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Caribbean Culture

The document discusses common ingredients and dishes in Caribbean cuisine. It notes that staple ingredients include rice, plantains, beans, cassava, and various meats depending on local availability. A characteristic seasoning uses a green herb and oil marinade including ingredients like garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, and various herbs. Popular dishes mentioned include goat stew, cook-up/pelau, ackee and saltfish, and callaloo. Desserts also reflect the region's mixed origins, with some areas serving black cake on special occasions.

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67 views2 pages

Caribbean Culture

The document discusses common ingredients and dishes in Caribbean cuisine. It notes that staple ingredients include rice, plantains, beans, cassava, and various meats depending on local availability. A characteristic seasoning uses a green herb and oil marinade including ingredients like garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, and various herbs. Popular dishes mentioned include goat stew, cook-up/pelau, ackee and saltfish, and callaloo. Desserts also reflect the region's mixed origins, with some areas serving black cake on special occasions.

Uploaded by

Met Technicians
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ingredients that are common in most islands' dishes

are rice, plantains, beans, cassava, culantro, bell peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet

potatoes, coconut, and any of various meats that are locally available like beef, poultry, pork or

fish. A characteristic seasoning for the region is a green herb-and-oil-based marinade which

imparts a flavor profile which is quintessentially Caribbean in character. Ingredients may include

garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, celery, green onions, and herbs like culantro, Mexican

mint, chives, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon and thyme. This green seasoning is used for a

variety of dishes like curries, stews and roasted meats.[2]

Traditional dishes are so important to regional culture that, for example, the local version of

Caribbean goat stew has been chosen as the official national dish of Montserrat and is also one

of the signature dishes of St. Kitts and Nevis. Another popular dish in the Anglophone

Caribbean is called "cook-up", or pelau. Ackee and saltfish is another popular dish that is unique

to Jamaica. Callaloo is a dish containing leafy vegetables such as spinach and

sometimes okra amongst others, widely distributed in the Caribbean, with a distinctively mixed

African and indigenous character.

The variety of dessert dishes in the area also reflects the mixed origins of the recipes. In some

areas, black cake, a derivative of English Christmas pudding, may be served, especially on

special occasions.

Over time, food from the Caribbean has evolved into a narrative technique through which their

culture has been accentuated and promoted. However, by studying Caribbean culture through a
literary lens there then runs the risk of generalizing exoticist ideas about food practices from the

tropical. Some food theorists argue that this depiction of Caribbean food in various forms of

media contributes to the inaccurate conceptions revolving around their culinary practices, which

are much more grounded in unpleasant historical events. Therefore, it can be argued that the

connection between the idea of the Caribbean being the ultimate paradise and Caribbean food

being exotic is based on inaccurate information.[3]

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