Mauritius

Mauritius has a vibrant chili culture influenced by Indian, African, Chinese, and European cuisines. Farmers and gardeners grow piment cari (small hot annuum or frutescens used in curries), bird’s eye chili, long green chilies, and habanero/Scotch bonnet-type peppers, along with sweet bell peppers.

Piment cari and bird’s eye chilies flavour cari (curries), rougaille (tomato-based sauce), and vindaye (marinated fish), as well as chili-paste condiments like “mazavaroo,” a famous Mauritian chili paste often made with bird’s eye or Scotch bonnet–type peppers, garlic, ginger, and lime. Fresh green chilies are served with dholl puri (split-pea flatbread), and pickled chilies accompany snacks and fried foods.

Artisanal producers sell bottled mazavaroo and chili sauces based on local bird’s eye and piment cari, making these peppers central both to home cooking and exportable specialty products.