Caribbean Delights

Caribbean peoples are found all over the globe, as a result, Caribbean restaurants are now very popular and can be found in several major cities in the United States of America, Canada, London and even in Beijing China. It is customary to find some of our favourite foods and delights available.

One such delight is the Jamaican patty. Jamaican Meat patties are famous and can be found in Jamaican owned businesses in New York, Atlanta, Washington DC, Miami, California, London, and Beijing. Initially, only beef patties were available. With the onset of innovation, a wide range of meat and fish patties are available. Among them are, Curried chicken or stew chicken patty, Jerk (very hot and spicy) patty, Shrimp patty, lobster patty.

Another delight of Caribbean peoples is the roti. This is a flour product made with various additions or just plain. The wrap is technically known as the Roti skin, when filled is known as the roti. The Roti skin is very similar to the Mexican burrito and is used much the same way to wrap meat in a sauce or just vegetables. The most common filling for roti is curried goat or chicken.

Although roti did not originate with Caribbean peoples, it is an Indian delight made popular by the people of Trinidad and Tobago. The peoples of Guyana as well as Suriname As seen on the blog Trinigourmet.com roti along with pelau could be considered national dishes in Trinidad. Pelau has a similar impact and appeal. They

In the Eastern Caribbean, Bul Jol is the name given to cooked up salted fish (a Norwegian specialty). ‘Bul Jol’ can be eaten with Crackers, boiled or fried dumplings, fried plantains, roasted breadfruit and boiled ground provision.

‘Blue drawers’ or ‘Tie Leaf’ is a dessert that is served in Jamaica. In traveling to Curacao it was found that they use the same mixture to make a savory item. The basic mixture is a made of cornmeal with coconut milk. To this is added your choice of sweet or savory. For sweet the addition would be Sugar and raisins along with cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. If the end product is savory, there are several combinations that are possible. For example, salt fish and okras, or black olives with raisins, spice would be black pepper, onions etc. Instead of salt fish, frankfurters cut in small circles could be used.

The most unique thing of all is that this cornmeal mixture is poured in small pockets made from quailed banana leaves, tied with strips from the banana bark. These pockets are placed in a large pot of boiling water about 45mins to one hour depending on the size of the pocket.

These are only a few of the mouthwatering delights to be found in the one or more Caribbean destination of your choice. Recipes are available upon request or by visiting mouthwatering-recipes.com.