When most people think of the tropics they think of sun, sand, sea… and coconut trees! For those who don’t know, coconuts as we know them are really the seed of the coconut “fruit”. When they’re young and the outer husk is still green they contain lots of water and the white flesh is a jelly texture. I used to love drinking coconut water straight from the coconut and then scooping out and eating the tender jelly...
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I was in my local West Indian grocery store recently and saw Jamaican-grown Escallion being sold for more than $3.00 a bunch! I thought that was crazy, especially when I can buy green onion at any grocery store for $0.99 a bunch. Whether you call them escallion (pronounced scallion), green onion, spring onion or Welsh onion, they’re all virtually the same thing! Jamaicans love their escallion and use it when cooking most savory dishes....
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A funny thing happened this week! I was planning to make Curry Powder the Ingredient of the Week and then yesterday, out of the blue, I received two questions about curry powder! Chris in Canada asked if the curry I use in my Curry Chicken recipe is Jamaican curry powder and, if so, how it different from Indian curry powder. Peter in London, England also asked about what curry powder I use, and if I have a homemade recipe. Thank you both for...
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When you’re making Jamaican chicken or beef soup Caribbean Pumpkin is must. I use it to make a richly flavoured broth that is as delicious as it colourful. I also dice it and use it as an ingredient in my Cook Up Rice recipe. Caribbean pumpkin is more comparable to varieties of squash than to the typical North American pumpkin–the symbol of Halloween. That’s why if I can’t find any Caribbean Pumpkin at my...
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If you’re someone like me who grew up in the tropics, you often crave fruits and vegetables that are not always easy to find when you live elsewhere. And when you do, they just don’t have the same deliciousness that you remember. That’s why I rarely eat papayas. I associate papayas with my grandmother. Whenever my siblings and I would visit her home she always seemed have a nice ripe papaya ready to slice up for us to enjoy. In Jamaica we...
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There is an online joke going around about the Jamaican Olympic track team: Early morning raids at the residence of the Jamaican Triple Sprint Champ Medalist, revealed a large stash of Jamaican drugs. Investigations are continuing… (then the photo above is presented) Coaches have been quietly taking notes and it’s been rumoured that future Olympians are going on the Jamaican Drug Diet. Seems that the Jamaican love of starchy fruits...
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Since this week marks Jamaica’s 50th anniversary as an independent nation, I thought it would be fitting to feature ackee, Jamaica’s national fruit, as the Ingredient of the Week. As you may know, ackee is considered a fruit, but it’s cooked as a vegetable. It’s a key ingredient in Jamaica’s national dish, Ackee and Saltfish. There’s nothing like using fresh ackee in this recipe. I grew up in a house with a...
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Anyone who has had fresh tamarind knows that it’s mighty sour and a little sweet. I think it’s nature’s best candy if you like to pucker up. When I was a child, our neighbours had a tamarind tree in their yard. When they weren’t around, my sister and I would shake the tree and gather the pods to make tamarind candy balls or a drink called Tamarind Fizz. But mostly we’d just pick them up and eat them. We learned...
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There’s no doubt that Nutmeg is one of my favourite spices. I love it and use it a lot. Though you can buy it already ground I still grate it myself on an as needed basis. You’ll find it as an ingredient in all my baked recipes, like Coconut Toto, and it even makes an appearance in my Jerk Sauce recipe! I also like to use it in porridge and Jamaicans even sprinkle it in drinks like soursop juice. Nutmeg is a spice that all Jamaicans...
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For everyone who’s interested in cooking authentic Jamaican food I think it’s important to know this ingredient. Mainly because the sweet potato most widely available in North America and Europe is not the kind used in Jamaican recipes. The sweet potatoes grown in Jamaica are not orange, but red-skinned and white or yellowish inside. Their texture is more starchy and dry than orange sweet potatoes (also called yams in the US), which...
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