Around 1735, Mahé de La Bourdonnais introduced to Mauritius a tuber originating in South America, cassava (manioc), used mainly to feed cattle.
But how did we go from cassava to biscuit? This is what you will discover ...
Ville Noire (uninviting name) is a district of Mahébourg where you will discover a rustic-style cookie.
However, it is distinguished by being registered with the National Heritage Fund.
We still use an 1839 scale, cast iron cooking plates and a homemade washer-peeler.
These are the roots of the plant producing between 2 and 3 kg of cassava which undergo the transformation process.
Here is the recipe for manufacturing:
- grind the white flesh of the root,
- grate to reduce it to powder,
- compress to extract moisture,
- grind to make flour,
- sift to remove fibers.
And to finish :
- mix with sugar, a touch of salt and the desired fragrance,
- put the dough in small square molds,
- bake 30 minutes in the oven,
- pack by hand.
Knowing that 15 kg of flour is obtained from approximately 25 kg of dough, up to 20,000 cookies are produced each day.
Since the founding of the biscuit factory, this biscuit, unique in the world, has always been made by hand, without preservatives or dyes.
But what is this biscuit factory ? To be continued...