The Caribbean Pantry
Caribbean Recipes
Tuscan Food - La Toscana
Thai Cuisine
Californian Cuisine
Hawaiian Cuisine
Cuisine provençale
Gastronomy with Christoph Duermueller

By Maggie Shi

The weather isn't the only thing that's hot down in the Caribbean. From fiery Scotch Bonnet chiles to searing meat rubs, Caribbean cuisine is "definitely spicy, hot and spicy," says Marva Layne, who grew up in Jamaica and owns Negril Restaurant in New York City. The region's culinary flavor is as diverse as it is bold, which isn't surprising considering that more than 7,000 islands make up the Caribbean.
Caribbean cuisine is a hodgepodge of culinary influences, including African, French, Spanish, Indian and Dutch. "In the Caribbean it's a blend of people," Layne says. "They're of every nationality possible. It's a melting pot." In Aruba you can feast on Indonesian-style rijstaffel, a popular Dutch meal consisting of numerous small dishes; Puerto Rico boasts Spanish-influenced asopao, meat- or seafood-and-rice stew similar to paella; and you can sample traditional French creole boudin--blood sausage--in Martinique.
Because of the surrounding waters, it's inevitable that seafood--particularly fish--is an important part of Caribbean cuisine. Red snapper is abundant, and fish are often steamed, fried or stewed. One popular dish is blaff, named for the sound the fish makes when it's thrown into the cooking pot. Red snapper is marinated in limes, chiles and spices, then boiled with herbs such as chives and served with rice.
Ackee and saltfish--dried, salted cod--is Jamaica's national dish, eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Ackee is a bright red, mild-tasting fruit that is toxic when underripe, so it's never eaten before it's fully ready. Jamaicans soak the saltfish in water, then boil and shred it. They saute the ackee with garlic, onions and peppers and serve with the fish, a perfect balance between the fruit's mildness and the cod's saltiness.
In most of the Caribbean, you can find variations on the classic soup callaloo, made from the spinach-like greens of the same name. The soup usually includes okra, hot chiles, limes, pork and crab, which makes for a hearty, green-tinged soup. And of course, there's the well-known seasoning called "jerk"--a fiery blend of about 20 ingredients, including hot chiles, garlic, onions and spices such as allspice and ginger. It's rubbed on meat, usually chicken or pork, which is then roasted for a mouth-burning experience.
Lush tropical fruits make up a large portion of the Caribbean diet. "You snack on fruits. There are usually fruit trees in your yard," Layne says. Fruit also turns up at every meal, whether they're cooked as a side dish, incorporated into a main dish or savored as a dessert. Plantains are eaten in every stage of ripeness: They're deep-fried and served as chips, boiled and served with meat, or fried and mashed with pork cracklings and garlic in the Puerto Rican dish mofongo. Papayas are baked with butter like squash; mangoes turn up in mousses and pies; and pineapples sweeten sauces for poultry and pork.
Though these ingredients may seem exotic, Caribbean cuisine is all about humble home cooking--nothing fancy, just delicious combinations of fresh products with a healthy dash of spices. "Food plays a large part in family gatherings," Layne explains. "Prepared food is readily available in the U.S., but in the Caribbean, your mom makes the dinner, makes the breakfast and makes the lunch. Everything is cooked. So all day she cooks. She doesn't do anything else, poor thing!"