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Many
people are pleasantly surprised when they have their first Caribbean
Dish. The tastes are brilliant. Favourite meals such as Curry Goat,
Rice & Peas, Plantain, Fried Chicken, Jerk Chicken, Oxtail Stew,
Dumplings, Roti and Patties are welcome varieties to any dining
table. Caribbean cooks add special touches to accompaniments such as
Coleslaw, Potato Salad, or Green Salad. You'll be dreaming about the
meal for a long time to come.
Caribbean
Foods which are widely available in supermarkets tend to be a few
fruit and vegetables, such as mangoes, coconut, melons, pinapples,
papaya, bananas, oranges, ginger and sweet potatoes. Various
condiments such as hot pepper sauces and seasonings are also
frequently seen on the supermarket shelves. There are manufacturers
producing ready prepared meals, but retailers have been slow to make
these available to consumers.
The variety
of Drinks available is well worth an afternoon tasting session. Both
the soft drinks and the alcoholic offerings are delightful. Soursop
punch - oh please, pineapple punch, peanut punch, tropical fruit
punch - oh pl-eeze. The dazzling array of beautiful juices is
something to write home about. The variety of alcoholic drinks, will
have many dancing for joy. Some specialities are still only available
in the Caribbean, but we are working on that.
The health
benefit of Caribbean herbs is well documented. Islanders had cures
for everthing growing on their land. Non-processed organic foods
enabled older generations to live strong into old age. The vitality
offered by fresh fruit and vegetables, and herbal (bush) teas cannot
be underestimated.
Talk about
extra with the seasonings - that's Caribbean Cuisine. The thought of
just putting chicken to cook without any seasoning, or just using
salt and pepper would send us stir crazy. After washing the meat many
times over, and using vinegar or lemon to wash further, then a long
list of seasonings is added. After allowing time to marinate,
preferably overnight, the meat is cooked to perfection. Don't make
the mistake of thinking rice and peas, is just rice and peas. It's
the additional spices and seasonings which take you out of this
world. (and its not green peas either)
The long list
of seasonings used in Caribbean Cuisine can include any of the
following (and more). Allspice (pimento), annatto seeds, bay leaves,
black pepper, chives, chilies, cilantro, cinnamon bark, coconut,
cooking butter, curry powder, garlic, ginger, lemon, mace, nutmeg,
onion, oregano, scotch bonnet peppers, sugar, thyme, coconut, lime,
orange, skellion, tamarind, tomato paste, vanilla, white pepper.
Caribbean
Cuisine has a wide range of flavours and tastes. Each island in the
West Indies has its own national dishes, and methods for cooking.
Some dishes are hot, others not. Jerk seasoning is hot, but if used
sparingly, you can give the spicy flavour without the dish being too
pepper. Most Caribbeans do cook moderately, then add hot pepper sauce
to the table, so that adults can spice up the food even more.
Some have
been known to take a bottle of hot pepper sauce with them when they
are going out to eat. Some even use it like children use tomato ketchup.
A few dishes
are designed to be eaten as accompaniments for they would be quite
bland on their own. Just as eating a plate of white rice on its own,
give someone a plate of sliced boiled yam, and they will wonder what
the fuss is about. Serve it with a well-seasoned fish or meat dish,
then you have a meal.
It can be
safely assumed that you will like many Caribbean dishes but a few
dishes will not tickle your fancy. There is something for everybody.
Who does not like fried plantains, or a pattie, a crab salad, or
Guinness punch? Why not taste and see?
HISTORY
The first
Caribbean civilizations were established by Amer-Indians from what
are present-day Venezuela and the Guianas. These were the Carib and
Arawak Indians. The Arawaks, a gentle and placid people, were cruelly
exploited by the European newcomers and nearly exterminated within a
few generations. The Caribs, on the other hand, were more belligerent
and seasoned warriors. They took on the Spanish, French, and English
and fought longer than any other Indian tribe including the Apaches
of the American Southwest, before eventually being reduced to a small
number of scattered groups. Unfortunately, much of the original
Amer-Indian cuisine these people ate, with the exception of a few
dishes prepared with indigenous fruits and vegetables, has not
survived to modern times.
Ironically,
it was knowledge of the local fruits and vegetables gained from the
Indians that sustained the early European settlers for the first
several years. Even though this first influence, at first glance,
seems to have been a primitive one, it had some lasting effects. Many
of these Indians were farmers of sorts and raised starchy roots like
cassava from which they made bread. They also cultivated sweet
potatoes and arrowroot, which produces a nutritive starch that is one
of the easiest for humans to digest.
There is also
one cooking legacy for which every backyard chef owes these early
settlers a profound salute. The word barbecue comes from a grate made
of thin green sticks, called a barbacoa, upon which the Arawaks
grilled meat over an open fire. On the barbacoa thin strips of meat
were cooked slowly, exposing them to the smoke from the fire below.
Slow cooking allowed the meat to be constantly enhanced with its own
fat. The whole process gave the meat a flavour that few are
unfamiliar with today.
The London
scene for Caribbean restaurants is improving all the time. Try such
great restaurants as Bamboula in SW2, Cottons and Mango Room in NW1,
BB's in W13, Coco/Cottons EC1, Demera W12, Jerk Rock SE22, Mothers
Tounch SW9 and Rachels W10.
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