Posts Tagged ‘food’

Patrick

Taste of the Caribbean: Local Lobster—No Claws, No Problem!

Caribbean Lobster

Caribbean Lobster

It would be too easy to be drawn into the debate about what’s the tastiest lobster. Naturally, most anyone from the northern half of the United States would quickly reply (in all caps): MAINE LOBSTER! They would probably add that it’s the only “true” lobster, whatever that means. And just as naturally, most anyone from the Caribbean would loudly retort: CARIBBEAN LOBSTER IS ‘DE BEST!

Rather than stoke the fires of that debate (I think you can guess my allegiance), I’ll just say there are two things that factor into the tastiness of a dish that go beyond the usual debate.

The first is freshness and the second is a more nebulous “spice” that at times could be called authenticity, or nostalgia, or even an experiential quality. Basically, everything tastes better when it’s both fresh and an experience.

No, Caribbean lobster (also known as spiny lobster) is not a close relative of Maine lobster. No, Caribbean lobster doesn’t have oversize claws full of tasty flesh. No, Caribbean lobster isn’t what many Americans grew up with from visits to the likes of Red Lobster.

What Caribbean lobster is, however, is one of the most so-fresh-it-was-alive-when-I-got-there, thoroughly authentic, experience making dinners you can have in the West Indies. And that’s what makes it the most delicious lobster on the planet… At least at the moment you’re eating it.

Of course, if you’re not in the Caribbean, you can still spice your meal with nostalgic memories of time spent in the sunny islands by picking up some spiny Caribbean lobster of your own and fixing up some at home. (Usually, it would be from fisheries off Florida.) This Caribbean lobster with rum-jerk butter recipe comes from the Mount Gay Rum (oldest rum brand in the world) folks on Barbados.

Ingredients:
  • two to three 1-2 lb lobsters (or tails) halved and cleaned
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1 tbsp jerk seasoning
  • ½ cup chopped sweet pepper
  • ¼ cup Mount Gay Eclipse Rum
  • 2-3 tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup chives and parsley chopped
  • ½ cup tomato concasse for garnish

Directions:

Parboil the lobster until bright red, then put into a 300 F oven with a little melted butter until the sauce below is done. Sauté onion, jerk seasoning and sweet pepper in remaining melted butter and cook until onion turns translucent. Removing from heat pour in the rum and add butter stirring until it has melted evenly and turns creamy. Add lime juice and herbs, stirring together.

Take each lobster tail and cut in half keeping shell in place. Pull all lobster meat from the rest of the lobster. Keep the body shell for plating your dishes.

Place a bed of greens on each plate. Next place a hollowed lobster shell on each plate on top of the greens. Add lobster meat in a mound next to shell opening and place lobster tails on plate. Pour sauce over lobster and serve the rest in dipping bowls. Garnish with chopped tomato concasse.

It may not be as fresh as the lobster pictured above that moments later went into my belly during a recent visit to St. Martin‘s Restaurant Row in Grand Case, but if you close your eyes while savoring that sweet meat, you might be able to hear the sounds of Caribbean waves lapping against the beach.

Enjoy!

Aug. 30th, 2010 | Tags: , , | View Comments
Patrick

On-Site St. Martin: Sky’s the Limit Lolo Bar and Restaurant

Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

We know, we know: St. Martin has some of the best French cuisine and fanciest restaurants in the West Indies (some even call it the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean), but we love to go lo-fi and local when we travel. So naturally, we absolutely had to stop at a lolo, or two… or three!

“Lolo” is the St. Martin name for an open air food stand like you might find along roadsides throughout the Caribbean. Some are more established than others, but in general you can expect to sit on picnic tables amidst the smell of grilling meats and seafood produced by freestanding barbecues. There’s also a major perk for those on a budget: most honor a $1 to 1 euro exchange rate! When you factor in that many sell beer for 1 euro, the lolos’ prices are hard to beat.

My wife Kathleen and I stopped at a few lolos on our last trip, but our favorite was the one we hit first: Sky’s the Limit – located on the edge of Restaurant Row in Grand Case.

On our first day, right around 5pm, we sauntered across the bridge on the north end of Restaurant Row heading south. Just a few paces further is a blue awning and sign for Sky’s the Limit. The smell of the grill enveloped us as we strolled by, compelling us under the awning to find seats at one of their blue and white picnic tables. A moment later, we were handed two plastic covered menus by a waitress with a huge smile. I noticed her name tag. It read: Sweetness.

Sweetness at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

Sweetness at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

“I’ll have the shrimp plate and a Presidente, please!” I quickly volunteered having barely gotten past the first page of the menu.

“Hmm, I was going to get that… Guess I’ll get the marlin.” Kathleen added. “Well, which one is better?”

“The Shrimp,” Sweetness announced with finality before thinking it over. “Well, you see… I don’t like marlin a’tall. Too dry for me, you know?”

“Ok, then shrimp for me too, then!”

Smiles all around.

With my Presidente in hand, we sat waiting on our late lunches. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the ladies behind the counter rolling dough into balls and dropping them into a big Tupperware container.

“Mmmm… Johnny cakes!”

Making Johnny Cake at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

Making Johnny Cake at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

Kathleen glanced over to the woman. “Mmmm, are you making johnny cakes right now?”

“No honey, but I can fry up a couple special for you, if you like.”

Another big smile. How could we say no.

With just Kathleen and myself in the lolo, we passed time shooting the breeze with Sweetness and the other ladies. Chatting about johnny cakes, and bake, and tourists, and fish, and so on. Before I knew it, Sweetness was plunking a fresh ice-cold Presidente in front of me. I’d idly polished off my previous one without even noticing. More smiles. It was infectious!

Shrimp Plate at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

Shrimp Plate at Sky's the Limit lolo - St Martin

It was just a few moments before we got our meals… And these were really meals. On our plate were nearly a dozen shrimp covered in sauce, mac and cheese, rice and beans, a little salad, broccoli, spaghetti, potato salad, and coleslaw! Then the johnny cakes arrived. A little Matouk’s West Indian Flambeau Hot Sauce on the side and we were in business. And business was good!

Without question, when you’re in St. Martin, you need to hit as many of the world renowned restaurants on Grand Case’s Restaurant Row as you can. But whatever you do, don’t miss out on the lolos. Their quality can be hit or miss, but I can pretty much guarantee a hit with Sky’s the Limit.

Mmmmm…. Memories…

Aug. 24th, 2010 | Tags: , | View Comments
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Sweet & Sexy Papaya Pie

love♡janine via Flickr

Just try to say papaya without cracking a smile… Not only does it remind me of warm childhood days back in St. Croix traipsing through the bush on imaginary adventures with my brothers, but this fruit is also just damn sexy!

It’s sweet, yes. It’s juicy too, but so are a lot of other fruits. The sexy difference lies in the papaya’s distinctly feminine physical traits.

On the outside, papayas have a sensuously round, bosom-like shape, the full effect of which is best represented pre-harvest when they’re still, um…hanging in the trees.

markuz via flickr

On the inside, well, take a look at the photo above… Do I really have to spell it out?

All this sexiness is not just for show either. It’s said that the papaya increases libido in women and boosts hormone levels for improved fertility. The fruit and its spicy, edible seeds (sometimes called papaya caviar) are also packed with vitamins A, C, Bs, E,  K, a natural digestive, antioxidant nutrients, potassium and magnesium. The perfect combination of all these nutrients promotes digestion and a healthy cardiovascular system for good blood flow, which obviously carries some bedroom benefits for us guys as well.

If a boost in the bedroom is behind your hankering for papaya, though, make sure you stick to the ripe ones. Apparently, women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka swear by green papayas as a natural form of contraception and abortion. Among men in the Philippines, papaya is also alleged to limit libido, though my Dad (age 70) eats ‘em every chance he gets with no ill effects.

Either way, papayas are a tasty, healthy treat that’s great any time. They’re wonderful on their own, of course, but there are also many great cooking and baking recipes throughout the Caribbean that incorporate this super fruit. Here’s one that a friend from Antigua recently shared with me for Papaya Pie…

Ingredients:
  • 1 Medium Pre baked Pie Shell (sweet)
  • 3 Medium Ripe papayas
  • 2 tsp. Lime Juice
  • 1/2 tsp. lime Zest
  • Pinch of Cinnamon
  • 1 dash Orange extract
  • 4 Tbs. Flour
  • 4 Tbs. Sugar
  • 4 Egg Whites

Directions:

Remove seeds and mash the papayas in a large bowl. Combine the lime juice, zest, cinnamon and orange extract with the mashed papaya. Mix in flour and sugar. Separately, beat the egg whites until stiff, then add it to the bowl. Mix it all up, then pour the batter into your pie shell. Bake 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Enjoy!

Aug. 23rd, 2010 | Tags: , , | View Comments
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Singing Praises to Grace Jamaican Ketchup

Grace Jamaican Ketchup/SBPR

You may have never set foot in Jamaica, but if you know great reggae, then you’ve probably already sung the praises of Grace Jamaican Ketchup. With just a few lines in his early-80′s hit Mad Over Me, Yellowman elevated the simple condiment to iconic Caribbean cultural status. You know the words…

One thing with dem when them get hungry
Dis is what they say to me, I like my hot hot hotdog
With what? Grace Jamaican Ketchup
I like my hot hamburger
With what? Grace Jamaican Ketchup
Fish and chips and chicken and chips and almost everything nice with chips
Macaroni, rice and peas you lick you lips
Lots of ketchup please
Grace Jamaican Ketchup
Grace Jamaican Ketchup

I’d known the song for years (and actually always thought the lyric was fresh Jamaican ketchup), but never enjoyed the stuff ’til visiting the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Montego Bay two years ago. I usually stick to the local cuisine on my travels – e.g.: hole in the wall roadside eateries like Scotchie’s, just a stone’s throw from the resort – but as I kept hearing other guests praising the quality of the burgers down on the pool deck, I just had to give it a try.

On their own, the burgers were nice. Adding the Grace Jamaican Ketchup, though, made ‘em amazing!

The secret to the special ketchup is printed right on the label – Grace adds local spices and hot peppers, giving a nice kick to this normally staid condiment. Thankfully for soft mouths like mine, they don’t go overboard. Not too hot and not too spicy, Grace Jamaican Ketchup is the perfect balance of fire and flavor.

If you want to add a taste of Jamaica to your summer cook-out, click here to order a bottle online. Trust me, everyone at your next BBQ will be ‘Mad Over You’ if you do…

Aug. 16th, 2010 | Tags: , | View Comments
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: The Bite-Size Glory That is Pholourie

Pholourie/SBPR

A broad range of fried dough treats are prevalent in the culinary traditions of just about every Caribbean destination. My own personal favorite would have to be the Johnny Cakes I grew up with in St. Croix, a treat so special it inspired my all-time favorite Christmas carol. But we’ll save that delicious discourse for another time. Today we’re hungry for the fluffy round golden glories pictured above known as pholourie.

Touted recently by the gourmet gurus at Saveur, who incidentally got wind of ‘em from TriniGourmet.com, pholourie is a staple appetizer or snack food in Trinidad & Tobago where it’s enjoyed at all hours of the day. Pholourie goes well with just about everything and is very affordable. At Joy’s Roti Delight, one of the best Trini eateries here in Fort Lauderdale, you can get six pholourie for just $1!

You won’t want to forget the chutney sauce that comes with it, either. Pholourie’s are good on their own, but pure heaven with Joy’s sauce.

If you don’t live near Joy’s or Nio’s, Patrick’s favorite roti shop near his home in Brooklyn where I’ sure they serve ‘em as well, you can easily make your own pholourie at home. Here’s a quick and easy recipe from the Naparima Girls’ High School cookbook…

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups soaked and ground split peas
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt/black pepper
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp saffron powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • water
  • pepper to taste

First, mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Next, start adding water… gradually. It’s important not to add too much water as the idea is to create a thick batter. If your mixture looks like soup, you’ve gone too far.

Now it’s time to cook. Heat your oil in a large pot. Here’s a trick my Mom taught me to know when the oil is hot enough for frying – just put a small piece of the batter in the oil once you think it’s ready. If the batter turns brown in a few seconds, you’re good to go.

Drop teaspoon-sized pieces of batter into the hot oil and cook ‘em until they’re slightly brown. They’ll cook pretty fast, so be ready to scoop ‘em out and place them in a bowl lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. After a minute or two of cooling off, your pholourie will be ready to eat!

For a great mango chutney recipe to accompany your pholourie, click here.

Enjoy!

Aug. 9th, 2010 | Tags: , | View Comments
Steve

Taste of the Caribbean: Oil Down, Grenada’s National Dish

Kambiz Kamrani via flickr

If you’re ever in Grenada and lucky enough to receive an invitation to an Oil Down, don’t fetch your robe, spa slippers or Musical Massage CD’s. A rub down is not in your future. Instead, get ready for a unique cultural experience that is as fun as it is filling.

The term Oil Down doubles as the national dish of Grenada and the communal party that’s held to make it.

The dish itself is serious comfort food, generally combining breadfruit, coconut milk, saffron, dumplings, callaloo and a salted fish or meat like codfish, smoked herring, salted beef, or pig’s tail. Everything’s cooked together in one big pot over an open flame outdoors, as pictured above, with the key ingredient – the flavorful oil that’s released from the coconut milk as it simmers – inspiring the name.

The party is an all-day affair drawing together whole neighborhoods, often to the beach, to prepare the meal. Everyone pitches in to help – peeling, cutting and seasoning meat and provisions, tending to the fire, mixing drinks – all have a role to play. Once all the ingredients are in the pot, though, the party really begins. Oil Down usually cooks for a few hours, leaving ample time to take some rum, catch-up on old talk, and just kick back.

Obviously, there’s a tremendous spirit of unity and camaraderie that comes with every Oil Down. Hand-to-hand, brothers and sisters from shared communities coming together to cook and eat as one from the same pot – Oil Down is a beautiful expression of the best of Caribbean culture.

There’s nothing quite like experiencing an Oil Down in Grenada, but you can try to replicate it at home. Here’s a scaled-down recipe from our friends at the Grenada Tourist Board that could feed your family tonight!

Ingredients:
  • 1 large full breadfruit
  • 1 whole hot green pepper
  • 2 blades chive
  • 1 sprig thyme, parsley, celery
  • 1/2 to 1 ounce saffron, or
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 8 ounces salted meat (pig’s tail or pig’s snout)
  • 5 to 6 cups coconut milk
  • salt to taste

Directions:
Soak salt meat to remove some of the salt. Cut breadfruit in half. Divide each half into two or three sections. Peel and core, then wash thoroughly. Place meat in a pot. Arrange breadfruit over meat. Add seasoning and coconut milk. Cover and bring to a boil. Add saffron or curry powder and cook until meat and breadfruit are tender, the liquid is absorbed, and oil is seen around the breadfruit.

Oil Down can be served plain, with a salad, or with ochro slush. Dumplings, plantains, callaloo leaves, or various other vegetables may be added as well, since like the party that bears its name, just about everything mixes well in an Oil Down.

Enjoy!

Jul. 26th, 2010 | Tags: , , | View Comments
Patrick

Taste of the Caribbean: The Sweetness of Soursop

tru-juice of Jamaica Exotic Soursop Juice

Tru-Juice of Jamaica Exotic Soursop Juice

The other day, our dad came to visit me in Brooklyn and we got to talking about what Stephen and I have been up to with Uncommon Caribbean. He’s a pretty avid reader (hi, dad!), so he’s noticed that I’ve been writing about my favorite West Indian soft drinks like Peardrax, and Mauby Fizz. These posts seemed interesting enough to him, but he had to ask: “Patrick, do you think writing about drinks is really going to get people to travel to the Caribbean?”

The simple answer is “of course not”, but that was never the intention. My real hope is that when any of you good readers are enticed to travel to the region to experience the many hikes, dives, concerts, hotels, and islands we discuss… you won’t quench your thirst with a Diet Coke, but will instead try a Ting. You won’t wash down your roti with a Budweiser, you’ll try a Banks, a Royal Stout, a Piton, or any of the other special island beverages we highlight on Uncommon Caribbean.

And that brings me to another decidedly delicious West Indian taste: soursop.

soursop

soursop By digitonin via Flickr

Soursop (a favorite of our dad) is a fruit that usually grows to about 10 inches long and has a fairly thin, but formidable, green skin with short spikes. Beneath this skin is a thick, white pulpy flesh peppered with small, shiny, black, indigestible seeds. The thick flesh has a sweet taste, something like a mix between strawberries and pineapples with a uniquely sour hint similar to bananas. Try mixing all that together in your head and you’d be close.

Now, soursop can be made into a whole host of delights like candy and ice cream (don’t even get our dad started), but the main thing I want to focus on today is a delectable version of soursop juice that I found recently, which is bottled by Tru-Juice of Jamaica. Adding a hint of lime, Tru-Juice’s Exotic Soursop with Lime Juice Drink is by far the best mass-produced soursop juice I have ever tasted. It’s still a bit thick and creamy, like an authentic soursop juice should be, and the splash of lime compliments the sweet and sour soursop flavors perfectly.

soursop nutritional benefitsAnd did I mention soursop contains significant amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B1, and vitamin B2? Like most traditional drinks of the West Indies, it’s also good for you! It’s even high in fiber and iron. Additionally, the juice is a remedy for urethritis, haematuria and liver ailments. It’s even said that the juice can speed the healing of wounds! (I hope I won’t be testing that notion anytime soon)…

Anyway, If you want to get a taste of this “superfruit”, try grabbing a bottle today. It’s easier than tramping through the bush and safer than stealing from someone’s yard!

Jul. 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , | View Comments
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