Caribbean cuisine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, Amerindian, British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Indian, and Chinese cuisine. These traditions were brought from the many homelands of this region's population. In addition, the population has created styles that are unique to the region.

A typical dish and one increasingly common outside of the area is "jerk" seasoned meats, commonly chicken. It is a unique, spicy flavor, reminiscent of Louisiana Creole cuisine, but still quite distinct from it. Curry goat and chicken are eaten throughout the Anglophone Caribbean islands, penetrating much further into the Caribbean than have the Indians who introduced them to the region over 150 years ago, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Haitian, Guadeloupean and other French Caribbean cuisine, is very similar. Rice is a prime food eaten with various sauces and beans, which West Indians call peas.

A local version of Caribbean Goat Water stew has been chosen as the official national dish of Montserrat and is also one of the signature dishes of St. Kitts and Nevis. It is a tomato-based stew, made with goat meat, breadfruit, green pawpaw (papaya), and dumplings (also known as "droppers"). Another popular dish in the Anglophone Caribbean is called "Cook-up", or Pelau, a dish which combines variations of meats like chicken, beef, pig-tail, saltfish and or pigeon peas or vegetables with rice. Callaloo is a soup-like dish containing leafy vegetables and okra amongst others, widely distributed in the Caribbean, with a distinctively mixed African and indigenous character.

Meanwhile, the Spanish-speaking islands of the Caribbean tend to prefer more savory spices to these sharper flavors. Lime and garlic, for example, are more common on Puerto Rico and Cuba than pimento (or "allspice"). Other common flavors throughout the region include cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Seafood is one of the most common cuisine types in the islands, and often each island will have its own specialty. Some prepare lobster or conch, while others prefer certain types of fish or sharks. The island of Barbados is known for its "flying fish," while Trinidad and Tobago is known for its cascadura fish and crab, also fried shark served as a sandwich called "bake and shark".

Another Caribbean mainstay is rice, in various forms on different islands. Some season their rice, or add peas and other touches such as coconut. Sometimes the rice is yellow, other times it may be more brown but overall it tends to just act as part of a dish.

Conch is a very popular food in The Bahamas and Belize as well, where fritters are made by creating a batter of the chopped meat, seasonings and dough, and then deep frying.