Traditional Sauces, Chutneys, Pepper Sauces and Chows

Chutney or chatni is a term for a variety of sweet and spicy condiments, usually involving a fresh, chopped primary vegetable or fruit with added seasonings. In India, a chutney is often made to be eaten fresh, using whatever suitable strongly flavoured ingredients are locally available at the time. The Hindi translation of “to make chutney” is a common idiom meaning “to crush.” In traditional Indian chutneys, the use of a stone mortar and pestle is often regarded as vital to create the ideal chutney.
In the past, chutneys were ground with a mortar and pestle made of stone or an ammikkal (Tamil). Nowadays, electric blenders replace the stone implements.

History of Ingredients used in Caribbean Recipes

Caribbean cooks use spices that are unique in many ways. Nutmeg is used to flavour desserts, but this spice is often combined with other native island spices to produce an altogether different, yet somewhat recognisable flavour.

The distinctive flavour of Jamaican jerk comes from allspice, another spice we would not associate with a meat marinade.

The Cayman Islanders add spicy peppers to flavour their favourite chocolate cake.

Tamarind is another spice used for its sauce but also for its tasty flavour. Fruits such as orange, papaya (pawpaw) mango and pineapple make up the body of Caribbean sauces and drinks. Coconut milk serves as a base for many popular stews, soups and sauces.

Rum is a favourite ingredient throughout the Caribbean, and is applied liberally in marinades, soups, deserts and sauces.

Beans, rice and other vegetables absorb the flavours of any dish. Chicken, duck, goat, pork, beef and fresh seafood are the preferred meats.

The preferred ingredients for seasoning are curry, chadon beni (bhandania), bay leaf, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, chilli pepper, geera (cumin), saffron (turmeric), garlic, onions, chives and celery.

This book aims to combine the fusion of the Caribbean flavours in the recipes. Each island has its unique twist on its ingredients and method of cooking, but the end result is always tasty.

History of Caribbean Foods - taken from my book "Traditional Caribbean Cooking"

Historians claim that the Arawak, Carib, and Taino Indians were the first inhabitants of the Caribbean islands. These first inhabitants occupied the present day islands of Cuba, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and The Grenadines and Jamaica. Their basic diet consisted of fruits and vegetables such as pawpaws, guavas, wild pineapples, yams, eddoes, dasheen and cassava. The Tainos started the process of cooking meat and fish in large clay pots. The Arawaks were the first people known to cook their meat on thin green wood strips over coals or firewood allowing the meat to be enhanced by the flavour of the wood and smoke. This method was called a barbacoa - the word we know today as barbecue.

According to historian Karl Watson the first settlers on Barbados were the Arawaks, who entered the island from the region of Guyana highlands and settled along the northern, western and southern coasts. (Watson 2007).

The Carib Indians had a similar style of cooking but they added more spice to their food with hot peppers indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago, and also lemon and lime juice to their meat and fish recipes.

Then the Europeans came via Christopher Columbus and they found that the islands (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica) had a vast amount of land space to cultivate sugar cane and rice. (The Caribbean Background 31).

The diet of the slaves consisted mostly of discarded food the slave owners considered unfit. Therefore the slaves had to be very inventive, and they blended their traditional African method of cooking with the staples found on the islands. The Africans introduced okra, saltfish, ackee, fish and crab cakes, pudding, souse and blue food (dasheen).

African men were hunters by nature, and often hunted in the forest for long periods of time. They would cook spicy wild pig, or whatever they caught at the time, over hot coals. The fishermen would bury the fish, covered with herbs and spices, in a shallow hole on the beach. They covered the hole with a bed of light coals and rocks, and this would cook the fish as if it was cooked on a open fire. This tradition was refined by the early slaves in Jamaica. The technique is known today as “jerk” cooking. The secret involves a slow cooking process. Jamaica is famous for jerk chicken and pork, but you can find jerk food all over the Caribbean.

After slavery was abolished, the Africans abandoned the plantations so the Europeans went to India and China for labour. Indian cooking culture has remained the same today with the introduction of curry powder. Indians call it kari podi, and we have come to know this pungent flavour as curry.

The Chinese introduced rice, a staple in our diet. They also introduced mustard. The early Portuguese sailors introduced the popular codfish. When you think about Caribbean fruits and fruit trees familiar names come up: orange, lime, ginger, plantains, bananas (green figs), date palms, sugar cane, green grapes, tamarinds and coconuts, but it was the early Spanish explorers who brought those plants with them.

Breadfruit is not native to the Caribbean, even though it is a staple in most islands. According to Jonathan Ali “The  humble breadfruit arrived in 1793. It made its first landfall at the region in St Vincent, and it was brought by Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty.” The breadfruit’s main use was for cheap and plentiful source of food for the slaves.

America is responsible for introducing beans, corn, Irish potatoes, tomatoes, squash and chilli pepper to the Caribbean.  (www.travel2thecaribbean.com)

Before pepper became a widely used ingredient in the Caribbean, it was sent to India where they cultivated it on a large scale. Therefore Caribbean cooking with its rich and creative flavours is a combination of African, Indian and Chinese cooking, along with Spanish, Portuguese, Danish and British influences. What we eat in the Caribbean islands has been influenced by the cultures of the world, but each island has added its own special style and blends of herbs and spices to their cooking technique.

I will post a few recipes weekly. I look forward to your input

My new book; Traditional Caribbean Cooking

Hey
I am back with my new project.. i not sure why i stop blogging.. but after social media try to take over my social life.. I kinda stop with blogging. .anyways..
My new project is my latest cook book Traditional Caribbean Cooking..
My book talks about the history of Caribbean foods and ingredients. I talked about the Arawak, Carib, and Taino being the first inhabitants of the Caribbean islands. These first inhabitants occupied the present day islands of Cuba, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and Jamaica. There basic diet consisted of fruits and vegetables such as pawpaws, guavas, wild pineapples, yams eddoes, dasheen and cassava. The Tainos started the process of cooking meat and fish in large clay pots. The styles of cooking of the peoples of all the different cultures that have inhabited the Caribbean islands have blended to produce a diet of very tasty foods made with the main ingredients of the original early African dishes such as cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, dasheen, plantains, tomatoes and corn meal as well as East Indian herbs and spices.

Traditional Caribbean Cooking is all about reminding your taste buds of the good old days. Just like granny used to make.

Creativity is  a personal thing, but it can also play a very important part in the way society define culture. Creativity is the foundation to our culture; the way we see ourselves, walk, talk, and speak. Give the creative minds of T&T the opportunity to play this important part in the development of culture.

You dont need a creative template. It starts with in.. Creativity to some artiste are flue by emotions, anger and other internal confusion they maybe experiencing at the time.