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The islands originally inhabited by the Arawak and Carib Indian tribes had established a varied combination of foodstuffs and cooking techniques. The Caribs were cannibalistic but are credited by food historians to be the people who began ritually spicing their food with chile peppers. The Arawaks, on the other hand, devised a method of slow-cooking their meat by placing it over an open fire on a makeshift grate or grill made out of thin green sticks.
After Christopher Columbus arrived in the area in 1492, other Europeans followed Spainin colonizing the islands and brought with them their culinary trademarks. Some of the ingredients the Spanish and Europeans introduced included not only sugarcane, but varieties of coconut, chickpeas, cilantro, eggplant, onions, garlic, oranges, limes, mangoes, rice, and coffee.
The Caribbean’s close proximity to Mexico and South America encouraged trade between the early settlers. Mexico traded papaya, avocado, chayote, and cocoa. Potatoes and passion fruit came from South America. Later breadfruit was introduced by Polynesians and corn, beans, and chile by Americans. Beginning in the early 1600s the slave trade brought foods from West Africa to the islands. The Africans brought crops of okra, callaloo, and ackee. Cuisine is similar from island to island, but each island has its specialties.
Typical Cuban foods include black beans, white rice, yellow rice, citrus marinades, garlic, and fried sliced banana (plantain). Olive oil and garlic marinades are often used as sauces. Popular spices include cumin, cayenne, and cilantro. Meat is often prepared roasted and in a creola style marinade.
Pork and chicken are relatively plentiful, fresh and inexpensive. Ajiaco , a thick soup made with pork along with different kinds of edible vegetable roots and stems, is the national dish of Cuba. The taste depends on the vegetables and the seasonings chosen by the cook. Other typical Cuban dishes include moros y cristianos (white rice and black beans), congr´ı (a combination of rice and red kidney beans), and picadillo`a la habanera (a mincemeat dish, Havana style).
Jamaica’s national dish is said to be ackee and saltfish , usually served at breakfast, but can also be a main dish. Ackee is a fruit whose color and flavor when cooked are said to resemble scrambled eggs. A “closed” ackee is unripe and poisonous and is only safe to consume when it ripens and is thus “open.”
Saltfish is fish (usually cod) that has been heavily immersed in salt for preservation, drying, and curing purposes. Saltfish is usually soaked overnight in cold water to remove most of the salt before eating. Jamaica’s saltfish (or codfish) fritters, called Stamp and Go , an island form of fast food, are made from a batter of soaked, cooked, skinned, and flaked saltfish, with scallions, chiles, and tomato, fried in coconut oil until golden brown.
The long lasting Oriental and Indian influences in Caribbean cooking are represented by curries and rice. Curried goat is a favorite, usually reserved for special occasions. Jamaican jerk is another signature dish of the island. It can be either a dry seasoning mixture that is rubbed directly into the meat or it can be combined with water to create a marinade. Jerk recipes have passed through generations but the basic ingredients involve allspice, hot chiles (scotch bonnet), salt, and a mixture of up to thirty or more herbs and spices that blend to create one of the hottest and spiciest foods known. The Blue Mountains of Jamaica lend their name to the famous Blue Mountain Coffee, renowned for being smooth and full flavored. Coffee beans were first introduced to Jamaica in 1728 from the country of Martinique. The climatic conditions of the island ensured that the seedlings flourished, which triggered the cultivation of coffee bean crops in the region.
From Puerto Rico come adobo and sofrito —blends of herbs and spices that give many of the native foods their distinctive taste and color.
In St. Vincent the national dish is roasted breadfruit and jackfish. Seafood is abundant, including lobster, crab, conch (pronounced conk), shrimp, whelk, and mahimahi. A favorite delicacy is tri tri , a tiny fish seasoned with spices and curry powder and fried into cakes. Other popular dishes include callaloo stew, souse (a soupy stew made with pigs feet), pumpkin soup, roti , and buljol (salted fish, tomatoes, sweet peppers, and onions served with roasted breadfruit). A favorite dessert, duckanoo , originally from Africa, is made with cornmeal, coconut, spices, and brown sugar. The ingredients are tied up in a banana leaf (hence its other name, Tie-a-Leaf ), and slowly cooked in boiling water.
Native cooking in the Dominican Republic combines Spanish influences with local produce. Beef is expensive (Dominicans raise fine cattle, but mostly for export) and local favorites are pork and goat meat.
An adaptation of the Spanish paella, locrio is made with achiote (a colored dye produced from the seeds of the achiote plant), because saffron spice is unavailable. Casabe (a round flat cassava bread) and catibias (cassava flour fritters filled with meat) are the only culinary legacy of the Taino Indians.
Desserts here are very sweet, made with sugar and condensed milk in various flavors (coconut, papaya, banana, pineapple, soursop, ginger), prepared as flans, puddings, and creams. Tropical fruits are abundant and are used in desserts throughout the year, but many different varieties are found depending on the altitude (for example, cherries, plums, and strawberries grow in the central regions).
Barbados is distinguished for its flying fish/coo-coo dinners. Sleek, silver-blue fish with fins that resemble dragonfly wings, flying fish are able to propel themselves in the air at speeds up to thirty miles an hour to escape predators. Coo-coo is a polenta-like porridge made from yellow cornmeal, water, salt, pepper, butter, and okra. Other specialties include conkies , from Ghana, which are steamed sweet or savory preparations with mixtures of cornmeal, coconut, pumpkin, raisins, sweet potato, and spices, in preboiled banana leaf pieces. Eddo , sometimes called coco , is a hairy root vegetable with the size and flavor of a potato that is used in soups. Peas and rice, or pigeon peas are a mainstay of the diet. The peas are cooked with rice and flavored with coconut. The peas are also known as congo or gongo peas on other islands. Jug-jug is a stew made from corned beef, pork, pigeon peas, and guinea corn. Lamb in Barbados is from a breed of black-bellied sheep that look like goats.
Antigua’s national dish is fungi and pepperpot , a thick vegetable stew with salted meat. Ducana (sweet potato dumpling) is served with saltfish and chop up (mashed eggplant, okra and seasoning). Black pineapples from Antigua are famous throughout the East Caribbean for their unique, extra-sweet flavor.
The signature dish of Curacao is keshi yen´a , or “stuffed cheese.” This dish is traditionally made with chicken, vegetables, seasonings, and raisins, which are stuffed into a scooped-out Edam or Gouda cheese shell. The “top” of the cheese is replaced and the whole is baked for at least an hour.
In Colonial times, the Dutch masters would eat the cheese and “generously” donate the shell to their workers. Having to make due with what they had, the poor people of the island came up with this specialty.
Two very popular dishes are funchi and tutu . Both based on cornmeal, they are commonly served as side dishes or appetizers. Taken directly from African cuisine, these two dishes are still cooked in the traditional manner.
Rotis in Trinidad are as common as hamburgers in the United States. This unofficial national dish consists of a curry meal wrapped in thin pastry; its prototype was brought to the Caribbean by Indian immigrants some decades ago. The little packets of food have turned into a top seller for a quick snack.