For the past few weeks Island Friend has been offering local and sustainable guided tours of the streets of Marigot. We explored the culinary heritage of St-Martin with Laurina.
The heat was already there when we met our guide on a Saturday morning at 8 a.m. in front of the Tourist Office kiosk. Founder of Island Friend, Laurina Algain-Gombs is transmitting her passion for cooking through culinary guided tours in the streets of Marigot, while Stéphie Gumbs, passionate about history, is taking visitors to explore the past.
After a few words about Marigot, Laurina invited us to enjoy a genuine St-Martin breakfast. An opportunity to find out about the history of each dish that makes up this traditional meal: cod, Johnny Cakes and the bush tea. After enjoying local flavors and anecdotes, we headed to the market, with a stop in front of the statue of La Marchande and of the lolos, these traditional restaurants whose history Laurina explained to us. It was already time for a second culinary stop to discover the mauby, a fermented drink made from mauby tree bark, orange, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. Then we met with the fishermen, present every Saturday morning on the fish market. We learned more about fishing regulations and the history of the market. The photos of yesteryear that Laurina showed us were ideal to realize the evolution of this symbol of local culture. A little further on, on one of the many stands, we discovered the traditional St-Martin desserts, including the bread pudding that Laurina made us taste.
We followed by heading to the Spicy Millow boutique to dive into the fragrant world of spices, then the Carl & Son’s bakery, to learn more about the salty snacks that St-Martin people love. After tasting the typical pâté, a pastry filled with meat, fish or cheese, our last stop was at Colombier Tradition for a tasting of flavored rums. Passion, tamarind, coconut, but especially the flagship product of the house, the guavaberry rum, produced from the small local bay of the same name. Our tour rich in flavors and discoveries ended and made us want only one thing: to keep on going with the historical visit!
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