If you enjoy minn frir as much as I do, you will probably agree that not enough homage was given to Marco Polo who brought the amazing noodle from China back to Europe. Little did he know what an impact the noodle would have on the world, let alone the delicious cuisine of Mauritians, who express their love of noodles through their heavenly minn frir!

Minn frir is made up of thin egg noodles boiled and then fried just so, together with morsels of vegetables, chicken, pork, beef or shrimp. A large mound is served with a chili or garlic sauce.

Every chef makes it in his own way and the dish varies all over the island. Some chefs throw all ingredients together and heap the minn on your plate or some shape the minn in a bowl and serve it upside down on your plate with a fried egg garnishing the top of the mound like an ice cap!

Expect to pay anything from Rs 45 for vegetarian minn frir to Rs 65 for minn frir special which usually includes meat, chicken, pork, egg and shrimp! Don?t rule out those stands at the beach either. Line-ups usually mean they?re serving something yummy, usually minn frir.

If you would like to try making your own minn frir , the following is a guideline to start with, sure to achieve favourable results. Try your own variations, it really is quite simple!

The ingredients you?ll need are of course, first, the noodles.Then to your taste, add any combination of the following: chopped onion, garlic, steamed sausage, chicken breasts, shrimps, grated carrots, shallots, grated cabbage, some oil and soya sauce.

The idea is to fry up every item that you wish to have in your minn frir and set it aside individually. Once the noodles have been boiled to your taste, the ingredients are added slowly to the drained noodles alternately until all ingredients are mixed in.

The following are some of my favorite minn frir hangouts: King Dragon (Quatre-Bornes), The Noodle Shop (Rose-Hill) and Cari Poulé (Port-Louis). Notice, I said ?some? ? the search is still ongoing!

Happy vacationing!

<B> Angela KEESSOONDYAL </B>