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| Jerk-style braised pork, mango-tomato salad, roasted sweet potato with red bell pepper sauce, and mashed plantains |
Sometimes a recipe just doesn’t turn out well. While it is certainly disappointing, and often frustrating, it happens to everyone. So don’t get discouraged! Last week, I was in the mood for venturing into a new cuisine, and I thought Caribbean would be fun. A beautiful combination of sweet, spicy, and savory, Caribbean food brought to mind images of Jerk chicken, grilled pineapple, fried plantains, and rice and beans, not to mention pristine beaches and aqua waters.
While a Google search on Italian, French, or burgers brings up thousands of websites, I struggled to find good Caribbean recipes. There were plenty of websites featuring Caribbean fare, but many lacked either the credibility or the appeal of a well-crafted recipe. Eventually, I fell back on my favorite site, Food & Wine, and discovered a nice variety of Caribbean dishes. My main dish for the meal would be something with pork because I had about a pound of pork stew meat from 8 O’Clock Ranch in NY that I wanted to use.
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| Avocado-jalapeño salad (sort of a deconstructed guacamole) |
The side dishes I found on F&W’s website all looked so delicious, and it was impossible to choose which ones to make. Ultimately, I gave up and decided to make all four of them. They were all easy to make, some only requiring ten minutes, so it wasn’t as daunting as it might sound. Also, Rachel & I love variety in a meal. Lastly, with all of these recipes new to me, I figured even if one or two didn't knock it out of the park, the others might.
What is unique about Caribbean food is its origins. While many regions and countries around the world have multiple influences on their modern day cuisine, Caribbean food is the mutt of all mutts. This fascinating food represents the marriage of African, French, English, Spanish, and even Asian ingredients, techniques, and traditions. The famous Jerk seasoning is a delicious blend of baking spices, such as allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, and spice from fiery-hot peppers. Lime, garlic, rice, beans, chicken, and pork are all commonly used ingredients. But so are interesting things such as coconut, tomatoes, papaya, goat, and ginger.
The influences are not hard to see when looking at the region’s dynamic history. Following Christopher Columbus’s European discovery of the ‘New World’ in 1492, it was only a matter of time before imperialism followed him. By the 1700s, nearly every scrap of land in the Caribbean (and for that matter, the entire ‘New World’) had been claimed by the European powers, each jockeying for power in the ever-expanding geopolitical arena.
As far north as Florida and Mexico to the southern countries of Chile and Argentina, the Spanish excelled at colonizing the Americas, to the extreme misfortune of the native inhabitants. The Caribbean was no different, with the Spanish controlling many of the islands, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, the French and British pushed to control many of the smaller islands. The French controlled the western half of Hispaniola, which later became Haiti (the other half is the Dominican Republic), along with Martinique, Turks & Caicos, and St. Lucia. The British, being the British, always seemed to push to control key strategic ports and waterways. They pushed to control large tracks of the Central American coastline, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and the modern day British Virgin Islands.
The African roots in the Caribbean, unfortunately, come almost entirely through the slave trade. In the 16th and 17th centuries, and even through the mid-19th century, millions of enslaved Africans were shipped from their homeland to the ‘New World.’ The slaves made up the workforce for expanding agricultural and mining enterprises. In the Caribbean, slaves were first brought to work the sugar cane farms. Later, they were also forced to farm coffee, cotton, and tobacco.
Back to the food. The jerk pork had excellent flavor, but the pork became kind of dry during the hours of braising (I think I used too much water). I won’t bother passing on the recipe. Fortunately, a couple of the side dishes were absolutely delicious. The mango-tomato salad, avocado & jalapeño salad (essentially deconstructed guacamole), and mashed plantains were all very good. I posted these three recipes below, all of which came from Food & Wine.
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| Mango-tomato salad with fresh basil |
I hope you enjoy these Caribbean dishes. They’re the hard work of centuries of different cultures from around the world, all neatly blended into a meal.
Mashed Plantains (based on F&W recipe)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 large, ripe plantains, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
2 cups water
2 jalapeños, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 ½ T. unsalted butter
¼ cup sweet onion, diced
Salt to taste
Directions:
1. After mincing the garlic and jalapeños, mash into a paste using a mortar & pestle or the back of a spoon.
2. Place the plantains and water in a medium sauce pan, and turn the heat to high.
3. Boil the plantains, covered, for about 10 minutes.
4. Remove the lid, and continue to boil for another 10-15 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated.
5. While the plantains are boiling, heat a small skillet to medium. Add the butter.
6. Once hot, add the jalapeño-garlic paste. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until it begins to brown.
7. Add the onions, stir, and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onions start to brown.
8. When the plantains and onion mixture are both ready, mix together, mashing the plantains much like mashed potatoes. If you want it even more homogenous or whipped, you could place in bowl and use a hand mixer.
9. Serve hot.
Mango-Tomato Salad (based on F&W recipe)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced ¼” thick
1 large, ripe mango—peeled, pitted and sliced ¼” thick
Salt to taste
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar, oil, shallots, and basil
2. On a large plate, mix tomato and mango together, then spread out on the plate
3. Sprinkle with salt
4. Spoon dressing over the tomato and mango
5. Serve immediately
Avocado-Jalapeño Salad (based on F&W recipe)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 avocadoes, halved, pitted, and cut into ¼” strips
¼ to ½ lime, juiced
1 large jalapeño, thinly sliced
2-3 T cilantro, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Directions:
1. On a plate, arrange strips of avocado in a circle (or whatever shape you like)
2. Sprinkle with lime juice and salt to your taste
3. Add jalapeño slices, then top with cilantro
4. Serve immediately
