In Martinique Easter is celebrated on the beach with family. A mostly Catholic country, tradition has it that from sunrise to sunset on Good Friday only lean must be eaten (at least for practicing Christians).
During Easter, crab (Matoutou) is king and makes the centrepiece of Easter Monday meals. They are hunted during the season, which starts a month before Easter, trapped in a zatrap (handcrafted wooden trap), then fed fruit (sugar cane, coconut, melon) and other secret family ingredients to cleanse and to flavour their flesh.
Other dishes enjoyed include accra (made with breadfruit & tuna, papaya, shrimp, codfish, or vegetable), roasted lamb, grillades of pork chops and chicken, and lots of vegetables.
Good Friday Vegetable Fritters
The secret to preparing these fritters is the texture of the vegetables. They must be very finely grated, ideally hand grated or finely minced in a food processor. The goal is to obtain a fine purée of the vegetables so that they can mix well to form a soft dough.
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Martinique Matoutou Crab
‘Matoutou’ also refers to the preparation when the rice is cooked with the crab, like a risotto in a way. I prefer to cook rice and matoutou separately.
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