Caribbean cooking draws on Indigenous, African, European, Indian and Chinese roots, with allspice, scotch bonnet, thyme and green seasoning at its heart and jerk as its best-known export.
Overview¶
The Caribbean is not one cuisine but dozens: English-, Spanish-, French- and Dutch-speaking islands, each shaped by Indigenous Taíno and Kalinago foods, the forced migration of enslaved Africans, European colonists, and the indentured labourers from India and China who arrived after emancipation. What the islands broadly share is a climate, some ingredients — allspice, scotch bonnet, thyme, spring onion, garlic, culantro, lime — and a habit of marinating meat and fish thoroughly before cooking.
Allspice, also called pimento, is native to the Caribbean and Central America and is the region's signature spice; Jamaica has historically been its main producer. nutmeg is so associated with Grenada that it appears on the national flag.
The core palette¶
- Scotch bonnet and related Capsicum chinense chillies: very hot, with a fruity, almost apricot aroma. Often used whole in a pot to give flavour without full heat — provided it does not burst.
- allspice: whole berries in stews and pickles, ground in jerk. The wood and leaves of the tree are used in jerk smoking.
- thyme: fresh sprigs, used in quantity.
- Green seasoning: a blended marinade of spring onion, thyme, garlic, culantro (shado beni in Trinidad), coriander, parsley and pepper, especially in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados (where a related mix is called Bajan seasoning).
- Sofrito and recaíto: on the Spanish-speaking islands, a base of onion, garlic, peppers, ají dulce (a mild chinense chilli) and recao (culantro); coloured with annatto (achiote) oil in Puerto Rico.
- Warm spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in drinks, cakes, porridges and sorrel.
- Curry: Caribbean curry powders are heavy on turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek and often roasted geera (cumin).
Regional differences¶
Jamaica¶
Jerk (pork or chicken marinated in allspice, scotch bonnet, thyme and spring onion, then grilled over pimento wood), ackee and saltfish, curry goat, oxtail with butter beans, rice and peas with coconut and thyme, and patties spiced with curry and thyme.
Trinidad and Tobago¶
Strongly shaped by Indian indenture: curry chicken and duck, doubles (curried chickpeas in fried bread), roti, and chunkay, a tempering of cumin and garlic in hot oil. Also pelau (rice cooked with meat browned in caramelised sugar), callaloo, and hot pepper sauces. See indian-cuisine.
Spanish-speaking Caribbean¶
Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic use less chilli heat, relying on sofrito, cumin, oregano and bitter orange. Cuban mojo, roast pork, ropa vieja, arroz con pollo coloured with annatto or saffron, and Puerto Rican pernil and pasteles.
French Caribbean¶
Guadeloupe and Martinique: Colombo (a curry powder brought by indentured South Asian labourers; its name is usually linked to Colombo in Sri Lanka), sauce chien (herbs, chilli, lime and oil), accras (salt cod fritters) and blaff (fish poached in a lime and chilli broth).
Barbados, Guyana and elsewhere¶
Bajan seasoning and flying fish; Guyanese pepperpot, made with cassareep (boiled cassava juice), cinnamon and chilli; Belize and Suriname, on the mainland, share much with the islands.
Key techniques¶
- Washing and seasoning meat: meat is rinsed with lime or vinegar and then marinated, often overnight, in green seasoning or jerk paste.
- Jerking: slow grilling over pimento wood and leaves, giving smoky, allspice-scented charring.
- Browning: sugar caramelised in oil until almost black before the meat goes in, for colour and bittersweet depth (pelau, stew chicken).
- Chunkay: hot oil with cumin and garlic poured over dal. See tempering-spices.
💡 The whole-pepper trick
Drop a whole, unbroken scotch bonnet into a pot of rice and peas or soup and remove it before serving. You get its fruity aroma and gentle warmth. Prick it or let it burst and the heat multiplies.
Landmark dishes¶
Jerk pork and chicken, ackee and saltfish, curry goat, oxtail, rice and peas, doubles, roti, pelau, callaloo, pepperpot, Cuban ropa vieja and roast pork with mojo, mofongo, Puerto Rican pernil, accras, and Trinidadian sorrel (hibiscus) spiced with cloves, cinnamon and ginger.
Stocking the cupboard¶
- Whole allspice
- Scotch bonnets — they freeze well
- Fresh thyme and spring onions
- culantro or coriander for green seasoning
- Jerk seasoning or paste
- Caribbean curry powder and cumin seed
- Whole nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves
- Annatto seed if cooking Puerto Rican or Dominican dishes