Fruits confits

Ingredients

Fruit

• 3green mangoes, firm
• 1small pineapple, firm
• 300 ggreen tamarind
• or 4 ambarella, June plum
• 2star fruit, firm
• 1green papaya, optional

The brine

• 1 litrewater
• 150 gsalt
• 150 gsugar
• 200 mlwhite vinegar
• 2chillies, split
• a few coriander seeds

Chilli salt

• 3 tablespoonscoarse salt
• 2 tablespoonschilli powder
• 1 teaspoonground cumin, optional

To serve

• wooden picks
• a small dish of chilli salt

Directions

1. Wash everything thoroughly in cold water. Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh off the stone. Cut it into thick strips or wedges. Peel the pineapple and cut out the eyes. Cut it into thick even spears.
2. Peel the ambarella and cut around the spiky stone. Slice the star fruit into thick stars. Warm the water gently in a pan. Add the salt and the sugar to it. Stir until both dissolve completely. Take it off the heat entirely. Add the vinegar, chillies and coriander seeds.
3. Let it cool completely before use. The brine must be strong to work. Warm brine cooks the fruit soft. Packing the jar takes some care. Use a large clean glass jar for it.
4. Let it dry completely before packing. Pack the fruit in fairly tightly. Keep the different fruits in layers if you like. Pour the cold brine over to cover. Everything must be fully submerged.
5. Check it every day for the first few days. Curing it takes a few days at least. Seal the jar and keep it cool. It firms up and takes on the brine. Taste a piece of it to judge it. Judging when it is ready is straightforward.
6. Mix the coarse salt with the chilli powder. Add the ground cumin if you want it. Keep it in a small dry dish nearby. Serving them is done cold from the jar.
7. Lift pieces out with a wooden pick. Let all the brine drip off first. Dip each piece in the chilli salt. They keep two weeks refrigerated. Keep them submerged in the brine throughout. Use a clean fork each time you take some.

Technique

• Fruits confits in France means candied fruit in heavy sugar syrup, while the Mauritian dish is green fruit cured in salt and vinegar, sour rather than sweet; the shared name causes real confusion and the Mauritian ones are sometimes called confits salés.
• The fruit is deliberately underripe, since underripe fruit is firm and sour and holds its shape while ripe fruit collapses into mush in brine.
• Everything must stay fully submerged in the brine, since fruit above the surface goes mouldy, and a jar that turns slimy or smells wrong should be thrown out entirely.

Substitutions

• Any firm underripe tropical fruit works, and green papaya and star fruit are both used.
• Green mango alone makes a perfectly good jar if the other fruit is hard to find.

Variations

• Some vendors add a pinch of sugar to the chilli salt.
• The chilli salt is sometimes served as a dip and sometimes dusted over.
• Sour fruit with salt and chilli is eaten the same way across Latin America and Southeast Asia.

History

Sold from glass jars at Port Louis market stalls and outside schools, eaten with a wooden pick and a dip of chili salt.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fruits confits?

Fruits confits is a snack from Mauritius: green mango, pineapple and tamarind steeped in brine, dusted with chili salt. Sold from glass jars at Port Louis market stalls and outside schools, eaten with a wooden pick and a dip of chili salt.

How long does Fruits confits take to make?

Fruits confits takes 30 minutes plus curing of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes one large jar. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Fruits confits?

Yes, within limits. Any firm underripe tropical fruit works, and green papaya and star fruit are both used. Green mango alone makes a perfectly good jar if the other fruit is hard to find.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fruits confits?

Let it cool completely before use. The brine must be strong to work. Warm brine cooks the fruit soft. Packing the jar takes some care. Use a large clean glass jar for it.