The three restaurants of Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel have been putting on a South African buffet for lunch and dinner over the past two weeks. The artistic and South African culinary festival ended last Saturday on a successful note. In fact, according to the manager of L’Escale and La Terrasse, Sam Nunkoo, the number of clients increased by forty every day. According to the organisers, this initiative has became reality after nine years of planning.

Many people from South Africa were invited. First of all, for the dishes, two chefs and a sales manager from Beverly Hills Hotel, in the region called Umhlanga Rocks.

In addition, a wine-maker from Cape-Town. For the entertainment side, eight dancers from Johannesburg and a necklace maker came.

Spices, seafood and raw vegetables typical of South Africa were on the menu. Ten to twelve dishes were available for each meal. A roll-over of the dishes was done every four to five days to create diversity. If some dishes were quite familiar to Mauritians, others were exotic.

For example, as starter, a crocodile Carpaccio (thin strips of raw meat marinated in lemon juice, virgin olive oil and black pepper), followed by a Cape Malay soup.

For the main course, there was a wide choice: grilled fillet of line fish with apricot jam and white wine sauce, seafood curry from Durban, mutton curry; and, for vegetarians, creamed spinach and green beans with cashew nuts.

The desserts were refined and tasty, such as lemon tart or cinnamon cake. To wash down all these delicacies, of course, South-African wines were available. “The variety of dishes reflects the multicultural dimension of the country…” commented one of the clients.

Every night a special night</B>