SWEET, SWEET MARTINIQUE
An island is an island is an island, unless it’s
Martinique, a seductive little corner of France in the Caribbean, which
combines all the elements of stylish and chic French savoir-faire, with
a sensuous and fun-loving Creole joie de vivre.
The Creole language has ample resources when it comes
to describe how sweet it is to live in Martinique. “La vi a douce”,
“la vi a bel”, “la vi a ka mache” (life is sweet,
life is beautiful, life is going just fine), are just a few examples of
the many ways life is perceived on the island.
Blessed with lovely beaches, incredible lush vegetation,
idyllic climate and a wealth of cultural, artistic and scenic attractions,
Martinique is the perfect destination to savor a unique art-de-vivre and
to awaken your senses.
Flatter your taste buds
Martinique has many traditions that are celebrated throughout
the year, and many of them are accompanied by sumptuous local culinary
specialties.
When noon strikes, it announces the ritual of ti-punch,
best appreciated before lunchtime. You have to stop, sit and sip this
fiery “eau-de-vie”; “take off!” as the Martinicans
say.
There is the tradition of the after-dinner-drink, an
aged rum sipped as a digestif. The best aged rums are produced in Martinique
and incredibly enough, this small island produces more than 17 different
varieties of rums du terroir and has the only rum appellation d’origine
contrôlée.
February brings Carnival, a time for revelry and celebration
in festive costumes, day in and day out, throughout the island before
Lent.
Come Easter, families again gather on the beach. A competition
to honor the best matoutou crabe, a popular spicy crab dish, is organized
with convincing enthusiasm in Sainte-Anne. A nap in a hamac is mandatory
with a late afternoon swim thrown in for good measure, then a refreshing
scoop of home-made guava sorbet, churned with patience and love, and call
it a day.
When December approaches, Christmas is an occasion for
delightful treats. Sit down to a chicken fricassée, a gratin de
christophines, home-made petits pâtés, tropical fruit jams
and coulies, topped off by a coconut blanc-manger, followed by shrubb,
a liquor made from orange peel and sunshine.
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