On this page 4 sections
The great classics
- Lobster with vanilla: the festive dish, in which local vanilla flavours the crustacean.
- Mataba: pounded cassava leaves simmered in coconut milk, often with fish.
- Pilao: rice flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, cooked with meat.
- M'tsolola: fish or meat with green bananas and cassava in a coconut sauce.
- Mkatra foutra: a flatbread made with coconut milk, eaten at breakfast.
- Mabawa: grilled chicken wings, the star of street food in Mayotte.
Spices
The archipelago produces some of the most sought-after spices: vanilla, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. They flavour savoury and sweet dishes, as well as tea, often made with lemongrass, ginger or milk.
Sweets and fruit
Ladu (sweet rice-flour balls), banana fritters, coconut rice cakes and festive pastries go with tea. Mangoes, papayas, pineapples, soursops, jackfruit, breadfruit and, at the end of the year, lychees fill the market stalls.
At the table
Meals are often shared on a mat, around a common dish, and people eat with the right hand. During Ramadan, the breaking of the fast brings families together over soups, fritters, dates and stews. See also our tips in Travel.
