Martinican Creole cuisine is one of the lesser-known treasures of French gastronomy: a cuisine of métissage that mixes French techniques, African ingredients, Indian spices and Caribbean products, in an explosion of sunny flavours carried by authentic Antillean generosity.
Cod accras — salted dough fritters with desalted cod, fried in hot oil, accompanied by a sauce chien (Creole sauce with onion, chive, garlic, chilli and lime) — are the emblematic aperitif of the island. They are found in all markets, all table d'hôtes and all beach bars. Creole black pudding, made from pork blood, fried onions, chilli and herbs, is another unmissable starter, more spicy than mainland blood sausage.
Colombo is the national dish: a Creole curry of Indian origin (brought by Tamil indentured workers after the abolition of slavery), based on meat (goat, chicken, pork) or fish simmered long with a powder of spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, garlic, chilli) called 'colombo powder'. Served with white rice and red beans, colombo is a powerful, fragrant and deeply comforting dish.
Sea products are in the spotlight: ouassous (giant freshwater prawns, bred in rivers), lambis (large marine molluscs prepared as fricassee), chatrou (octopus), vivaneau, red tuna, mahi-mahi. On beaches, raw shellfish (clams, burgots) are sold by fishermen with half a lime and a pinch of salt.
The AOC Martinique agricultural rum is the culinary and social cement of the island. The only rum in the world to benefit from a Controlled Designation of Origin (since 1996), it is produced from pure freshly pressed cane juice (and not from molasses like industrial rums), giving it a unique aromatic finesse. The ti-punch (white agricultural rum, cane syrup, lime squeezed between the fingers) is the daily ritual: it is served before lunch and at sunset on the beaches. Eight active distilleries offer free visits with tasting.
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- South Martinique: beaches and seaside resort — Les Salines, Le Diamant, Trois-Îlets: the tourist south with emblematic white sand beaches.
- Central Martinique: Fort-de-France and Caravelle — The economic capital, the covered market, and the wild Caravelle peninsula classified as a Nature Reserve.
- North Martinique: Saint-Pierre and Mount Pelée — The former capital destroyed in 1902, the volcano hike and the wild north Caribbean coast.
- Sainte-Anne: Salines and Anse Trabaud — The southernmost tip of the island and its world-famous beaches of Les Salines and Anse Trabaud.
- Saint-Pierre: the former capital — The ruins of 1902, the Frank Perret Museum and the hike to the summit of Mount Pelée.