Caribbean and Tropical Food

 In our region alone, there are so many variations on breakfast. We start our day in diverse ways using the same base ingredients and getting delicious results. If we look at some breakfast pictures, would it encourage you to explore your options from the same old recipes you have been using constantly?  It doesn't matter which diet you prefer, there's something for everyone. Take a look: These pictures show the variety of food, textures, and combinations; no meal should ever be bland again. The aesthetics invite appeal and arouse the appetite.  I'm going to stop here and go to get some breakfast. Tune in next time, and enjoy every moment of your weekend. 

Annually, we have to prepare for natural disasters. This is because we could be hit by a hurricane, flood, or earthquake at any time. One cannot stress the importance of having non-perishable food items. Below, we will highlight some categories and why they are best suited for such times. Canned Foods: Canned Meats : Examples include corned beef, Vienna sausages, and tuna. Canned Vegetables : Such as pigeon peas, black beans, kidney beans, and callaloo. Canned Fruits : Pineapple slices, mangoes, and guavas are commonly found. Dry Foods : Rice and Pasta : Stored in airtight containers, they can last long. Legumes : Dried peas, beans, and lentils. They are a great source of protein and are very filling. Hard Dough Bread : This dense bread common in the Caribbean tends to have a longer shelf life than typical breads. Cassava Bread : Made from ground cassava (yuca or manioc), it can be stored for extended periods. Preserved Foods : Saltfish : Dried and salted cod that can be rehydrated and...

  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...

  As you figured by now, I love what the Caribbean has to offer in terms of food. I am fully aware that there are others who know way more than me about the foods of the Caribbean and share their intrigue. If I may be so bold, I am going to share some well-researched and written articles about our food. Here's my list of what I've found: The 40 Best Caribbean Recipes   17 side dishes that will turn any meal into a feast    30 Caribbean-Inspired Recipes for a Tropical Escape With a little imagination, Caribbean foods can be quite creative and appetizing; never a bored moment when it comes to eating well and within budget. Some of these foods were forged out of hard times experienced in the Caribbean and made popular by the curious who fell in love with the end result.  Some of these recipes resulted from experimentation when the battery of ingredients to make a dish had to be substituted. The variations are wild; exposing the eater to a wide range of culinary exp...

 Going to hotel school was one of the best things that can happen in the life of anyone. It has a way of preparing you for life through a course of studies that enables you to understand what you previously took for granted.  There's so much more to food than just putting a collection of ingredients together because that's what an older family member did and call it a dish. They may have done this out of necessity not realizing that some of what they did has its beginnings in classical cooking.  Questions surrounding consistency, portion control, yield management, texture, and colour, to mention a few develop their meanings when someone takes the time to study the processes and break them down in a manner that the methods can be taught and the outcomes are consistent.  I remember having to learn kitchen French since if you had the opportunity to work in an international environment it was necessary to understand and be understood when communicating within a fast-pace...

  Have you ever encountered hard times while growing up in the Caribbean? Parents often told their families that they were to eat certain foods because "they are good for you". They never said good for what. It is against this backdrop that I have always questioned what foods do within my body. As I age, I became even more interested since when life began at 40; no one ever said what it would begin to do. Finding out is experiential. The wear and tear on our bodies over the years seem to start manifesting themselves at this stage. Perhaps it's time we stop taking things we eat for granted and begin to understand exactly what they do within our bodies and why we should consume them the way we do. I am suspecting this may take more than one article. There are just so many foods that we are yet to understand their relationship within our bodies. Here are a few: Breadfruit; As quoted from this source - click link :  It is an excellent source of proteins, essential amino acids...

This isn't an article that excludes or alienates other races, but one that celebrates blacks through cuisine.  We have a long legacy of creating scarcity meals that would satisfy a family's hunger with minimal resources. When you look at the surface, the black family had many mouths to feed back in the day. It's not like now, when careers have resulted in shrinking families, at the time, the thinking was different and family was a way of ensuring that you had a means of support as you aged.  We were always told, "Your strength goes through your mouth", with the adults saying at the time, "I love to see children with a hearty appetite". If you were lacking a healthy appetite, we would get shark oil with B complex, or other fish oils. Cod liver oil, Geritol, and others. Who remembers Sonatogen Tonic Wine?  Meal times were when families got together and shared, not only food but what their day was like and the experiences they encountered. If friends of you...