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The culinary inheritance of the Caribbean is integrally linked
to its immigrant past. Its cuisine is known as Creole,
derived from the Spanish word crillo (meaning native
to an area). Originally it referred specifically to the dishes
that mixed local ingredients with Spanish or French cooking
techniques. These have changed drastically over time and now
barely resemble their original incarnations - so the term
has followed suit and now incorporates a diverse range of
influences fused together in a single dish.
Origins and History
Tucking into almost any dish on offer here gives you a taste
of its complicated history. When Christopher Columbus and
the Spanish arrived in 1492, on a mission to find spices in
the Far East, they encountered the Amerindian Caribs whose
diet was based on fish, exotic meats like turtle,
iguana, guinea pig and alligator
and local produce like cassava, pineapples and
cashews. The newcomers were intrigued by a food preservation
method in which they cooked the food on a brabacot
(a wooden framework over a pit of coals). The Spanish adopted
the technique and named it barbacoa, where
the word barbecue comes from.
The Spanish imported a lot of their own foodstuffs, most
notably livestock (and especially pigs to Puerto Rico), as
was well as oranges, bananas, rice and probably
coconuts. The arrival of the English, French and
Dutch to the islands brought the onset of large-scale cultivation
on plantations where sugarcane became the
primary crop. By 1630 the industry was really flying as sugar
became more and more popular with confectioners in Europe.
The indigenous population had been decimated by disease so
the colonists looked to West Africa for slaves to import onto
their plantations and a new influence was thrown into the
cooking pot of the Caribbean. On poor harvest years, slaves
grew their own produce from over the Atlantic like ackee
(now the Jamaican national dish) and okra.
The seemingly unpalatable off-cuts of meat like pigs'
trotters or tail - which are now
mainstays of the region's finest restaurants - originate in
the slave kitchens of centuries ago.
The abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century brought
with it the need for new supplies of labour on the plantations.
Thus from the 1830s onwards Chinese and East
Indians migrated to the islands as indentured servants
bringing with them their own traditions and ingredients. The
role of rice in a meal was greatly strengthened,
spices became more important and the Indian
roti (a flatbread wrapped around a spicy
stew of meat, potatoes and vegetables) developed a big following
especially on Trinidad, home to their biggest community.
Contemporary Creole
cuisine
These days, the original fusion feasts dished up in the Caribbean
are joined by fast food and Mexican fare, especially in the
particularly Americanised island of Puerto Rico.
That's not to say that traditional foods are dying out; if
the region's learnt one thing it's that new influences are
a recipe for success. Staples of Creole cooking remain seafood,
meat (especially pork),
rice and peas, vegetables (especially plantains),
chilli, spices and bread but styles
and favourites tend to vary from island to island.
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is quite possibly the best place to try Creole
cuisine; it's still part of France and the influence of this
culinary heavy weight makes it the gastronomic mecca of the
Caribbean. Breakfast is a bigger deal here than on most islands,
there's a boulangerie (bakers) on almost
every street that sell pastries filled with tropical fruits
like watermelon, guava and watermelon.
Make a visit to L' Arbe a Pain Obertan (address
below) - it's the only bakery on the island
that uses a traditional wood-burning stove and you can really
taste the difference.
Popular fusion dishes include Boudin Creole,
a spicy blood sausage, Goat Colombo, based
on an Indian curry, La Creole, a fish stew
similar to Frenc bouillabaisse and accras, an African salt-cod
fritter. For the very best in home cooking, go to a
table d'hote, a restaurant that you phone in advance
to order a specially prepared meal. We recommend La
Maison Blanche (address below) run by Madame Viviane
Madacombe, president of the local 'Creole Cooks Association'.
Another great place to try a one-pot stew lunch or other Creole
favourites is Le Karacoli (address below)
on the beach at Deshaies and run by a brother
and sister team.
Puerto Rico
Despite the rampant Americanisation of the island, there's
still more than enough traditional food on offer in Puerto
Rico. Street stalls all over San Juan tout
specialities like alapurrias (dumplings stuffed
with beef or seafood), chicharron (pork rinds
fried in lard) and mavi (cider from ironwood
tree bark). The covered market of San Turce
is a good place to pick up a Caribbean-wide favourite, plantain.
According to a local saying there are a hundred different
ways of cooking the plant and whether mashed, boiled, roasted
or whatever, it's always delicious. The national dish is asopao,
a rich tomato stew with chicken and rice that's similar to
Spanish paella.
On a Sunday join the locals for feasting and live music at
the famous lechoneras outside San Juan in Guavate
where outdoor restaurants specialise in whole roasted pig
over an open fire. Basted in a sour orange juice, the pork
exudes a unique flavour and comes with side dishes of yams,
cassava, sweet potato, dasheen and plantain.
Trinidad
The history of Trinidad is similar to that of the other English
islands but its culinary culture has an easterly skew because
of its high proportion of East Indians. Today, 40% of its
inhabitants are Indian, another 40% are African and the remaining
20% are made up of various ethnicities including Chinese and
Syrian. The result is three very different cuisines with not
much cross over between them. Roti is probably
the national dish, a flatbread stuffed with spiced meats,
chickpea or vegetable curry and best washed down with beer.
Another enduring Indian contribution is doubles,
spicy channa (chickpea) covered with spicy
cucumber sauce between two pieces of bara
(discs of fried bread). An African influenced favourite is
callalloo, a thick green soup comprised of
okra, onions, peppers and dasheen plant leaves.
St Kitts
The small island of St Kitts was known as the Mother
Colony during English rule and only gained independence
20 years ago. These days many colonial buildings have been
converted into swish restaurants.
The Native Indians called St Kitts laimigua,
meaning 'fertile land'. A trip to the local market in Basseterre
on Saturday morning is a walk through tropical abundance.
At the harbour opposite local fisherman pitch up their boats
to sell their latest catch. For a tasty Friday night barbecue
drop in on Peter's Fish and Grill Night where
he serves up delicacies like lobster, snapper and conch. For
upmarket surroundings go to The Fisherman's Wharf
restaurant in the Ocean Terrace Hotel where
seafood comes with a buffet of side dishes.
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