Cuisine, Cooking and Recipes from Mauritius by Madeleine Philippe

Even if the official language is English, the language that is better understood and spoken after the 'Creole' is french. Teaching is performed in English as well as the administration but the press is mainly in french. Among the oriental languages spoken, Hindi is the most common one.
The Creole has had the function to propagate the popular art, specially in the field of songs, theater and a little amount in literature. It without doubt that it is in the field of songs that the creole language has primed in its melody that accompany the dances from African origin that is known as the SEGA.

Legends, a new four star luxe hotel, lies in the centre of the fishing village of Grand Gaube, not far from Grand Bay, in the north-eastern corner of Mauritius.This beautiful bay, which stretches as far as the distant horizon, is an invigorating setting for both mind and body.

Today Mauritius is a republic within the Commonwealth with a population of 1.2 million. Being a multi-cultural society, the Mauritian polulation enjoy a rich ethnic background, consisting of Hindus, Muslims, Tamils, Blacks of African and Madagascan descents, Whites of French descents, Mulattos and Chinese. The main religions are Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. However other religious denominations also flourish. This is a small country where religious festivals, rituals, customs and traditions abound in all their splendours.

The tiny island of Mauritius has been called a "melting pot" and its linguistic situation is very complex. While English is the official language of parliament, traffic regulations, and school administration, it is spoken by only 3% of the population. French is the native language of Franco-mauritians and is used by the mass media. Eighty percent of the newspapers are written in French, which also dominates the advertising field. Mauritian Creole, or MC, is the national language and is spoken by the majority of Mauritians. Nearly the entire population knows and uses MC for communication.

Mauritius owes its fame to sites of spectacular beauty, at the cost of forgetting that it is also an amazing melting-pot of cultures and traditions we now invite you to discover.

Mauritius is a densely populated island of around 1.2 million people. It is a plural society where all the ethnic groups present: Hindus, Muslims, Creoles, Chinese and Europeans live in peace and where all the ancestral cultures have been preserved. These features make the island a unique place in the world.