Tourments d'amour, a culinary speciality of Les Saintes

Guadeloupean cuisine includes many traditional dishes with fine Creole flavours that make your mouth water. Among them, Tourments d'amour rank in the Top 5 treats of the archipelago, to be tasted without hesitation.

A speciality of the West Indies and mainly of Les Saintes, you will fall under the spell of this essential dessert. All the more so as its recipe has been protected since 2013 by the commune of Terre-de-Haut.

The cake is made up as follows:

• A base of sweet, shortcrust or puff pastry
• A jam (traditionally coconut jam)
• A sponge cake flavoured with cinnamon.

You have to go back to the 1920s to find the origin of this dessert. It was created by Mme Thomas, a young pastry cook who delighted many guests at banquets.

Why “Tourment d'Amour”? The first legend says the name was found by a woman tormented by her husband's absence, as he regularly went out fishing at sea. The other story explains that the woman who invented the cake did so to please her husband returning from fishing, who would have endured torments far from her. The sweet jam and the creaminess of the cake would thus reward his tiredness and his emotions.

So if you plan an excursion to Les Saintes, it is impossible to leave the archipelago without having tasted a Tourment d'Amour, and there is something for every taste! They are sold directly in the street by the Saintes cuisinières, near the port, from large wicker baskets.