spicy mauritian choko salad

This is a delicious, spicy and sour salad from the island of Mauritius. The main ingredient choko (chayote) is so refreshing but the green chillies add fire.

I highly recommend this with fish or barbecued meats.

Salade Chou Chou (Mauritian Choko Salad)
Recipe by Madeleine Philippe.
Ingredients:
1 kg chokos (chayote)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly crushed garlic
1 medium onion finely sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh green chillies
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1. Heat water in a large saucepan enough to boil all the chokos. Add salt and stir to dissolve completely. Add the chokos and boil for about 20 minutes or until tender. Remove from boiling water and allow to cool.
2. Peel and halve the chokos. Discard the seeds and cut into slices according to preferences.
3. Mix the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, freshly chopped green chillies (if desired) and sliced onions together.
4. Pour over the sliced chokos and carefully mix together without breaking the chokos.

Mauritius is a gorgeous island off the coast of Africa, happily floating away in the Indian Ocean, about 900km east of Madagascar. Together with Réunion, and five other islands, they make up the Mascarene Islands.

Mauritius is so multicultural and comprises of ethnic groups of Indian, African, French, British and Chinese ancestry. The island’s official language is English, media and business is conducted mostly in French and despite all of this the most commonly spoken language is Mauritian Creole.
Today Mauritius is famously known as a luxury travel destination and after seeing some of the photos below you can understand why!

Their cuisine is shaped by their population with hybrid dishes combining French, Chinese and Indian cooking techniques with local ingredients. Unfortunately for the dodo bird, Mauritius was it's only natural habitat and it ended up as one of those local ingredients.

If you want to know more about the choko/chayote you can see this recent post, but I’m guessing in Mauritius it’s probably known by it’s French name: christophene or chou chou.

Map, Photos & Reference:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WAV7CPWZHbhhgv4k19a5Zw-JvVlw96QOSsFVdcgWyQbSwTrM525rL6vwa0TuoerlPCpJnPqu25wK6oV5tJPm0tdCiaYsE2zzqoilXfsM8twqM7HY7DenoDDSLsXKHVZ7JsL0RQ/s1600-h/mauritius.jpg
http://www.threebestbeaches.com/africa/mauritius/uploaded_images/tbb-mauritius03-794451.jpg
http://www.opentravelinfo.com/files/images/mauritius-05_0.jpg
http://www.weddings-abroad.com/images/mauritius_residence_beach_01.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes salad choko chayote salade chou chou chou chou chilli vegetarian recipes salad recipes chayote recipes choko recipes mauritian recipes mauritian food mauritian cuisine