Tasting Mauritius: An invitation to discover new flavours

Mouth watering recipes and new flavours! Tasting Mauritius has seduced food lovers with its online cooking videos on the Facebook social network. The initiator, Rova Huet, shares the secret recipe to her success. 

You must have surely come across one of its recipe videos while surfing on the social network Facebook. Dedicated to Mauritian cuisine, Tasting Mauritius has been launched only nine months ago and has already reached over thirty thousand fans. Passionate about food, its initiator, Rova Huet, 34, does not hide that she is pleased and proud that her work has known so much success.

Inspired by the famous international online recipe pages ‘Tasty’, the busy mother of two aims at taking Mauritius on a culinary journey through her page. But when did this adventure start? “My husband and I left France for new professional adventures seven years ago. We spent three years in Madagascar and have now been living in Mauritius for the past four years. It’s a place we love,” she shares.

How did the idea of creating the page germinate? “I launched the Tasting Mauritius page nine months ago. I love discovering new flavours, new products and new places. Of a creative nature, I also like to revisit or bring interesting and new twists to recipes. As I come from Paris and have been living in Madagascar, I have family and friends all over the world. My initial aim through the page was to surprise my friends and Facebook indeed allowed me to share my recipes with them,” explains Rova.

The foodie did not expect her page to have a local success and attract so many people in so little time. “The page received so many views and likes in the very first two months following the launch. I definitely was not expecting this to happen so quickly.” It is when seeing the interest of people and the number of likes for the page on-going that Rova decided to invest herself more. 

“It motivated me to work more on the content of my page and improve on the videos and pictures. It also pushed me forward to explore different types of cuisine in order to offer a variety of recipes to my fans, bearing in mind that the Mauritian cuisine is a blend of many flavours and cultures. I wanted this multicultural aspect to reflect in my page and recipes,” she utters. Ruva happily shares that the page has also conquered fans in Madagascar and La Reunion. 

Rova always comes up with original or revisited classic recipes. She also prepares theme-based recipes. “I prepare recipes based on cultural, local or international festivals and events. But mostly, I share recipes that are most appealing to Mauritians and they are the most famous ones on the page. Recipes can also be based on a famous local recipe or local product and brand. The recipes I come up with are easy to make at home and accessible to all,” she explains.

Talking about her journey, Ruva confides that she had to dedicate much of her time, energy and imagination to get the targeted end result. “Nine months ago, I did not know anything about this field. I had to learn it all, how to film, how to edit and create a video, among others. I just had that passion for culinary cultures in me and I was dedicated.”

Tasting Mauritius has attained total ‘Reach’ of about 10 million. “95% of the comments and messages I receive are very constructive and encouraging. I deduce that the Mauritians react rather well to the page. In addition, I take into account all their criticisms, advice and suggestions,” reveals the foodie.

For Rova, the most important aspect is the pleasure of cooking and sharing it with her fans. “Cooking is first and foremost a moment of pure pleasure and the icing is being able to share it with my friends. I to keep in mind that eating should also go along with healthy and well balanced recipes. This is why I also share as often as possible healthy recipes.” 

What are her future plans for ‘Tasting Mauritius’? “If I had to set a future goal, it would be to restructure the page in order to make it more professional, to become a reference and a recognised media in the region.”