Travel With Candace

Damoiseau is the most popular brand of rum to drink on Grande-Terre. Situated in Moule, the distillery that produces the rum is an interesting place to visit. Rum was a driving force of the slave trade in the Caribbean region. Much of the rum was made with the assistance of mills of various types. The distillery houses the only old-fashioned, functioning windmill on Guadeloupe and provides a French-only display that overviews the different types of mills and how they work. The display also sheds light on the history of rum on Guadeloupe and the steps of the distillation process.

The actual “tour” of the distillery is pretty much you wandering around, directed by occasional signs that explain the part of the process you are viewing. Visitors definitely see how rum is made up close and personal; from huge trucks dumping loads of sugar cane into the new age mill to the bottling and packaging processes. It’s interesting to see all the machines in action, but honestly, I don’t think the public should be able to be so close to the product with such little supervision (see picture above). That aside, if you like industry, rum (free tastings!), and/or really loud places, the Damoiseau distillery is definitely for you.

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For some unknown reason, I’ve really been craving breadfruit recently. So when Andrea and I passed a market selling them for a seemingly cheap 2 Euros a piece, we picked some up. With a long afternoon of crafting Carnivale costumes ahead, we decided to make a special lunch to fuel our creative energy.

I didn’t really know how to cook breadfruit, but Andrea, being from Trinidad, knows a number of different ways. Apparently you can simply boil it or fry it until tender and season it to taste. You can also make a dish called “Oil Down” (believe me, I asked the origin of the name, she wasn’t sure). Oil Down consists of breadfruit, pigtail, onion, tomato, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper stewed in coconut milk. Any other salted or smoked meat or fish would work in this dish and spinach is often added. Simple directions follow:

1) In a large pot, add onions, tomatoes, seasonings and any other vegetables you might want to include and sautee the mixture in the oil of your choice until the vegetables are tender.

2) Add breadfruit and allow it to simmer among vegetables until it begins to soften.

3) Add meat or fish and allow to simmer for five-ten minutes

4) Add coconut milk and allow to stew for about 30 minutes until breadfruit and meat/fish is tender.

5) Serve hot and enjoy!

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One of my favorite things about Guadeloupe is drinking coconut water straight from the source. It’s tasty, refreshing, and fun to drink to boot. Indulging in this delicious treat usually goes as follows:

1) You find a coconut man or a friend with a palm tree and a machete. This person will chop the coconut just enough to make a small hole that provides access to the coconut water. I recently tried cutting my own coconut for the first time. It’s hard…and scary. I think the 1 Euro I pay the coconut men is well worth keeping me FAR away from any machete.

2) You drink said water, usually by hoisting the coconut in the air with your mouth on the machete-made opening. You can also drink it with a straw; it’s less messy but definitely not as fun.

3) You give the coconut back to the man (or machete touting friend). The coconut is then cut in half allowing you to eat the coconut flesh.

4) Throw the coconut back in the coconut truck or wherever your machete touting friend tells you to put it (they may be your friend but they still have a machete).

Hooray! You’re now a happy camper.

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One of my favorite things about festivals or simply going to the beach on Guadeloupe is the freshly made coconut ice cream that is sold for one, two, or three Euros a cup (small medium, large). Though the ice cream can vary vendor to vendor, it is usually rich, creamy, and bursting with natural flavor. You can also find mango, guava, and pistachio ice cream from what I’ve seen. I’ll be sure to pass along on any other interesting flavors I find.

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One of my favorite Caribbean dishes so far is colombo. The dish’s name name comes from the spice used to flavor the stew which can be prepared with a variety of meats. The spice contains cumin, coriander, brown mustard, Tellicherry black pepper, cloves, fenugreek, turmeric and roasted rice as a thickener. It originated in Sri Lanka’s capitol of Colombo whose inhabitants were brought to the West Indies to work the sugar plantations.*

On this particular day at Restaurant An Ka Dou, the owner had prepared colombo à crab. I’d only had the dish with chicken or ox tail up to that point so I had to give it a try.

Delicious as usual!

*World Spice Merchants

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