Posts Tagged ‘cuisine’

Patrick
Patrick

Taste of the Caribbean: Cow Heel and Chicken Soup, With Pigtail

Cow heel and chicken soup, with pigtail by Patrick Bennett

While in Barbados last week, we had the pleasure of swinging by The Village Bar for lunch. Of course, you would never find the place if you asked a local for directions using its official name because everyone knows the establishment simply by its neighborhood: Lemon Arbor.
Lemon Arbor began as just another one of the many rum shops that can be found all over Barbados, but as its reputation for spectacular local dishes grew, so did the actual shop. Now, Lemon Arbor has become the place to go on Saturdays for an extended lunch of souse, fried pork, and other pork dishes, plus cheap Banks beers and rum.

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Patrick
Patrick

On-Site in Barbados: Continental Fare with Local Flair

Saltfish and palori at The House, Barbados

Honestly, when on vacation, breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day. All too often you’re forced to start the day with the least intriguing food your hotel has to offer. It’s almost always the typical eggs, bacon, yogurt and juices. This isn’t really bad… just not a very inspirational way to start the day.
So, I was pleasantly surprised while staying at The House to find saltfish and palori playing the lead role in their complimentary Champagne Breakfast buffet. My Trini blood must have put a massive smile on my face because Sandra, an employee at The House who was standing at the ready to whip up eggs any style, inquired as to what I found so funny.

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Steve
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Iguana Stew

Iguanan "Leave Me Alone"

Ingredients

1 live Iguana
1 large Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
3 Tomatoes
2 Green Peppers
4 teaspoon Achiote Oil
1 pinch Pepper
Salt — To Taste

The handsome devil pictured above may not look like much of a meal to you or me, but in Guyana, Trinidad, and other parts of the Caribbean he’s a delicacy. No really, I’m serious.
One of our Guyanese friends living in South Florida was going to cook one up for us to prove it, but she claims that all the iguanas near her house died during our unusually cold winter. Of course, she said this while fighting back a wry smile and wistfully rubbing her belly, so you be the judge of what really happened to all the SoFla iguanas.

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Patrick
Patrick

Le M – Best McDonald’s Burger Ever

Le M Burger Avec Bacon

On our last trip to Martinique, we kept seeing ads for the Le M burger at McDonald’s all over the place. Uncommon Caribbean loves to sample local McDonald’s around the region to see how different cultures and local tastes shape international products. Naturally we had to try Le M.
Our verdict: wow! This is definitely not your average Mickey D’s! Just check out the photos.
This is real food. It tastes like a real burger! It has real bread!!! And it even uses real cheese!!!!
That even the McDonald’s in Martinique should offer eats of such high caliber should really come as no surprise.

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Steve
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Plein Soleil

plein

Look at your meal, now back to this photo, now back at your meal, now back to this. Sadly this isn’t your meal, but it would be if you were at Plein Soleil, a tres-chic boutique hotel nestled in the hills above the seaside town of Le Francois in Martinique.
A sublime expression of exquisite style, exclusive amenities and exceptional service Plein Soleil has only 16 guestrooms and suites spread among five colourful villas. Each villa is designed in the style of traditional Martinican creole cases, or petite houses adorned with wooden fretwork. Though sharing the same architectural style, each villa is unique in its own special way, with some seemingly carved from the hillside, further accentuating the property’s transcendent union with nature.

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Patrick
Patrick

Taste of the Caribbean: Callaloo

Callaloo

Ingredients:

12 dasheen leaves or bunch of spinach
1/4 lb salt beef or ham bone (you don’t need to use this if you are a vegetarian)
1/4 lb salt pork (you don’t need to use this if you are a vegetarian)
2 cups of coconut milk
1 tbsp butter
1 green pepper
2 crabs
8 ochroes
2 sprigs of thyme
1 onion, 4 chives
1 cup boiling water

Uncommon Caribbean is unabashedly Crucian, though we’re also very proud of our Trinidad & Tobago heritage. This pride is most evidenced by our strong and unending appetite for Trini food. Can you blame us?

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Steve
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Tortuga Rum Coconut Rice

Cocunut Rice

If you’re like us and you overdid it on the snacks while watching the endless hours of Winter Olympics coverage over the weekend, then this light and healthy recipe from our friends at the Tortuga Rum Company should be on your menu for dinner tonight. Based in the Cayman Islands, Tortuga is best-known for their Rum Cakes, the Caymans’ #1 export and as sinful a sweet treat as you’ll find anywhere in the Caribbean. As penitence, perhaps, they also publish the Tortuga Rum Fever and Caribbean Party Cookbook, which is filled with wonderful, light, quick and easy recipes like this to help us keep our bodies beach-ready no matter the weather outside, or what happens to be on TV.

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