Caribbean cuisine
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Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of West African,<ref name="bahama">"Cuisine." Template:Webarchive (Caribbean.) Bahamabreeze.com. Accessed July 2011.</ref> Creole, Amerindian, European, Latin American, Indian/South Asian, Chinese, Javanese/Indonesian, North American, and Middle Eastern cuisines. These traditions were brought from many countries when theyTemplate:Clarification needed moved to the Caribbean.<ref name="bahama"/>
History
Template:No sources section As a result of the colonization, the Caribbean is a fusion of multiple sources; British, Spanish, Dutch and French colonized the area and brought their respective cuisines that mixed with West African as well as Amerindian, Indian/South Asian, East Asian, Portuguese, and Arab, influences from enslaved, indentured and other laborers brought to work on the plantations.
In 1493, during the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spaniards introduced a variety of ingredients, including coconut, chickpeas, cilantro, eggplants, onions and garlic.
Caribbean dishes
Ingredients that are common in most islands' dishes are rice, plantains, beans, cassava, cilantro, bell peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, coconut, and any of various meats that are locally available like beef, poultry, pork, goat or fish. A characteristic seasoning for the region is a green herb-and-oil-based marinade called sofrito. Ingredients may include garlic, onions, Scotch bonnet peppers, celery, green onions, and herbs like cilantro, Mexican mint, chives, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon and thyme. This green seasoning is used for a variety of dishes like curries, stews and roasted meats.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Traditional dishes are so important to regional culture that, for example, the local version of Caribbean goat stew has been chosen as the official national dish of Montserrat and is also one of the signature dishes of St. Kitts and Nevis. Another popular dish in the Anglophone Caribbean is called "cook-up", or pelau. Ackee and saltfish is another popular dish that is unique to Jamaica. Callaloo is a dish containing leafy vegetables such as spinach and sometimes okra amongst others, widely distributed in the Caribbean, with a distinctively mixed African and indigenous character.
The variety of dessert dishes in the area also reflects the mixed origins of the recipes. In some areas, black cake, a derivative of English Christmas pudding, may be served, especially on special occasions.
By location
- Anguillian cuisine
- Antigua and Barbuda cuisine
- Aruban cuisine
- Bahamian cuisine
- Barbadian cuisine
- Cayman Islands cuisine
- Cuban cuisine
- Curaçaoan cuisine
- Dominica cuisine
- Dominican Republic cuisine
- Grenadan cuisine
- Guadeloupean cuisine
- Haitian cuisine
- Jamaican cuisine
- Martinique cuisine
- Montserratian cuisine
- Puerto Rican cuisine
- Saint Barthélemy cuisine
- Saint Kitts and Nevis cuisine
- Saint Lucian cuisine
- Trinidad and Tobago cuisine
- Turks and Caicos Islands cuisine
- Virgin Islands cuisine
See also
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References
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