CAPE FOOD,NUTRITION & HEALTH

October 2021

Unit 2 Module 1

1. Cultural food choices ad patterns

Subtopic: Origin and history of Caribbean foods

Food, is an essential aspect of many family traditions in Caribbean culture. At holidays and
special events, it is very common for people to spend many days preparing food.
Caribbean food includes all the favourite seafood, chicken, and steak, prepared with the
spices and colourful ingredients of the Island

Who are the first dwellers in the Caribbean? And what distinguish their food?

It must be noted that all the Caribbean islands have some similarities such as tropical climate,
was colonised by same European countries, language, and fauna with a few distinctions.
These include different national dishes and a little difference in meal preparation methods.

The Arawak, Carib, and Taino “Indians” were the first dwellers in the Caribbean Islands.
Their daily diet consists of vegetables and fruits such as papaya, yams, guavas, and cassava.
The Taino began the process of preparing meat and fish in large clay pots. The Carib Indians
introduced spices and lemon juice to their meat and fish recipes. In general, the favourite
Caribbean dish is seasoned jerk chicken. This spicy cuisine is unique.

International cuisines that influenced Caribbean cuisine:

But the Caribbean cuisine consists of culinary influences from Africa, France, Spain, India,
Dutch, America, Britain, and Asia.

For example: The Chinese launched rice and mustard; and the early Portuguese sailors are
responsible for adding the famous codfish. Spain brought in fruit trees like orange, ginger,
plantains, figs, date palms, sugar cane, grapes, tamarinds and coconuts; and The Americas
introduced beans, corn, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, and chilli pepper.

You can see that chicken, goat, and curry are favourite foods throughout the English
influenced areas of the Caribbean while the French cuisine is prevalent in the French-
influenced areas of the Caribbean. Also, People living in the Spanish influenced regions of
the Caribbean eat a lot
of spicy and flavoured foods.
Seafood is very popular in the Caribbean as well. Each Caribbean nation usually has a unique
seafood cuisine. Shark, fish, lobster, and conch are familiar favourite dishes in different
regions.Rice is a staple food throughout the Caribbean; and each island has a particular rice
 dish. On some islands, rice is seasoned or served with coconut. Yellow and brown rice is
served as a side on many Caribbean dishes.
In addition to rice, beans are a favourite food throughout the Caribbean. In Cuba, beans
appear in many dishes. Beans are cooked and served in a variety of ways depending on the
country.

 Food served in the Caribbean islands has been influenced by the cultures of the world;
but each island adds its unique flavour and culinary techniques. Caribbean culinary is most
famous because of its many influences from much staple foods of the world.

CARIBBEAN FOOD ORIGINS

THE ARAWAK, CARIB, AND TAINO INDIANS WERE THE FIRST INHABITANTS
OF THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS.
 
1. These first inhabitants occupied the present day islands of British Virgin Islands,
Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Trinidad, and Jamaica. Their daily diet consisted of
vegetables and fruits such as papaw, yams, guavas, and cassava, chilli, guavas,
arrowroot, cashew, maize, callaloo and sweet potato. They also ate fish and birds
along with other foods.. The Taino started the process of cooking meat and fish in
large clay pots. Today these are called stock pots and are made from stainless steel.
 
2. The Arawaks are the first people known to make a grate of thin green wood strips on
which they slowly cooked meat, allowing it to be enhanced by the flavour of the
wood.
 
3. This grate was called a barbacoa, and the word we know today as barbeque is taken
from this early Indian cooking method. Jerking has copied this method of cooking.
4. They were the first set of people to wrap meat in young papaya leaves and cook it,
thus making the meat tenderer. This knowledge has allowed us to make meat
tenderiser from the enzyme papain which is found in papaya.
5. They also started using lemon/lime with fish to make a sauce called tamaulin that was
eaten with cassava cakes (bammy).
6. The technology of making bammy was started by the Taino, except that they did not
have graters so it was cut up in fine pieces, wrung and left to drain. The trash was
used for bammy and the juice used to make an intoxicating beer along with corn juice.
Today cassava is being cultivated for the beer industry
7. The method of coating foods was also their technology except that birds and fish were
coated in mud, and then roasted, after which the mud was removed taking the scales
and feathers with it. Today, flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and breadcrubs are mostly
used for coating foods.
 

THE CARIB INDIANS - added more spice to their food with hot pepper sauces, and also
added lemon and lime juice to their meat and fish recipes.
The Caribs are said to have made the first pepper pot stew. No recipes exist since every time
the Indians made the dish, they would always add new ingredients. The Carib had a big
impact on early Caribbean history, and the Caribbean Sea was named after this tribe.

The Spanish (1494-1655)

The Spaniards came to the island and destroyed most of the Indian tribe with their tricks,
diseases and violence.
1. They brought cattle, pigs, goats , horses and lard (pork fat)
2. They also brought trees and fruits such as Seville and Valencia oranges, limes,
lemons, tamarind, sugar cane, pomegranate, date palm, plantain, coconuts, grapes,
figs, ginger, bananas to add to the already wide variety present.
3. Hot chocolate, gizzadas, soaking fruits in wine, peas and bean dishes and Christmas
pudding
4. They also introduced frying as a cooking method.

THE BRITISH (1655-1962)

1. The British brought breadfruit, otaheiti apple, Ackee, mangoes, rose apple, oranges,
mandarin, turmeric, black pepper and coffee.
2. They also produced rum and molasses from sugar and exported it in exchange for
pork, flour and pickled fish.
3. They also loved sweets like Easter bun, tarts, pies, jams, marmalades, porridge,
sponge cakes and rice pudding, Christmas pudding
4. They had salted meats like salt beef, corned beef, roasted beef
5. The British Cornish pastry which was filled with potatoes and meat is the forerunner
of our Jamaican beef patty.
6. Other dishes are bacon and eggs, roasted beef, fruit salad
7. They were the ones who introduced the writing of menus and recipes, although the
measurements were not correct as they used handfuls, a pinch, a heap or half penny’s
worth
8. They are responsible for wood fuelled metal stoves, called Caledonia
9. They used to have helpers to prepare and serve meals. Today these are called waiters
and waitresses.

Once the Europeans brought Africans slaves into the region, the slave’s
diet consisted mostly of food the slave owners did not want to eat. So the
slaves had to be inventive, and they blended their traditional African foods
with staples found on the islands.
 
 
 THE AFRICANS
1. The Africans introduced okra, callaloo, fish cakes, saltfish, ackee, pudding
and souse, yam coco
2. The plantation owners, by law, had to supply their slaves with salted meat or fish, at
least once per year and they were expected to supplement their diet with ground
provisions which they grew. Therefore, these meats were salted and dried over a fire
as a means of preservation as they did not have refrigerators. This was the start of
salting and smoking as a m preservation method and a way of developing flavour.
This process is used today for ham and chicken mainly.
3. Most present day Caribbean island locals eat a present diet that is reflective
of the main ingredients of original early African dishes, and includes cassava, sweet
potatoes, yams, plantains, bananas and corn meal.
4. They invented ‘One pot’ cooking
5. Also the yabba pot/three legged pot, wooden turn stick, swizzle stick, grater, wooden
spoon, mortar and pestle, iron pot
6. Jerking as a cooking method ( Boston Jerk in Portland) and the using of coal for
cooking
7. The Africans brought their own methods of food preparation and using their creativity
they came up with many combinations which are now Jamaican Authentic Cuisine
such as:
 Ackee and Salt fish (National Dish)
 Mackerel Rundown (Dip and Fall Back)
 Salt Fish Fritters (Stamp and Go)
 Tie a Leaf (Blue Drawers, Duckunoo)
 Fufu
 Jam an Stan Up (Thick red peas/gungo soup)
 Brebich - called Black wash (beverage) Today we have lemonade
 

THE EAST INDIANS and THE CHINESE

After slavery was abolished, the Europeans went to India and China for
labour, These were called Indentured servants. More cooking styles were introduced to
Jamaica.
1. Much of the Indian cooking
culture remains alive and well in the Caribbean today with the introduction of curried
meats and curry powder. Indians call it kari podi, and we have come to know this
pungent flavour as
curry.
2. The introduced roti, East Indian Mangoes, wheat flour, eggplant and ginger
3. Vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, green peas and escallion
4. Phulouri- a vegetarian delight dipped in hot sauce
5. Kahari ( cast iron pot for cooking) today, called coal pot
6. Tawa (a short handled flat griddle
7. Brick oven for baking
 THE CHINESE
1. The Chinese introduced rice, which is always a staple in home cooked
island meals, pak choy.
2. The Chinese also introduced mustard, soy sauce, dried noodles, five star powder, sweet
and sour plums, fermented black beans
3. Dishes such as Chow Mein – One pot dish of noodls, chicken and mushroom, Fried rice
4. Utensils include the Wok (a concave shaped pot like a kahari, the steamer, lifter, heavy
duty cleaver and wooden chopping block
5. Invented the scoring of fish, salting it and dry it in the sun for weeks
6. The use of honey in cooking and bee keeping
7. Cooking methods such as stir frying, steaming sweet and sour foods, use of ginger to
create sharp flavours
8. Garnishing foods
Portuguese sailors introduced the popular codfish. Most visitors to the Caribbean have no
idea that the fruit trees and fruits so familiar to the islands were introduced by the early
Spanish explorers.

THE RASTAFARIANS -sub culture

1. Introduction of I-tal foods – a natural way of cooking of itms from the earth, without
adding preservatives or salt.
2. They may eat fish but most are strict vegetarians/vegans
3. Stir fried and vegetable stews thickened in coconut milk, lime juice and hot pepper.

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28
National Dishes of the Caribbean
 
 
The Caribbean is very interconnected and that can be seen in the foods we eat. We often find
varieties of the same dish across the region with different names or maybe the same name but
prepared differently. Whether it is the people or the food, when you travel through the
Caribbean islands, you are sure to find something to love. Here are a few national dishes from
around region.

Antigua & Barbuda: Fungee & Pepperpot

Fungee is the name given to cornmeal cooked with okra in salted water and boiled to a paste
and pepperpot combines a variety of meats and vegetables boiled to a soup-like finish.

Barbados: Cou-Cou & Flying Fish

Cou-Cou, similar to Antigua and Barbauda’s Fungee, is made with cornmeal, flour, and okra,
steamed flying fish and gravy are added on the side.

Dominica: Callaloo Soup

The national dish of Dominica was once mountain chicken but because this is an endangered
frog species, it was changed to callaloo soup. This is a combination of leafy vegetables,
ground provisions, meat and coconut milk.

Grenada: Oil Down

Oil down is made with breadfruit and other ground provisions along with layers of of your
choice of meats and the other vegetables.

Guyana: Pepperpot
Though similar in name to Antigua’s national dish, this differs considerably. Guyana’s
pepperpot is made with cassareep and your choice of meat, and is served with white rice or
peas.

Haiti: Griots with Rice & Beans

Cubes of pork are boiled then fried and served as a main entrée. It is usually served with rice
and peas.
Jamaica: Ackee & Saltfish
Served mainly as a breakfast meal, ackee and saltfish is a versatile meal. Ackee is a fruit that
when prepared, it resembles scrambled eggs. The saltfish is boiled to remove some of the
saltiness, then fried up with green peppers, and onions.

Saint Lucia: Green Fig & Saltfish

Green figs, or green bananas, are boiled or stewed and served with salt fish. Similar to
Jamaica’s ackee and saltfish, this is most often served as a breakfast meal.

Saint Vincent & The Grenadines: Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish
The breadfruit is roasted on firewood, then baked in an oven until soft. The jackfish is then
fried and the pair is usually served with local golden apple juice.

Trinidad & Tobago: Crab & Callaloo

Callaloo, similar to the Antiguan pepperpot, is a cook up of a combination of vegetables and

meats. The dark green soupy concoction is well seasoned and is a staple of Trinis
everywhere.

Let’s look at some of the other wonderful dishes that are the foundation for Caribbean cuisine
as we know it today.  Here are a selection of must-try national dishes of the Caribbean.

 Barbados – Flying Fish and Cou Cou

 Jamaica – Jerk Anything
 Antigua – Fungee and Pepperpot
 Dominican Republic – Mangu
 Turks and Caicos – Fish Fry
 Costa Rica – Gallo Pinto
 Trinidad and Tobago – Doubles
 St Lucia – Green Figs and Salt Fish
 Grand Cayman – Turtle Stew
 The Bahamas – Guava Duff