Family recipes shared over decades leads to 'Seychelles Creole Cuisine' cookbook

The 'Seychelles Creole Cuisine' book has 156 pages and over 60 recipes for its readers. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Over 70 years of family recipes are being shared with the world as Arnold Chetty, a businessman turned writer, published his first book containing an array of Seychellois Creole cuisine.

The 'Seychelles Creole Cuisine' book has 156 pages and over 60 recipes for its readers. The recipes are those cooked at home by Chetty and his family members over the last seven decades.

The book was launched in February to coincide with International Mother Language Day celebrated every year on February 21.

In a short launching ceremony, the Secretary General for the Seychelles Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts (SICHA), David Andre, said he hopes the new Creole cookbook encourages people to create more recipes and Creole dishes.

"Even if Chetty has not lived in Seychelles for a while, this book goes to show that culture is something that belongs to everyone. In everything that we do, we give value to our culture. The Creole gastronomy, well illustrated in this book, gives value to the things that we use and eat each and every day," said Andre.

The book was launched on Monday to coincide with International Mother Language Day celebrated every year on February 21. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Chetty told reporters that the book was written in reverse as it all started with his passion for photography.

"For many years, I have taken a lot of photos of food that was either prepared at home or at a sibling's house, while trying to visually record all the food that we cooked. One day I thought that since I have all these photos, maybe it is time to start writing their recipe and that is when I slowly started putting together the book," said Chetty.

It took about three years for the retired economist to write the book which provided him with ample time to ensure all the recipes were correct, complete, and properly written. With the help of Marie-Reine Hoareau, the book has been translated into French and is expected to arrive in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, in a month.

Commercial arrangements are being finalized to make the books available in local shops at a cost of SCR 550 ($40) a copy. Arrangements are also being made to have it available online.

"This is expected to reach around 38,000 online stores around the world," said Chetty.

Containing five categories - salads and chutneys, soups and sides dishes, main course, condiments ad snacks, and desserts - the book is also available on the Play Store and App Store in the form of an app. 

Before the publication of the book, Chetty had created an app under the same name to share the recipes and explained that some users had asked him for a hard copy and that is when he decided to publish the book.

Chetty said the initial choice for an app is because it is easier to distribute throughout the world. 

"For foreigners coming to Seychelles, it is convenient to have this app on their phone or tablet. When they are preparing their meal, it is easily accessible," said Chetty.

According to data on Google Play Store, to date, the app has been downloaded over 50 times since it was released on October 15, 2021.