Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, Amerindian, British,
Spanish, French, Dutch, Indian, and Chinese cuisine. These traditions were
brought from the many homelands of this region's population. In addition, the
population has created styles that are unique to the region.
A typical dish and one increasingly common outside of the area is "jerk"
seasoned meats, commonly chicken. It is a unique, spicy flavor, reminiscent of
Louisiana Creole cuisine, but still quite distinct from it. Curry goat and
chicken are eaten throughout the Anglophone Caribbean islands, penetrating much
further into the Caribbean than have the Indians who introduced them to the
region over 150 years ago, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
Haitian, Guadeloupean and other French Caribbean cuisine, is very similar. Rice
is a prime food eaten with various sauces and beans, which West Indians call
peas.
A local version of Caribbean Goat Water stew has been chosen as the official
national dish of Montserrat and is also one of the signature dishes of St. Kitts
and Nevis. It is a tomato-based stew, made with goat meat, breadfruit, green
pawpaw (papaya), and dumplings (also known as "droppers"). Another popular dish
in the Anglophone Caribbean is called "Cook-up", or Pelau, a dish which combines
variations of meats like chicken, beef, pig-tail, saltfish and or pigeon peas or
vegetables with rice. Callaloo is a soup-like dish containing leafy vegetables
and okra amongst others, widely distributed in the Caribbean, with a
distinctively mixed African and indigenous character.
Meanwhile, the Spanish-speaking islands of the Caribbean tend to prefer more
savory spices to these sharper flavors. Lime and garlic, for example, are more
common on Puerto Rico and Cuba than pimento (or "allspice"). Other common
flavors throughout the region include cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
Seafood is one of the most common cuisine types in the islands, and often each
island will have its own specialty. Some prepare lobster or conch, while others
prefer certain types of fish or sharks. The island of Barbados is known for its
"flying fish," while Trinidad and Tobago is known for its cascadura fish and
crab, also fried shark served as a sandwich called "bake and shark".
Another Caribbean mainstay is rice, in various forms on different islands. Some
season their rice, or add peas and other touches such as coconut. Sometimes the
rice is yellow, other times it may be more brown but overall it tends to just
act as part of a dish.
Conch is a very popular food in The Bahamas and Belize as well, where fritters
are made by creating a batter of the chopped meat, seasonings and dough, and
then deep frying.
Caribbean Street food:
Barbados
In Barbados, fishcakes are a common street food. Fishcakes are made with bits of
saltfish, seasoned and mixed with flour and then deep fried. Fishcakes are sold
at community events such as school fairs and concerts and can also be found at
fish fries such as those in Baxter's Road in the capital city of Bridgetown or
the Friday evening event in the southern fishing town of Oistins. Fishcakes are
commonly eaten with saltbread, a thick, round bread; the sandwich is called a
"bread-and-two" and can be found at most village shops throughout the island.
Dominican Republic
Fried foods are common in the Dominican Republic. Empanadas are a very typical
snack, made of fried flour, though empanadas made out of cassava flour, called
catibias, are also common. Fillings include cheese, chicken, beef, and
vegetables, or a combination of these. Yaniqueques are sold at many empanada
stands. Yaniqueques (from Johnny Cakes) are essentially round flour shaped cakes
which are fried and usually eaten with salt and/or ketchup. Other vendors sell
plantain fritters and fried or boiled salami.
Hamburgers are sold at stands called chimis, which also offer sandwiches called
chimichurris, though these bear little to no resemblance to the South American
sauce of the same name. Chimis occasionally also offer hot dogs and other
sandwich varieties.
Corn on the cob can be bought on the street, usually sold by traveling vendors
who move around on a tricycle. Sweets vendors who sell treats such as candied
coconut and dulce de leche sell their goods at major intersections in cities and
sometimes have their own stands.
Jamaica
The most common Jamaican street food is jerk chicken or pork and can be found
everywhere on the island. Jerk is marinade that is a blended primarily from a
combination of scotch bonnet peppers, onions, scallions, thyme and allspice.
Once marinated, it is often barbecued on converted steel drum or whatever else
locals can construct as a grill/smoker. It is often accompanied with breadfruit
and/or festival, a sweetened fried dough.
Beef patties in a sweet bread called "coco bread" are the most popular street
food. Bun and cheese is also eaten.
Trinidad and Tobago
In Trinidad and Tobago there are roti and shark & bake stands that provide quick
foods like roti, dahl puri, fried bake, and the most popular, Doubles.
Roti is a thin flat bread originating from India that is fluffy on the inside
and crispy and flaky on the outside. It is cooked on a flat iron plate called a
tawah (< Hindi tawa)or plateen and served with curried chicken, pork or beef.
Dahl puri is similar to the roti but is softer and pliable and has crushed dahl
lentils cooked with saffron and placed in the centre of the dough before it is
rolled out and cooked. This is also served with either curried chicken, pork or
beef.
Fried bake is made by frying flattened balls of dough that becomes fluffy and
increases in height as it is fried. It can be served with fried ripe plantains,
any meat or gravy. At the shark & bake stands fried bakes filled with
well-seasoned shark fillets and dressed with many different condiments including
pepper, garlic and chadon beni can also be found.
Doubles is made with two flat breads called baras (from Hindi bara, "big") that
are filled with channa (from Hindi "chick peas") and topped with pepper,
cucumber chutney, mango chutney, coconut chutney or bandania/chadon beni. It can
be eaten either wrapped up as an easy to eat sandwich, or open it up and eat
each bara separately.
Haiti
In Haiti street vendors sell dishes such as fried plantains, griot (deep-fried
pork or beef), frescos (fruit soda drink), cassava bread, and Haitian patties
(pastry filled with choice of chicken, fish, beef, or pork).
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