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Bonjour, Martinique! From
Josephine's Bathtub to Great Rum, By George Medovoy, Editor Posted
June 2008 The wine cellar at Cap-est Lagoon Resort & Spa, a 4-star Relais & Chateau above the crystal-clear waters of Le Francois, is something to behold. The vertical, circular affair reaching to the ceiling contains 1,500 bottles from France, Chile, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.
(There are plenty of wonderful wines to accompany your meal at Cap-est) The main champagnes, like most of the wines, are French, reflecting the fact that when you're in Martinique, in a real sense you're also in France, of which the island is an official "department." But
side by side with the wine was some really very good rum, reflecting Martinique's
status as a world-class producer of this drink.
(And when you're not thinking about food and wine, why not head for the lovely pool while at Cap-est?)
So how French is Martinique? We can think of two very distinct examples in the city of Le Lamentin, near Aime Cesaire International Airport. On a crowded little street barely navigable by cars, we stepped into Freres Lauzea, a delightful boutique chocolate shop that felt a lot like Paris, and met one of the young owners, who had studied chocolate-making in France. Eager to have us sample his sweets, he brought out some chocolates on a small tray after the friendly ladies behind the counter greeted us with "Bonjour, monsieur" and filled our order with dainty royal pralines and tropical mints.
(At Le Chateau, you can purchase fine wines and cigars) Near the chocolate shop we also found Le Chateau, where we found French wines for sale, along with cigars and groceries, and a little restaurant upstairs. Martinique, a far-flung French outpost in the Caribbean archipelago with an eternal summer and an infectious Creole-African rhythm, was discovered in 1502 by Columbus, who called it "the island of flowers." Its ties with France go back to1635, and like the wine and rum resting side by side at Cap-est, the island is a fascinating blend of island and continental cultures, including French and Creole languages. Since 1982, Martinique has been an official region of France, so when you step off your plane at the airport, you see the French tricolor and the first signs of a modern European infrastructure, including the euro.
(A friendly merchant -- one of many -- at the public market in Fort-de-France) The mix of French and island traditions comes into distinct focus in the busy capital of Fort-de-France, where you can buy the latest French fashions and perfumes, while hawkers in native costumes sell fresh produce and spices at Le Grand Marche Couvert, a covered market on rue Antoine-Siger. The island flies the French tricolor and benefits from a modern European infrastructure, including the euro. We got our first glimpse of the 425-square-mile island as our flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico approached the airport. The shoreline was dotted with dozens of sailboats, now mere white specs in the water. But Martinique's geographical diversity was very obvious: white sand beaches in the south and mountains with dense rainforests in the north, especially Mt. Pelee, the volcano whose eruption in 1902 destroyed the former capital of Saint Pierre and its 30,000 inhabitants - all except for one lone survivor, a prisoner safe in jail! Touched in the west by the Caribbean Sea and in the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the island enjoys a relatively mild tropical climate, where the average temperature of 79 degrees is very pleasant, with breezes from the east and northeast, called "Alizes," cooling everything. Fun in Josephine's Bathtub When it comes to the "French Connection," there's one filled with fun "Martinique-style" that you must experience on the island's Atlantic coast. It's "Josephine's Bathtub," the sandbar where, legend has it, Napoleon's Creole wife, Josephine, came to bathe. The bathing story is all myth, of course, but the setting is perfect for a party, so we all climbed aboard Captain Jean-Marc's small boat, appropriately named "Evasion," and sailed to where the warm water was shallow enough to walk on the soft sand. We were in it up to our chests, laughing and shouting to our hearts' delight, as a deckhand got into the water with a boat-shaped tray of Buccaneer Chicken, typically sold at simple roadside barbecues, and a reservoir of "Planteur," which is made with rum -- the national drink - and guava juice and vanilla.
(What fun in Josephine's Bathtub! The water's warm, the Buccaneer Chicken is ready to sample, and there's plenty of chilled "Planteur") The tasty chicken is typically marinated for several hours in salt, onions, and garlic and then cooked in a closed oven over smoking wood, with sugar cane added for sweetness. Rhum Agricole Bears Top Standard Most
meals here come with rum - spelled "rhum" in French -- either as an
appetizer or an aperitif. Martinique has 10 rum distilleries, and as our guide
Andre joked: "Don't drink a lot, but drink often."
(A rum barrel from Martinique's historic Clement Distillery) They also bear an official French classification -- like the classification given to French wines -- known as Appellation d'Origine Controlee. No other rum in the world carries this government standard, which ensures Martinique's product a greater assurance of quality. White rum is the youngest, aged for as little as three months in wooden casks. The longer the rum is aged in oak barrels, the darker its color - from amber to dark -- and the more complex its taste. Old rum, sometimes aged for more than six years, can be as wonderful as an excellent cognac. Rum is so tied to Martinique's history that it has even been used to win military battles. In 1804, the British captured a landmark rock off Martinique's southern coast and named it as a ship, HMS Diamond Rock. After many unsuccessful attempts to re-take the rock, the French dropped barrels of rum in the water and finally took it back…from drunken British soldiers! Today, things are more peaceful, with sailboats in the waters off Diamond Rock. Visiting Martinique Rum Distilleries for History & Tasting
(The historic manor house at St. James Distillery is partially hidden by lovely island flowers) Visits to Martinique distilleries, like the Saint James Distillery and its rum museum or Clement Distillery's lovely Domaine Acajou provide not only tasting, but a sense of 18th-century plantation homes on sprawling, palm-lined estates, a reminder of rum's ties to the slave trade, introduced by the Dutch in the 17th century and officially abolished in 1848 by the French.
(An old piece of rum-making equipment with an historic rum poster at Clement Distillery) But family-owned Neisson Distillery in Le Carbet, a little town on the northwest coast near Columbus' landing, was started well after slavery -- in 1931 -- and is run by physician Claudine Neisson-Vernant and her son, Gregory.
(Dr. Claudine Neisson-Vernant, right, and her son, Gregory, operate the Neisson Distillery) On a fascinating tour, we watched workers dump freshly-picked sugar cane into a crushing machine to extract the magical juice for transformation into rum.
(Sugar cane begins its journey from raw material to liquid gold)
Afterward, Neisson-Vernant served samples of "Ti Punch," 'Ti' being Creole for the French word, 'Petit,' or little.
(Neisson rhum agricole can be used to prepare Ti Punch, a favorite island drink) Made with white rum, sugar cane syrup, and a piece of lime, the white rum's power can send shock waves through your sinuses. No wonder the English called rum Kill-Devil! As you travel the island, you realize that good rum goes hand in hand with outstanding cuisine. Some
examples:
(Lunch at "Restaurant 1643" under a delightful patio setting. And, oh, the lovely sounds of "Besame Mucho" in the background) On another day, lunch was at Le Creux des Vagues, a seaside restaurant on the northeastern Atlantic Coast, where waves lapping up against the rocks added a pleasant ambiance to the fresh lobster.
(Fresh lobster at Le Vreux des Vagues seaside restaurant) This was followed by a Blanc Manger dessert -- white pudding made with guava, gelatin, cocoanut milk and cinnamon. This pudding is also commonly eaten at Christmas.
(Fruit scultpures like this duck are the creative work of chefs like Jean-Phillip Crampont)
With cuisine so important, the seaside town of Sainte Marie held its annual Gastronomic Week, with food booths and cooking demonstrations by visiting French chefs along the town's ocean-front main street -- plus a fellow selling ice cream to chase away the heavy afternoon heat.
(Chef Jean-Phillip Crampont, left, at work at the Gastronomic Week) Best of all was watching Chef Jean-Phillip Crampont - an amazing food artist -- craft realistic animals and flowers from fruit. For a really "off-the-beaten-track" lunch, we visited Madame Andre's flower farm near a rain forest in the northeastern highlands.
(Madame Andre and her daughter served a delicious lunch with wine) Protected from a sudden rainstorm by a patio overhang, we feasted on yam bread, thick pumpkin-and-breadfruit soup, and roasted fish au gratin, along with French wine poured by our hosts. It took skill for our driver to navigate the hilly roads up here, but it was well worth it - not only for the home cooking, but for a chance to learn the bele dance, a dance said to be West African in origin, with a regional troupe. Martinique slaves who escaped to the hills in this northern region of the island helped preserve these African musical and dance styles.
(The simple lodging at Les Zamandines in the remote hills of Morne des Esses) The afternoon was arranged by Patrick Duchel, who rents eight simple cottages at Les Zamandines in the remote hills of Morne des Esses, where you can hike and commune with nature -- or, as Duchel says, "find yourself."
(The Duchel's, the friendly owners of Les Zamandines) At the other end of the spectrum, of course, Martinique has lodging of the luxurious sort. For example, Club Med Buccaneer's Creek at Pointe Marin provides an all-inclusive plan on a sandy-white southern beach dotted with coconut trees.
(The resort of Club Med Buccaneer's Creek is situated right on the water) Here we could swim under the stars in a 5,000-square-foot infinity-edge pool next to the sea, enjoy wide-ranging buffet meals, and listen to a French entertainer do his rendition of Ray Charles!
(Let's go sailing in the waters off the beach at Club Med!) Martinique's Atlantic Coast is the setting for some lovely resorts, too, like Cap-est, which mixes luxurious suites and villas in a landscape of sugar cane, bougainvillea and palm groves.
(The lovely canopied bed of a suite at Cap-est...perfect for a restful night's sleep) For our lunch stop, French chef Herve Rameau prepared lobster gazpacho with zucchini, ravioli of foie gras with a mushroom fricassee, fillet of guinea fowl stuffed with lobster, mashed sweet potatoes with crispy bacon, and a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream. With its impressive wine cellar, there was no shortage of wine to accompany our meal. We were served a 2006 Bourgogne Aligote Louis TETE as well as a 2006 Pinot Noir d'Alsace AUSSAY. Further up the coast late one afternoon we stopped at Hotel Plein Soleil above Baie du Robert, the perfect setting for a romantic dinner.
(How lucky to have a suite, at the Hotel Plein Soleil, overlooking the peaceful Baie du Robert) The 16-room country inn is the creation of Jean-Christophe Yoyo, whose imprint is everywhere -- French tapestries, objects d'art from Thailand, and original Martinique bamboo brooms, all in a stylish living room with a tile floor and low couches. "I decided to give it all the feel of a home more than a hotel," Yoyo said.
(The perfect setting for a romantic dinner at Hotel Plein Soleil) Young Chef Nathaniel Ducteil, who trained with legendary Alain Ducasse of France, prepared tasty sea bream with vegetable "chips," and a luscious chocolate trilogy for dessert. Still further up the Atlantic coast in La Trinite, we found Le Domaine Saint Aubin, a magnificent Creole plantation house converted into a stunning boutique hotel…and fell in love with it. Constructed in 1919, the house is ringed by a wide veranda of Italianate tiles, where drinks are served before dinner, unless, of course, you prefer a dip in the pool beforehand. New lodges have also been added with terraces facing the ocean or within gardens. The study, sitting room-library, and elegant dining room all have Napoleon 3rd mahogany furnishings, but views of the bay are never far from the big open doors and windows. A large measure of the hotel's charm is due, we believe, to its hosts, Laurent and Joelle Rosemain, a Parisian couple. Laurent, a former jazz drummer, ran one of the largest drum and percussion schools in France and played in jazz trios and quartets there for 20 years.
(The owners-hosts of Le Domaine Saint Aubin, from left, Joelle and Laurent Rosemain) His wife was a miliner and costume designer for La Comedie Francaise, the prestigious French national theatre company. But, said Laurent, they "planned for some years to leave Paris to find something we could do together." So now the couple is living their dream through the plantation, adding their personal touch to everything, like Joelle's own crafted designs for the inn's drapes and chair coverings, and the opera names she has given to each of the 11 rooms of the plantation house -- with colors taken from opera posters. Joelle also does double duty as chef, and though not formally trained, her kitchen skills have earned the inn's restaurant praise as one of Martinique's top five. Her dishes are simple yet elegant, with a nod to fresh ingredients, like the superb sea bass with lettuce salad a la roasted pepper mousse. The lettuce in the salad tasted like it had just been picked from the garden, and the chocolate soufflé with sorbet for dessert was heavenly, especially the syrupy chocolate! The
meal came with a Bordeaux and a Pinot Gris from Alsace. In the mornings, Laurent sets out breakfast on the veranda: freshly-baked croissants with jellies, butter, coffee and juices -- plus his own musical touch, CD's of his favorite jazz artists like Paul Desmond and Chet Baker.
(Breakfast is served out on the veranda, where you can also lounge on comfortable sofas and take in the sea breezes) "It was very sophisticated and still very acoustical, soft and harmonically rich," he said of the music. We loved sitting on the large, open veranda, taking in the pleasant views of the gardens and the bay and filling our mornings with Laurent's dreamy jazz. One morning, we struck up a conversation with a visiting couple from Paris. We spoke French, but as soon as they knew we were Americans, they switched to English and told us how much they enjoy visiting the United States. What a lovely way to while away the morning!
(Take your pick of jams to go with your warm croissants in the morning)
And what of Laurent's own jazz -- does he miss playing? "Of course," he said, "I miss playing a lot, but I have good hopes, when less busy, to play again some type of Caribbean jazz in a small combo format." For now, though, he and his wife are busy introducing guests to "their" Martinique. "Our guests are like us," he said. "They're interested in old books, jazz, in old rum, in authenticity. "From this part of the island, you may discover the green part, rainforests and the old distilleries…I think it's a good opportunity for people to find rest and peace and discover real life." WHEN YOU GO... For
more information about Martinique, visit www.martinique.org
or call (212) 838-7800.
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