Karot Taba is made up of tobacco leaves that are wrapped and bound in ‘banana bark’ and allowed to cure over at least 6 months. Its shape is like an oversized carrot, hence the name.
As a young boy I grew up with an aunty on Praslin Island whom everybody called ‘Madanm Tibonnom’ (Margot Lablache). She had a small property in the village of Grand Anse. She was known for the vegetables that she grew as well as her superior quality tobacco that she prepared. I was consequently exposed to her expertise in preparing the karot taba (Fr. carotte de tabac).
Photo showing how a Karot Taba looked like, although The Seychellois ones were wider and longer
This post reflects my own experience on how we cultivated tobacco, prepared the karot taba and ultimately sold the prepared tobacco. I may have forgotten a few steps and any contribution to make this post more comprehensive will be greatly appreciated.
What is Tobacco?
Tobacco is made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. The ingredient in tobacco that has an effect on the mind is nicotine, which is highly addictive.
Tobacco Plants
Tobacco originated in the Americas and was introduced to Europe in the 15th century. It was first smoked in pipes, snorted as snuff, chewed ( taba sike )and smoked in cigars. By the early 20th century, smoking cigarettes was the most popular way of using tobacco
There were two main types of tobacco grown in Seychelles: Taba Langue de boeuf, which has long pointed leaves, and Taba Gro Kot which has thick mid ribs.
How was tobacco consumed in Seychelles?
Tobacco was introduced in Seychelles in the very early days of settlement. Up until the 1980s it contributed greatly to the economy of the islands. When it was introduced into Seychelles, some people certainly smoked it, used it in pipes, but it was also chewed or sike (Fr. chiquer), and above all, it was snuffed, meaning inhaled through the nose. In Creole this habit is called pris taba (Fr. on le prise = aspirer par le nez). This was then, undoubtedly, the most elegant way to take it, especially for ladies, by drawing from a snuff box, or tabatyer (Fr. tabatière).
The snuff Box or Tabatyer
There was a variety of small containers that were used as tabatyer. Sometime in the absence of a box, the tobacco was even wrapped in dried banana leaf. The tabatyer in the photo below was made from koko rezen which has been emptied and polished. Koko rezen is a very small coconut, the bunch of which resembles enlarged grapes, hence the name. It was used in making small crafts, one popular one was a small mouse!
Tabatyer Koko Resin
A few of our ancestors believed that the Tabatyer has magical powers and when the phrase : ‘par laverti mon tabatyer mon oule’ ( add your wish)…, was uttered, whatever you wish will come true!
Origin of the word Karot
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries chewing tobacco was sold in rolls of compressed leaves in a shape similar to that of a carrot. The tobacco leaves were rolled into a strand resembling a rope about the thickness of a human thumb, which were then allowed to dry. These ‘ropes’ were dubbed carottes by the French due to the shape being similar to that of the orange vegetable. Once purchased by the snuff-taker, he or she would rub the end of the carottes against a snuff rasp/grater to turn it into a powder. That process was rather labor-intensive and time-consuming
Photo of the original ‘carotte de Tabac’
As we will discuss in this post, the ‘karot taba’ of Seychelles, although derives from the French, is very different in shape and method of preparation to the original French carottes described above. The Seychellois karot taba was approximately 35 cm long and about 8cm to 10cm thick in the middle and tapering at both ends.
Carotte Rouge
Incidentally, the symbol for a ‘Bureau de Tabac’ in France is called a ‘carotte rouge’ (red carrot) and has been the obligatory sign for these specialist shops selling cigarettes and tobacco since 1906.
Our introduction to tobacco!
When at school, we had to learn many children’s songs and one of them was ‘ J’ai du bon Tabac’. « J’ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatière (…) J’en ai du fin et du bien râpé… » Râpé comme la carotte’. What we never realised is that this song, attributed to the Abbot de l’Attaignant (18th century), had to do with smoking and snuffing tobacco and we were required to sing it as kids!
Part of the song ‘J’ai de Bon Tabac’
Steps in preparing the Karot Taba
The preparation of the tobacco was quite simple but a lengthy process:
Harvesting the leaves
Tobacco is ready for harvest when the leaves are mature but not overripe. Mature leaves will be thick with somewhat of an oily texture. They may show faint yellowing or “ripe” spots, and will crack readily when folded during the hot part of the day.
Leaves harvested immature or “green” will be thin and more difficult to cure and will have reduced yield and quality compared to mature ones. On the other hand, leaves that are overripe will be brittle and difficult to handle. This means that the yield and quality can be reduced due to leaf breakage if the tobacco is not handled carefully.
We used to harvest the tobacco in two ways:
Hand picking the lowest leaves.
Before cutting the plant, we would first break off individual leaves from the bottom of the stalk. These leaves were often against the ground and were coated with dirt splashed up when it rained. They were cured for use in taba sike. They were sun cured on racks, locally known as kad (Fr. cadre) and were turned daily, early morning, to stop humidity from gathering on or under them. Once dried, they were removed from the racks and stored in a shed away from the sun.
Cutting the Stalks
The most common method to cut the tobacco plant was grasping the stalks of the plants, which could be up to two metres tall, and cutting them at ground level, using a machete, or gran kouto. This was a backbreaking activity for us young kids.
Gathering the cut stems
The cut stems were not bundled together straight after cutting. They were left on the ground for about an hour to obtain a slight wilting and then carried to the drying area. The wilting makes the leaves flexible, resulting in minimal leaf breakage when handled. Furthermore, tobacco that is wilted will be less likely to sweat and go mouldy. It also allows the leaves to hang straight down the stalk when drying.
Transporting the cut tobacco Plant
The plants were tied in bundles, and I had to carry them on my head down the hill to our house for drying. This was a task that I always dreaded because I would always feel dizzy and nauseous from carrying the plants. I did not know why I felt dizzy then, but now I know!!
Why did I get dizzy when I carried freshly cut tobacco plant?
I was in fact suffering from nicotine poisoning or green tobacco sickness (GTS) , locally known as soulezon taba ver. It is caused by the transdermal absorption of nicotine from the surface of tobacco plants.
GTS occurs when one absorbs nicotine through the skin as one comes into contact with leaves of the mature tobacco plant. Since children are less likely to have an established smoking habit than adults, they are less likely to have developed tolerance to nicotine and are at especially high risk for developing this illness. Perspiration on our clothing amplified the sickness, hence the reason for my dizziness!
Curing tobacco leaves
Curing involves drying the leaves gradually under conditions which permit certain changes in chemical compositions essential for the development of the desired quality. Curing tobacco has always been a process necessary to prepare the leaf for consumption because, in its raw, freshly picked state, the green tobacco leaf is too wet to ignite to be smoked.
Curing and subsequent aging allow for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids in the tobacco leaf. This produces various compounds in the tobacco leaves that give cured tobacco its sweet hay, tea, rose oil, or fruity aromatic flavor that contributes to the “smoothness” of the consumed product.
There are different ways to cure tobacco: Sun curing, flue curing, aircuring and fire curing.
Air curing
In Seychelles, we practiced sun curing for individual leaves, as discussed above, and air curing for complete stalk.
We transported the tobacco plants into the attic, or grennyen (Fr. Grenier), of our house to be dried. Each cut plant was inserted into the spaces between the trusses and in the corrugation of the asbestos roofing sheets. (Yes asbestos! and we were scrapping the asbestos when the plants were pushed into the corrugation!)
The attic floor was made of wooden planks that had small open spaces between them, done purposely for ventilation. Our bedrooms were located under the attic! The plants were closely spaced, but there was enough room between them so that air circulated freely.
The tobacco plants were allowed to air-dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, sweet flavor, and a high nicotine content. During that time we had to constantly check on the leaves that were drying to ensure that they did not go mouldy or become too dry .
During the drying process the leaves would gradually lose their deep green and become pale. This is because the chlorophyll in the leaves is slowly being eliminated and the natural starches turning to sugars.The cured leaves, when dry, should still have some moisture, allowing them to bend rather than crumble when rubbed between thumb and forefinger.
Removing the leaves for the plant
When it was felt that the leaves had dried adequately, we were given the task of detaching them one by one from the stem and piling them up neatly in a corner of the attic ready, without delay, for the next step. This was the removal of the mid rib (Fr. côte) of all the leaves.
Dried Tobacco Leaves
Sometimes, the dried leaves would become brittle and required a spray of water to soften them. This would make them pliable and easier to handle.
Zanbe
The process of removing the mid rib of the leaves is known in France as ‘écôtage’ (or éjamber). It is called ‘jambage’ in Réunion Island. And this is where in Seychelles we inherited the creole word zanbe.
For this process, the leaves were gathered in bundles of 50 to 60 and soaked entirely in water, then removed, shaken and piled up. They were then picked up one at a time and spread flat on a table. With a sharp knife we would cut off the mid rib up to about two thirds up the leaf. The mid ribs were not thrown away, they were kept and further processed to produce taba sike.
There was no classification of the leaves. All were used irrespective of whether they were picked from the top of the stem or at the bottom.
Before starting the final preparation of the karot, we had to prepare the ropes to tighten the karot as well as collecting and cleaning the wrapping in which to put the tobacco leaves.
How was the rope prepared?
The rope to be used for the karot was not purchased. We made our own from the leaves of koko maron (curculigo seychellensis) or the leaves of the pandanus trees or vakwa. The leaves were dried, cleaned, softened with water and braided. Most of the time we used the three-strand braiding process.
What wrapping was used?
We made the wrapping from ‘banana tree bark’. This is the dried out long flat stalks of the banana plant that wrap each other at the base to form what appears to be a trunk or pseudostem. It is locally known as zanponn bannann. The wrapping must be dry, very clean, without any sign of mould. They were then cut at lengths of about 40 cm long, softened by wiping with a damp cloth and then wiped dry and layed out flat on a clean surface ready to be used.
Packing the tobacco leaves in banana leaf wrapping
We would pack the tobacco leaves on the banana wrapping on a mat on the ground. We would sit on a small low bench, like a coconut grater, or larap koko, and lay about five vacoa ropes or ties, of about 75cm long, perpendicular to the bench spaced about 10 cm apart. The banana wrappings were then laid flat on top of these ropes ensuring that they overlapped each other. The prepared tobacco leaves were then laid on the wrappings, one imbricated on the other, so that the center was always thicker than the ends. When we believed we had enough to form the ‘karot’, we would raise the two side edges of the wrappings, and roll the mass, so as to give it the shape of a large spindle-shaped cigar weighing around 5kg. The karot had to have a specific weight. Unfortunately, I can’t recall what it was.
The wrapping was then tied in the middle and at both ends, to prevent it from unwrapping ready for the binding.
As the leaves were laid out, we would sprinkle them with a little bit of water. At times, in order to get an aromatic tobacco, we would sprinkle them with a mixture of water and rum sweetened with raw sugar.
Binding the ‘Karot’ Taba- Garot karot Taba
The binding process is known as garote in Creole. This word derives from the French word ‘garrotter’ meaning to tie or bind very tightly.
Before starting, a heavy wooden peg, made of hard wood, was partially embedded deeply in the ground close the bench, where the rope was neatly rolled. To start the process we would take one end of the rope and loosely wind it around the peg and then carry it across to the bench where we will be seated. With the end of the rope, we would tie the first knot very tightly in the middle of the ‘karot’. We would then turn the ‘karot’, and at the same time wind the rope tightly around it, progressing from the middle to one end. In order to create the necessary tension on the rope, we would press one foot hard on the part of the rope that is wound around the peg to prevent it from slipping. We would release the tension whenever we required more rope.
Once one section was bound, a knot was tied at the very end. The remaining length of rope was not cut off but was taken over back to the middle of the karot and the rope was wound around the other section. Once the end was reached, a knot was tied and again the rope was not cut but tied to the other piece in the middle of the karot forming a handle. All excess wrapping and rope were now trimmed off. The binding process was complete.
During the binding process, some excess moisture would ooze out from the ends as a thick syrup.
Second curing
Once all the karot were bound, one tip of the karot was usually painted. This was done to facilitate the curing process. The karot were store upright, and intially all the painted ends were placed at the bottom, and after about two weeks the karot were turned so the the painted end faced up. This is to ensure that the moisture in the karot, required for curing, is evenly spread in the karot. The karot were turned every three weeks. The curing allows the harsh chemicals to break down giving the tobacco a smooth flavour.
Second binding
After about four weeks, the curing process would make the tobacco shrink a bit resulting in the rope around the karot to loosen. The next step was to unwind the rope as well as the wrapping. The bare karot was then inspected for any mould or any other problems and if everything was fine, it was re-wrapped and tightly re-bound and stored upright to mature for another 6 months in a spot where the fluctuation in temperature was minimal.
Selling of the tobacco
After about 6 months, the tobacco was compact, quite hard and fully cured. It was then ready to be sold. The only way we sold it was to gradually unwrap the karot and shave one end very finely using a small spokeshave, locally know as foksev. The spokeshave is a tool which historically has been used for shaping and fine-tuning pieces of wood such as chair legs and wheel spokes, hence the name. The shaved tobacco came out in thin slices which were then rubbed in the palms of the hand to fluff it up.
Photo of a Tobacco Seller -courtesy Bernard Perroud Year 1981
We sold the tobacco from our house and it was sold in grams. We had a small scale on which the weighing was done. Accuracy in shaving the tobacco was critical. We would be punished if we shaved more that was requested by the buyer. The whole karot were also sold to tobacco sellers as well a village merchants.
Once the tobacco was fluffed up, we would put it in a small pre-made paper cone, or kornen. The kornen (Fr. cornet) is a paper cone made from newspaper and glued together with rice conjee or kanz.
Publisher’s Note
As mentioned earlier, this post reflects my own experience on how we cultivated tobacco, prepared the karot taba, and ultimately sold the prepared tobacco. I may have forgotten a few steps and any contribution to make this post more comprehensive will be greatly appreciated.
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