. Crème a la vanilla was a standard base for the stewed guava or pawpaw dishes that the family so loved.
These tropical fruit abound on the Island. Nowadays a flourishing sweetmeat industry has created many jobs for the value add that these agro-products contribute to the economy of Mauritius. International tourists can’t resist the brightly coloured packaging at the Airport’s Duty Free Shop as they say goodbye to this tropical Island.
The strong cultural food influences of Mauritius were brought to the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal when Monique and her family decided to make South Africa their home. Combinations of creole dishes, Indian specialties and French delicacies were incorporated into the farming lifestyle. A step into the citrus orchard meant eating bright orange, tangy sweet naartjies.
Picking mfino, the leaves and tendrils of the pumpkin or chayote creeper in the veggie garden was a ritual simply to produce brèdes eaten with rice and rougail de saucisses. The saucisses or sausages were handmade by the Italian community in Umkomaas and the drive home from Durban meant an obligatory stopover at the Italian Butchery. The sausages were grilled and then sliced and popped into the delicious Créole tomato sauce everyone knows as rougail.
In May 2011, Monique took the step of following her dream and enrolled at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. Fellow students on the course represented 14 different nationalities and Monique’s network grew substantially thanks to Cookery School Principal, Darina Allen, co-Director Rory O’Connell and Rachel Allen. Living and working on an organically certified farm a short distance from the sea and being taught the importance of knowing where the produce has originated resonated.
Opportunities at Ballymaloe included working the night shift in Arbutus Bakery in the City of Cork, helping sell fresh produce at the Local Farmers’ Market in Midleton, learning to remove the pin bones from wild salmon in the kitchens of Ballymaloe House.
Monique is currently producing her first cookbook entitled, ‘Facebook Foodie: Recipes of the Liked and Shared’. This experience was made more simple thanks to the tools available though the Internet. Self-publishing is a big trend and Monique has both options; Kindle or hard copy version available.
For the last three years since returning from Ballymaloe, Monique and her husband Francesco have been following the Paleo lifestyle.
Quitting sugar, potatoes, rice and wheat flour was not easy initially but has since become a way of life. This has prompted a series of Paleo food demonstrations by Monique in Durban in conjunction with Sports Medicine specialist, Dr Glen Hagemann.
If you would like to know more, please contact me
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