This week’s total fitness theme has so far considered two important elements to boosting your health on holiday. Dedicated Saint Lucia resort The BodyHoliday LeSPORT champions year-round lifestyle fitness programmes, whilst the naturally rejuvenating properties of geothermally powered spa and wellness centre The Banajaran Hotsprings Retreat, Malaysia, serves to envelop the body and relax the mind.
A total fitness regime relies heavily on working you as much as resting you, but of course there is a third, highly important factor – diet.
Mauritian cuisine has become somewhat de rigueur of late, not least following Mauritian chef Shelina Permaloo’s Masterchef 2012 win. Typically you find vibrant, colourful plates of food that are as healthy as they are insatiably delicious. The food commands its own palate of course, but in simple terms you recognise a fusion of the Far East – the whoosh of spice, the bold flavours and unmistakeable textures – with classic Creole cuisine of the West Indies and US Deep South. This comes as little surprise, given Mauritius’ colonial French history.
Shanti Maurice, however, is a boutique resort in Mauritius that takes exceptionally healthy local cooking to new heights – by going back to its grass roots.
Total Fitness Week: Shanti Maurice
Mauritius isn’t a big island, but there are stark differences between the north and south sides. Shanti Maurice is fittingly perched in a secluded pocket on the naturally beautiful south coast, a world away from the shops, clubs and beach bars of the north. Here, in the south of the island, is where you’ll find the truly great cuisine and where a cacophony of organic ingredients can be sourced.
Shanti Maurice has its own herb and vegetable garden, providing the resort’s executive chef Willibald Reinbacher with limitless fodder. Austrian Chef Reinbacher has created the ultimate wellness cuisine for Shanti Maurice. Mouth-watering, local dishes are prepared using cooking methods that optimise the intake of vitamins, minerals and all the good stuff, and restrict the intake of fat and cholesterol.
In addition, dedicated, trained nutritionalists at Shanti Maurice’s award-winning Nira Spa work in tandem with therapists, personal trainers and fully qualified Ayurvedic doctors to design your personal menu around your total fitness training and mental wellbeing. It is a complete approach to your wellness, accentuated here on Mauritius’ south coast, as you immerse yourself within a volcanic landscape of craters, waterfalls and lush tropical jungle, finding secluded beaches and breathing in the undeniable spiritual influence of the local temples. Indeed, the Sanskrit word ‘Shanti’ means ‘inner peace’.
There is another trick up Shanti Maurice’s sleeves; she’s known to most as ‘Grandma’.
Likening great restaurant cuisine to hearty home-cooking often constitutes its unique selling point. Shanti Maurice goes one better. Guests of the resort can come to ‘Grandma’s Kitchen’, which is exactly what it says on the tin.
Two years ago the grandmother of one of Shanti Maurice’s employees opened the doors to her nearby home to guests seeking a taste of the real Mauritius. On arrival, Grandma explains the intricacies of Mauritian cooking and how to source the freshest ingredients from local markets. Guests have the option of accompanying Grandma to the markets for a taste of real Mauritian life, before returning for the main event. As a sample of the local lifestyle, little can compare to sitting down with a new family and hearing stories of a Mauritius of a bygone era. You leave with your own cookbook, handwritten recipes, and some secret cooking tips.
A balanced diet is an essential accompaniment to total fitness. Shanti Maurice provides food for the soul.
Call one of our experts on 0207 749 9241 for more information or to make a booking.
For one week only, until Wednesday 20 February 2013, Kenwood Travel customers will receive an exclusive discount of 15% off bookings at Shanti Maurice.
True balanced diet is an essential for total fitness.