Today we’re going to be talking about food from the Caribbean. What’s Caribbean comfort food? What can we learn from Caribbean cuisine? I find it quite fascinating what they eat out there. They have some things that are quite foreign to us, and some things that are perhaps familiar, but it’s definitely different to living on the mainland.
What makes comfort food in the Caribbean? It has a lot of starches – rice, dumplings, plantains, and yams. Those are some unusual starches, but there’s that great comfort food starchy base of a Caribbean dish. Pot meals are common over there – stews, soups, and rice dishes. They simmer for a long time, and have that very deep, rich flavor. They have big flavor bases like onions, garlic, thyme, and scallions. All of those are big flavor boosters.
In the Caribbean, there are a lot of recipes that have been passed down verbally. People know how to cook them just from watching previous generations cook. In Jamaica, rice and peas with coconut milk and kidney beans is a Sunday staple. Oxtail stew is popular, as is cornmeal porridge – creamy, sweet, and tasty.
In Trinidad, they have something called pelau, which is a one-pot rice and caramelized chicken dish with coconut milk. There’s also a food called doubles, which is soft bara bread with cured chickpeas, and there’s callaloo which is a silky green soup made with okra and coconut
In Haiti, they have a pumpkin-based soup with beef and vegetables. A common food from Puerto Rico is asopao, which is a soupy rice stew. It’s good for when you’re not feeling well. There’s also something called arroz con gandules, which is rice with pigeon peas, sofrito, and pork. Pigeon peas are highly nutritious peas found in the Caribbean,
Then in Barbados, they have macaroni pie, which is baked, cheesy, and spiced, as well as coucou and flying fish, which contains cornmeal and okra with savory fish and gravy. Throughout the Caribbean, fried or boiled plantains are very popular. Maybe that’s where we get plantain chips from. Festival is sweet fried dough, and they also have dumplings that are either boiled, fried, or dropped in soup. They also eat coconut bread.
So, what can we learn from the Caribbean about food and cooking? The first thing is that flavor comes from layering, not from fancy ingredients. We’ve heard this many times. Caribbean cooking is very much about building depth; about layering flavor. Start with aromatics – garlic, onion or scallion, thyme, and ginger, and then heat like chilies or pepper. Cook it long and slowly to let your flavors meld, and to deepen the flavor.
Many Caribbean foods come from necessity; their food has a lot of salt, fish, rice, beans, and then things like yams, and plantains. This comes from adaptation to their environment, perhaps when things were scarce or money was scarce. They also have a lot of one pot meals like pelau, callaloo, et cetera.
Number two – balance is everything. Caribbean foods have good balance. There’ll be a balance between sweet, savory, acidic, and hot. For sweetness, they would use plantains, coconut, and sugar. For savory flavors, they’d use salt, fish, or smoked meats and fish. Some acidic ingredients would be lime, vinegar, tamarind, and orange. For heat, they’d use pepper, chili, and et cetera. Great cooking is about contrast – not being dominated with one single flavor, but having all those flavors come through.
Number three – spice is not just about heat; it’s also about aroma. Caribbean food is not just spicy, but it’s fruity and it’s complex. There are floral flavors. The spices are toasted and bloomed, or infused in something. The spice brings perfume and aroma – it shouldn’t just be hot for the sake of it.
Also, in the Caribbean, cooking and eating is often communal. They make big pots to share with neighbors. They have shared meals, and often do Sunday cooking outdoors. The point is connection – they’re focused on cooking for people and making it a social event; making food and eating about fellowship with each other.
Also, in their culinary culture, nothing goes to waste. They’re very creative in reusing everything, partly because of the poverty that’s been there. They make leftover rice into fried-rice style dishes. They cook tough cuts of meat long and slow for stews. They use bones for extra nutrition in soups and broths. They have mixed vegetable dishes and stir fries.
So, here are some things that you should have in stock in your pantry if you’re going to cook Jamaican food, or Haitian, or anything that’s Caribbean style. The main things are an allspice like pimento, thyme – both dried and fresh is always good – fresh garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, plain paprika and smoked paprika, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, curry powder.
Then here are some extras – Caribbean hot sauce, red pepper flakes, chili paste, soy sauce, and Worcester sauce. These are very good. You can also have coconut milk and evaporated milk for rice, curries, and desserts. You can stock tomato paste, vinegar – apple cider and white vinegar – and then grains and legumes like rice, dried beans, split peas. You’ll need some flour and some cornmeal, and maybe some breadcrumbs.
Then there are oils like coconut oil and olive oil. Olive oil’s more Mediterranean, but it’s still a good one. You can have fresh onions and bell peppers, and coconut sugar is an option. There’s tamarind paste. So, we’re going for spicy and exotic sweeteners, as well as starches. The rest of the ingredients would be fresh – fresh fish, fresh vegetables – to add to those.
So, what are some easy Caribbean style dishes that you can cook at home? First, there’s jerk chicken. You can either do this in the oven or in a pan. It’s easy because it has just one marinade. It’s very simple, but it brings big flavors. So, you need to blend or mix some jerk seasoning with some garlic, some thyme, some scallions, oil, lime juice, and lime zest. Then you need to rub that on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or even breasts, and then bake it at a high heat – 425 Fahrenheit or 210 Celsius. Alternatively, you could pan sear it, and then finish it in the oven. You want to make sure that it’s cooked through, but not too dry. You serve it with rice or peas and salad.
An easy, Caribbean style rice dish is rice and peas. This goes with everything. So, first you saute your garlic – you want to get the flavor base going. Then you add some thyme, scallions, rice, coconut milk, and maybe some water. Then add kidney beans or pigeon peas, or any peas that you like. Put in some salt and pepper and a bay leaf, and then simmer it until it’s cooked. It should be creamy and fragrant.
With that, you could do some Caribbean style pan-fried fish like snapper, hake, tilapia, cod, or salmon. First, you need to season your fish well. Add some salt, pepper, and some garlic pieces, crushed garlic or even garlic powder. Then add some acid like lime or lemon juice, and a bit of butter or olive oil on top. When you’ve seasoned it, lightly pan fry it, or bake it in the oven. Add some more lemon or lime at the end.
A coconut curry shrimp is very fast and impressive. You just have to know the right amount to cook it, so it’s good to read the recipe carefully for that part. You don’t want your pan to be too hot. First, you’re going to saute your spices a little bit to enhance their flavor – some curry powder, some garlic, and some onion. Then you’re going to add your shrimp and toss it to coat it while it cooks. Then pour in your coconut milk and simmer it for about eight to ten minutes. You can have that with rice or roti. It’s very easy.
Caribbean style lentils or beans are also very easy, and they’re good for if you want something plant-based. Simply season them with onion or onion powder, some garlic, thyme, and some coconut cream. Then you simmer it until they’re well flavored and tender. You need to cook the beans or lentils first. You could use tinned beans. Then it’s quick and easy – you just add them from your pantry, and add those extra ingredients. You can put some curry powder in too. If you’re doing lentils, you can also use some from a can or you can cook those in the coconut cream because they don’t take as long. It’s a good idea to soak them first for a couple of hours in some water.
Fried plantains are a funny, easy thing to try if you can get hold of them. You want the right ones – yellow or black plantains. Slice them and then fry them in oil until golden. Obviously, you need to peel them first. That’s some sweet and salty magic! You can add a little salt, but it’s not really necessary because of the oil. See what you like.
A quick salsa is really good. First, you can chop any fruit like mango. Add some sweet onion, a bit of lime juice, and some salt and pepper. That’s a topping that goes amazingly with fish or chicken. Obviously, you can add some spiciness to it, like chili powder, if you’d like to.
So, don’t be afraid to try these things, and to kind of ad lib. Decide what you like the flavor of, and try adding a little bit, tasting it, seeing what you think it needs, and then enhancing the flavor. I hope that you do some Caribbean cooking in the near future and that you don’t find it too intimidating, but rather have a ton of fun.
