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CARIBBEAN INGREDIENTS AND TERMS

Lots of the ingredients in this book are readily available in the supermarkets. For the more unusual ones, check out your local ethnic shops and you’ll probably find more of them than you’d think.

ACKEE

Before it’s fully ripe, ackee looks like a large pink mango and is poisonous to eat. When ripe, it bursts open into a ‘smile’, revealing yellow flesh with black seeds. It is most widely available canned, although it can be slightly expensive. It has a lovely silky texture which some people compare to that of scrambled eggs.

ALL-PURPOSE SEASONING

Caribbean food relies heavily on seasoning and this is a commercially prepared blend of spices. The ingredients in different brands vary; they include salt, paprika, chilli powder, celery powder, ground coriander, onion powder and can also include allspice, garlic, thyme and black pepper. Make sure the brand you use doesn’t contain MSG (monosodium glutamate).

ALLSPICE

Allspice berries, also called pimento seeds, are the dried berries from a pimento tree. Their distinctive flavour, similar to a mixture of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, is a vital ingredient in jerk seasoning. If using whole berries, use them to cook and flavour the dish but remove before eating (as you would cloves). Allspice is also available ground.

BANANAS

The most well known variety is obviously the sweet yellow banana. There is also the PLANTAIN, a savoury variety which is much larger and chunkier and best enjoyed when the yellow skin is beginning to blacken. They cannot be eaten raw, so must be fried, boiled or baked. GREEN BANANAS are smaller and must also be cooked before eating.

BEANS

When Caribbeans talk about ‘peas’, they actually mean beans, and not the green pea as we know it. So the Jamaican favourite, ‘rice and peas’, is actually rice with red kidney beans. Beans are a Caribbean staple, used in soups, stews and side dishes. Traditionally, they were used fresh, but these days they are most commonly available dried. Dried beans require soaking overnight before use. Then boil vigorously for 10 minutes to kill off their poisonous toxins and simmer until tender. You can buy canned beans, but unfortunately these don’t produce the flavoursome pink liquid which comes from the boiling process. Favourite varieties include kidney beans, black beans, gunga peas (also called pigeon peas) and black eyed peas (also called cowpeas).

BREADFRUIT

This is a large cannonball-sized starchy vegetable that can be used either when green or when ripe. Treat it as you would potatoes; try it thinly sliced and fried, cubed and roasted in the oven with oil, barbecued whole or even boiled and mashed with butter.

BROWN

Jamaican dishes are often called ‘brown’ or ‘brown-down’ – this simply refers to the fish or meat being browned in a little oil before any liquid is added.

CALLALOO

Popular in soups and stews, callaloo is an exotic alternative to spinach. The name is used for the green leaves from a wide variety of plants, including taro (also called dasheen), tannia (also called malnga) and amaranth (prickly callaloo). The leaves need to be washed, chopped and boiled in the same way as spinach. Callaloo is available canned, but if you can’t find it try using large spinach leaves as a substitute.

CHRISTOPHENE

In Jamaica, this is also known as ‘cho-cho’ or ‘chayote’. It is a pear-shaped gourd with a delicate flavour, similar in taste and texture to a young squash, or small marrow. The most commonly available variety is pale green and the skin can be either prickly or smooth. Peel before using and try it raw in salads, or boiled in soups or stews.

CINNAMON

Cinnamon sticks are rolled up quills of the dried pale-brown inner bark of the cinnamon tree. Cinnamon trees grow naturally on many of the Caribbean islands, notably Grenada. In Barbados, cinnamon is simply called ‘spice’ because it’s used so much. As well as quills, it may be sold as strips of bark (sometimes known as cinnamon leaf) or as a ground powder. It’s a key ingredient in jerk seasoning.

COCO BREAD

This is a firm, white, slightly sweet bread, traditional in Jamaica, and often a part of Caribbean takeaways. It is called coco bread because you split it open like a coconut. Similar to a pitta, it makes an ideal pocket for other ingredients and is traditionally eaten filled with a vegetable patty. As an alternative, you’ll find hard dough bread in large supermarkets and West Indian bakers. Bagels would also make a good substitute.

COCONUT

Green coconuts, called Jelly coconuts, are readily available in the Caribbean. They have a green shell and a jelly-like interior. They are very tough to open, so you will need a strong kitchen knife or meat cleaver to slice off the top or pierce a hole. Inside you’ll find the coconut water, which you can drink with a straw – be careful not to spill it, though, because it stains!

Brown coconuts, (or dry coconuts) are more widely available in the UK and contain coconut water and coconut flesh. The flesh can be grated and mixed with water to make coconut milk.

Coconut milk is the liquid from the coconut, mixed with grated coconut meat. This can be bought in cans.

Coconut cream is thicker, with a greater density of coconut and less water.

Creamed coconut is compressed coconut flesh, with no water and is sold as a solid block. Crumble or grate it into liquids to add the flavour.

Desiccated coconut is dried grated coconut. It is often used in sweet cakes and breads.

Sweetened tenderised coconut is desiccated coconut that has a softer texture, since it has been sweetened with sugar. This is also a great ingredient for sweet cakes and breads.

CORNMEAL

Cornmeal is a yellow grain, ground from corn (maize). The name varies across the Caribbean from island to island and it is also commonly referred to using the Italian name, polenta. It’s used in savoury and sweet dishes, including cornmeal dumplings and a pudding called cornmeal pone.

DUCHY

‘Duchy’ is an abbreviation of the traditional Dutch pot used for cooking many Caribbean dishes, including roasts, stews and soups. Made of aluminium and originally used to cook over an open fire, a duchy holds a lot of heat in its sides and lid, so food cooks quickly and thoroughly. Remember the old song lyrics ‘ pass the duchy pan the left hand side’?

ESCOVITCH

Like ‘ceviche’, its European equivalent, this refers to food that is cooked with vinegar.

GRAVY BROWNING

This is a ready-made liquid available in large supermarkets. It’s a great time-saver and gives certain dishes, such as stewed beef or oxtail, a good strong brown colour. If not available, see the recipe for Brown Down Chicken (see page 50), for an alternative method of browning.

JERK AND JERK SEASONING

Jerk is the traditional Jamaican way to cook pork, chicken, beef and seafood over a fire pit or on a closed barbeque smoke pit. It was brought to the island over 250 years ago with the African slaves. Nowadays Jamaicans use an oil drum cut in half and used as you would a lidded barbecue.

Jamaican jerk seasoning is a traditional marinade used to spice up chicken, meat and fish, usually before barbequing. It can be bought ready prepared or you can make your own (see page 131 for my recipe). Jerk generally contains spring onion, bell chilli peppers, salt, thyme, allspice and cinnamon.

MIXED CARIBBEAN ESSENCE

This is a commercially prepared product that combines the flavours of vanilla, almond and lemon. If not available, make your own by mixing equal quantities of vanilla essence, almond essence and lemon juice.

OKRA

These are also called ladies fingers, presumably because they look like elegant pointy green digits! A relative of the cotton plant, this vegetable has the mild flavour of a runner-bean but is one of the least liked vegetables in the West, because of its slimy texture. However, it features lots in Caribbean recipes, and very successfully too! Its natural thickening qualities are ideal for sauces and soups. It’s also great steamed as a vegetable and enjoyed with fish, or blanched in a salad. Choose small pods, and keep them whole; the more you slice them, the slimier the finished dish!

POTATOES

Regular potatoes are often called ‘Irish Potata’ by Caribbean cooks. Sweet potatoes can be treated just as you would regular potatoes. Their skin varies in colour from brown to purple and the flesh can be either white or orange. In the USA they are known as sweet yams.

SALTFISH

Also called codfish or salted cod, this recipe was a way of preserving fish in the hot Caribbean climate. The fish is dried and then heavily salted. Before use, it needs to be rinsed, or soaked in water, then boiled a couple of times to remove excess saltiness. Often sold in a block, this contains bones, which need to be removed after boiling but before frying. Salt fish fillets are easier to use but more expensive.

SCOTCH BONNET CHILLI PEPPERS

Hot peppers give Caribbean food its distinctive flavour. Sometimes called bird pepper, country pepper or seasoning pepper, the scotch bonnet pepper is the most favoured in Jamaica. So-called because its irregular sides resemble a bonnet, it is available in a variety of colours from yellow and green through to red and is only about an inch long. It is extremely hot with a slightly bitter flavour (the heat comes from the seeds, so remove if you prefer a milder dish). If not available, use chilli peppers instead or add a splash of West Indian Hot Pepper sauce for a more authentic taste.

YAM

This is a starchy root vegetable available in many different types, varying in size, shape and colour. The most common are those with yellow and white flesh. The bark-like skin may be smooth or rough, pale in colour, brown or purple. They have quite a bland starchy flavour, but treat them as you would potatoes and try them boiled, mashed, fried or roasted.