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Caribbean Culinary Crash Course |
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From a Cayman Islands Perspective Caribbean Cuisine: With more than 100 restaurants now open in the Cayman Islands, visitors will discover menus ranging from innovative New World fusion cuisine to authentic Thai. However, some of the best dishes of all originate in our own special Caymanian way of cooking. There is a cuisine unique to the Cayman Islands, and many of the traditional recipes reflect a way of life which is slowly disappearing. Most Caymanian recipes rely on simple ingredients, but the preparation of these dishes is often time-consuming. Traditional fare like Bullrush pudding, custard-topped cornbread, whelk pie, Crab backs and heavy cake require both a skilled cook’s experience--and patience to make. Although you would seldom find these on any restaurant menu today, many opportunities remain to sample real Caymanian cooking in Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Seafood plays an important role here and our traditional national dish is still turtle, served as soup, stew or braised turtle steaks. However, no dish better defines Caymanian cuisine than the versatile conch (pronounced KONK.) This large pink mollusk, still found in Cayman waters, can be prepared in a variety of ways: cooked with onions and spices in coconut milk as conch stew; cracked conch fritters or chowders or sliced raw very thin in a simple lime and onion marinade and served like ceviche. A West Indian specialty Caymanians have borrowed from Jamaica and adapted to suit our palates is "jerk." "Jerking" is a cooking method defined by the use of both a fiery blend of spices (allspice, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, nutmeg, salt, garlic, scallions and onions) and a process of slow-smoking over a low fire, preferably of pimento wood. You can sample jerk chicken, po k, shrimp and conch--and even try jerk pizza while in Grand Cayman. Caymanian chefs also owe a debt of gratitude to other Caribbean countries for their liberal use of curry powder to flavor many local dishes. Accompanying any "meat kind" (chicken, meat or fish entree) might be rice and beans, breadfruit, cassava, yam and plantain. For the more adventurous palate, local favorites include cowfoot, oxtail, codfish and ackee, salt beef and beans, or mackerel and green bananas. Caymanian Desserts are special too. Heavy cake, one of the most popular and traditional, is a dense, sweet, brown sugary confection, called pone or pudding in other Caribbean countries. Heavy cakes are made from grated raw cassava, papaya, cornmeal, yam and other starchy products. Cayman lime or coconut pie are local delicious adaptations of mainland recipes--here fresh local ingredients make the difference. Finish off your meal with a potent homemade white peppermint drop. Beginner’s dictionary of ingredients To help you learn more, here is a beginner’s dictionary of ingredients and dishes found in authentic Caymanian cuisine. Bread Kind - a collective name for starches such as breadfruit, potato, cassava, coco and yam. Breadfruit - eaten like a potato, boiled, fried, roasted or baked. Breadfruit is round in shape, the outside is greenish-yellow with a bumpy skin. The flesh is cream coloured and has a flavour similar to a potato. Cassava - a root vegetable served instead of potato and similar in taste. Conch - (pronounced "conk") - this is the beautiful spiral shell that tourists always want. Inside is a large edible mollusc. The flesh is tenderized by pounding it with a mallet. Conch is served in a variety of ways: fritters, chowder, marinated or stewed. Cho Cho - is comparable to a tropical squash and used the same way. Fish Rundown - fish that is stewed down with breadkind. Usually snapper or grouper and boiled with breadfruit, cassava, and dumplings. Johnny Cake - is fried dough about the size of and resembling an American hushpuppy. Served as a beginning course or like an appetizer with drinks, but a bit on the heavy side; so don't eat more than the standard order of two syrup, and sometimes cinnamon. Patty - A meat pie enjoyed at all times of day. Americans have a hamburger, West Indians have their patty. A seasoned flour shell wrapped around beef and spicy filling. Traditionally meat but now available with lobster, chicken or vegetable fillings. Pepperpot - originally from Trinadad, this is a spicy soup made from calalloo (similar to spinach), and potatoes and highly seasoned with hot peppers. Plantain - belongs to the banana family but are not eaten raw. They are larger and not as sweet - they are baked or fried with brown sugar. Pumpkin - the Caribbean pumpkin has a dark green skin and bright yellow flesh. Again this is used like a potato, not a dessert as Americans know it. Rice & Peas - (red beans with rice) red kidney beans cooked with rice, coconut milk, ham bone or bacon and spices, served with most every entree. Saltfish & Ackee - actually the native dish of Jamaica but adopted by Caymanians. Saltfish is codfish cured in salt and ackee is really a fruit but cooked as a veggie, resembling scrambled eggs and likened to the taste. Source www.caymans.com |
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