Caribbean and Tropical Food

 Some diehards will never, if ever, vary from the native tastes to which they have become accustomed. They want their foods to follow the traditional tastes and presentations which they became used to during their childhood.  They remember their grandparents and other nostalgic moments and often associate them with the food and beverages of the period.  Here in Barbados, Saturdays have become synonymous with pudding and souse, on other days there are macaroni pie and baked chicken. Some menus are described by the overarching brand of Bajan Food.  Nowadays, the younger generation is more adventurous. They may not be able to prepare the traditional dishes, yet they recognize they need more. They crave innovation. Some have even developed interests where they are referred to by their peers as "foodies".  To hear them speak, they sound like authorities on food, even venturing to pair food and beverages, suggesting what can be used at various occasions and functions....

 Sandwiches, salads, smoothies, stuffed - the avocado is right in the ranks of foods with quite tasty outcomes.  It pairs well with eggs, bacon, cheese and tuna for starters. I have even seen it paired with the "Canadian Snackbox" [Sardines]  Dips, spreadables, toppings, salsas and sauces are all treats we enjoy.  Here are some ideas to get your thoughts running.  Avocados can be eaten at most mealtimes with a little creativity - from breakfast to dinner. Have you tried deviled eggs and avocado lime dressing (creamy and healthy).  It is said that a picture is worth 1,115 words. Well, let's look at some of the creations with avocado.   We want to move beyond the go-to guacamole recipe and try more creative dishes. We will realize that we have been limited by our experiences and creativity. Let's stretch our thoughts on food. 

 Food security is a buzz phrase of these times and is being used in various conversations. Taking in various cooking experiences from across the globe, I have seen applications our cultures would only occasionally allow us to think of. For this reason, we have to experiment with our ingredients to explore the full potential of the foods available to us.  Can we turn our attention to the coconut? What comes to your mind first when you think of it? Based on where you live, some people would think of bakes, pies, bread, using it in rice, and for drinks, the immediate image is pina colada. Can we say what we have to in pictures? The recipes are delightful for coconut lovers.  FOOD [images from the Internet, we don't own the rights] BEVERAGES [Images from the internet. We don't own the rights] These and other images flood the imaginations of many when they are at work and think fondly of vacations. Does that mean that coconut evokes thoughts of luxury, rest and relaxation? Who...

  Foods to ride out a natural disaster With the annual hurricane season upon us, our focus always tends to shift from regular foods to those we would eat in the event of a major storm. Storms tend to bring images to mind of flooding, rain, damaged property, displacement etc.  What do we eat at times like these? For the most part, we are told to go easy on what needs to be refrigerated and purchase more dry goods.  When severe weather comes, within a few hours, it can alter the existence of many. In short, the weather is a game changer that doesn't care about your social standing. It will level you out with the most damaging of treatments. If we're not careful, the despondency of such an experience can ruin our creativity as we go into survival mode.  As I ponder what we do with food in good times, a thought that came was how can we turn food to a form of delight during catastrophic times and boost the morale of survivors? What would we come up with using the ingredie...

 If you ever had the opportunity to sit around listening to the elderly in our communities talk about food when they were growing up and your ear was keen, you would pick up on a few things. They had a process by which they managed food from the way it was grown, stored, cooked and even consumed. Their methods ensured that they had enough to last the family for a prescribed time, and their measured usage ensured that they contained costs as money was quite scarce.  We now put all kinds of fancy names to what they were doing. If you ever studied food and beverage, you would recognize that some of these practices are age-old and formalized in a manner so they could be taught academically.  Let's cast our minds back with them and examine the benefits of what they call ground food. We would recognize that eating this way had benefits as those older generations were strong - mentally and physically, in a real way, not having to rely on a gym or other stimulants to get going. T...

  If this were a cooking show and you were given two base ingredients from which you were to develop dishes, what would they be? Well recently, I was looking on Twitter among the accounts I follow who are in farming. One of these farmers  https://twitter.com/thebajanfarmer  on this occasion what was featured zucchini and cabbage. I got to thinking about what dishes can be made with these ingredients? Can we make them diverse?   Well, I did an internet search and came up with this:  https://bit.ly/3Jv9Qa4  Here's what struck me.  These combinations can be sauteed; baked; stir-fried; roasted; and stewed.  They can be meat, vegan or vegetarian dishes with varying levels of appeal. The above link showcases lots of variety that can be prepared with just these vegetables alone. I hope they get your creativity pumping.  Travel the world with your tastebuds. It's truly an experience. I would love to hear about your experiences preparing and tast...

  Sometimes when thinking about dishes, we begin at the base ingredients. Good chefs/cooks like to peruse the markets to see what they can get at their freshest so that they can prepare their delights.  I will share some sites with you from various social media sites that have served as an inspiration. On Twitter look for and follow @thebajanfarmer [John Jones] has a farm that grows a lot of produce. There are also opportunities where schools have been featured in touring the farm at various times during the year.  I believe that those students are more inclined to eat the produce when they see the origin and the appearance of the produce from there.  As I was going to feature one line of vegetables, I found a site on YouTube that is called @caribbeanpot [Caribbean Pot], Chris De La Rosa produces Caribbean meals which look appetizing and are released weekly.  I don't know any of them personally, but the material I have found them interesting. The videos along ...

 Have you ever looked at street food from different parts of the world? The creativity of people globally is remarkable. Sometimes I think that we should be doing more if we are going to be promoting our regions within the Caribbean for food.  I often wonder, why must we always do eggs the same way rather than including our flair for doing so. Often when one goes out or eat home, you will find eggs done as either - hard boiled, fried, scrambled, and less popular poached.  Yet there are so many ways of preparing eggs that to explore them would showcase that we are just limited by our imaginations.  If you are even in a situation where you couldn't go out for one reason or another and you wanted to bring some experiences into your home. Why not take a look at ideas like this: This way you can enhance your experiences within the comfort of your own home.  Thanks for stopping by, I hope that this gets your ideas jogging. Bring out your inner creativity with the food...