A BIT ABOUT JOHN
He won the Great
British Bake Off in
2012 (how can it be
eight years ago?!)
and, since then,
has done a diploma
in patisserie at
London’s Le Cordon
Bleu cookery school
and written five
cookery books.
In 2016, he opened
a cookery school
in Lancashire on
the family farm
where he grew up
(johnwhaiteskitchen.
com). Follow
John on Instagram
@john_whaitemake it special.
FERTILE BEAUTY
The tropical climate
and volcanic soil that
give Mauritius its
stunning landscape
are also optimal for
growing sugar cane
Where does your mind take you when
you think of Mauritius? I’ll bet doe-
eyed honeymooners spring to mind,
dripping in diamonds and designer
clothes. It’s hardly surprising – the
gleaming white beaches and crystal-
clear waters surrounding this pinprick
of an island in the Indian Ocean
beckon to lovers from all over the
globe. There are also, of course, roads
lined with mangroves and mango
trees, as well as palm trees waving to
greet you in the welcome breeze that
baffles the intense burn of the sun.
But just metres away from the
beaches a more common crystal is
cultivated: the island is awash with
sugar. Vast, sweeping fields of cane
dance in the wind, releasing the
haunting scent of sugar in its rawest
form. It’s like the sweet smell of
recently cut grass on a hot summer’s
day, with a hint of tobacco or yeast. It
smells natural- like rainwater
on a cow’s
back or a ripe,
tangy cheese.
By no means
would you
bottle it and
spritz it on
your frock before heading out, but it
awakened my deep-rooted desires.
CENTURIES OF HISTORY
Sugar cane has been grown and turned
into the sweet stuff for almost 400 years- it was introduced to Mauritius by the
Dutch in the 1600s. Importing sugar
cane from Java and a workforce of slaves
from Mozambique and Madagascar, it
was their intention to produce arak –
a potent rum-like spirit popular with
sailors. After the Dutch left in 1710,
pushed out by unbearable heat and
cyclones, the French took over,
continuing to transport and exploit
slaves to produce sugar for their king.
When Britain arrived to occupy the
island in 1810 (after the Slave Trade
Act of 1807 but before the 1833 Slavery
Abolition Act), there was a boom
in the nation’s sugar industry. As
navigation laws were repealed and
abolished, Mauritian sugar was able to
be sold in other countries, competing →
“The smell
was yeasty –
like Marmite
stirred with
molasses”