Seychelles

Granite islands, Creole speech, a forest that remembers.

Your host · Seychellois Creole

Marcel

Creole host

Marcel fishes the granite coves and speaks Seselwa with the slow music of Mahé. He still points out coco de mer as if it were a relative.

The inner Seychelles are ancient granite peaks in a turquoise sea. Creole, English, and French share the street, but Seselwa is the language of the kitchen and the shore.

Field notes

10 fruits

Coco de mer
Coco de mer
Lodoicea maldivica
The double coconut of Praslin and Curieuse, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, protected and almost mythical.
Coconut
Koko
Cocos nucifera
Every Creole curry starts with grated coconut. Trees lean over the pink granite beaches.
Banana
Banann
Musa
Planted in the damp folds of Mahé. Eaten ripe, fried, or mashed into ladob with nutmeg.
Mango
Mang
Mangifera indica
December mangoes drop in the gardens of Victoria. Eaten green with salt or ripe and dripping.
Papaya
Papay
Carica papaya
A breakfast fruit with lime, or cooked green as a savory side.
Pineapple
Zannana
Ananas comosus
Small, sharp pineapples from hillside plots, often in a rum punch later.
Guava
Gwayav
Psidium guajava
Wild along paths. The jam is a Creole pantry staple.
Breadfruit
Friyapen
Artocarpus altilis
Roasted on coals and served with grilled fish — the island starch.
Jackfruit
Zak
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Enormous, honeyed when ripe, a curry when green.
Passion fruit
Fri pasion
Passiflora edulis
Vines on the granite. Pulp for juice and for the famous passion jam.