Martinique

Where is Martinique?

Un petit peu d’histoire… If Martinique is in the Caribbean, why do most of the people in Martinique look like they are African? Since the 16 th C, Martinique was a French colony They brought slaves from Africa to work the sugar cane plantations.

Slavery in Martinique

The island of Martinique was captured by the British during the Seven Years’ War (1750s). The Sugar trade made the island so valuable to the royal French government that they gave up all of Canada in order to regain Martinique as well as the island of Guadeloupe. Un petit peu d’histoire… Non, merci! Je préfère la plage!

Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Josephine, was born in Martinique. You can tour her family home. She was crowned Empress of the French in 1804.

In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform Martinique from a colony of France into a department.

Maintenant, la nourriture…

Like the two languages spoken in Martinique, French and Creole, visitors to Martinique find a partnership of the best influences of both French and Caribbean food. Martinique's cuisine reflects its many cultures. The local Creole specialties combine the finesse of French cuisine with the spice of African cookery and the exoticism of East Indian and Southeast Asian recipes (curries and fruit). Fresh seafood appears on most menus. Local fruits, vegetables, and beverages add to the wonderful flavors.

Eating Out The majority of restaurants in Martinique serve either Creole or French cuisine with local seafood being very high up on most menus. Generally only the large hotels and restaurants have menus in English, so it is worthwhile taking a phrase book if you are not confident with the language. A few items that you may find on a menu: Accras: Small battered cod cakes Banane Jaune: Banana vegetable Chiquetaille: shredded, spicy codfish Crabes Farcis: Stuffed crab Chatrous: Octopus dish Colombo: Creole style curry Feroce: fiery avocado w/chiquetaille Ignames: Yam vegetable Langoustes: Clawless lobster Maracudja: passion fruit Orsins: Sea urchin Planteur: rum with tropical juices Sauce Chien: spicy sauce for fish Poisson Tahitian: Raw tuna cooked in lime with tomato salsa Fresh fruit juices are also very popular on the island along with jus de canne which is a delicious sugar cane drink.

Banane Jaune

“Crab Joséphine” (Crab and fruit)

Maracudja (passion fruit) muffins

Planteur: rum with tropical juices

la glace!