Island Flavors

Caribbean cuisine is a carnival of tastes and cultures

By Brandyss Howard

Caribbean Café Restaurant in Opa-locka offers buffet-style food from several Caribbean countries. Photo by Richard M. Brooks

Caribbean cuisine is not really one cuisine — it’s a family of cuisines from many cultures, each with its own distinct flavor.

With more than 50 Caribbean restaurants in South Florida, each dish is a representation of cultural pride. Each island has its own style, beauty and taste, so understanding the differences between Bahamian, Jamaican and Haitian dishes is very important, according to Kareen Harvey, whose family restaurant, Island Hut, specializes in Caribbean food.  

“There is a diverse Caribbean culture in Miami and it is a pot of many nations,” Harvey said. “But it is important that people understand the differences because although there is a crossover between cultures, they are not one and the same.”

Bahamian Cuisine

Seafood is the staple of Bahamian cuisine. Fish, which is served as both a breakfast and dinner entrée, is prepared in a variety of ways. In the morning, locals dine on a few pieces of boiled grouper, yellowtail or snapper with a side of grits. In the afternoon, seafood is often cooked in a fish stew with onions, tomatoes, green onions and carrots.

Rock lobster, also known as crawfish, is another popular Bahamian delicacy usually served boiled, minced or in salads, often with a side of pigeon peas and rice seasoned with pork, bacon or celery.

Of course, as most people know, The Bahamas’ national seafood is conch, a peach-colored meat found inside the ocean mollusk. When served fresh and uncooked, it can be enjoyed with cocktail sauce or lime juice. It can also be steamed or added to salads, stews or chowder. However, its most popular form is “cracked”: fried into strips, balls or deep-fried fritters. And a nice piece of Johnny cake (which tastes similar to pound cake or corn bread), made with milk, butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, makes the perfect dessert.

“I’ve always been partial to conch, but not everyone knows how to prepare it right,” said Reginald Rolle, a Miami resident whose family is originally from Nassau and a frequent customer of Bahamian Kitchen in Liberty City. “I drive over there every Friday to get my plate [of fried conch] because it’s important to support these businesses that specialize in serving our [Bahamian] food. Just because it comes from a ‘Caribbean’ restaurant doesn’t necessarily mean it was done right. In all honesty, the people who make native dishes the best are the actual natives. ”

Jamaican Cuisine

The country’s motto, “out of many, one people,” holds true when it comes to Jamaican cuisine.

Jerk and curry seasonings are very common in Jamaican kitchens. “Jerking” is a style of cooking meat with a mixture of spices — usually Jamaican pimento and scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, cinnamon, scallions, garlic, nutmeg, thyme and marinade. Curry seasoning, on the other hand, is a mixture of a clarified butter, palm oil, ground turmeric (to which its yellow appearance is attributed), mustard, chili, black pepper and salt. The curry and jerk seasonings are then barbecued or marinated with chicken, shrimp, pork, fish or goat. These meats may be made into Jamaican patties, a snack of flaky pastry stuffed with the mixture.  

Jerk and curry dishes are often served with rice and either kidney beans or black-eyed or pigeon peas, and a side of plantains.

“A lot of people think it’s spicy, but there are a good amount of people who order it daily,” Harvey said.

Because most Jamaican delicacies are prepared with meat, Rastafarianism — a movement that took form in the 1930s with the idea that the “body is a chapel and should not be tainted by impure food” — divided Jamaican connoisseurs. I-tal, which is natural food, means more to the Rasta culture than vegetarianism.

“Granted, they go hand-in-hand, but the two are not synonymous,” said local Rastafarian Tranika Fagan. “I-tal foods are natural foods that never touch chemicals. The food is cooked, but served in the rawest form possible without salts, preservatives or condiments.” 

Fagan further explained that Rastafarians can choose whether to solely abide by its rules or use variations. “Yes, I am influenced by the Rasta culture, but I am not ruled by it,” she said. “I personally don't eat meat because I choose not to. Strictly forbidden foods within the Rasta culture include pork, as [pigs are believed] to be scavengers of the earth, as well as shrimp, crab and lobster because they are the scavengers of the sea.”

Still, some Rastas do eat fish and poultry. “Since I was little, I didn't take to meat well, especially anything with bones in it,” Fagan said. “The act of tearing flesh from the bone was always morbid to me. Even if I eat fish now, it has to be filleted!”

Fagan also attests to having a simple diet containing lots of vegetables, as well as ackee and salt fish, which is known as the national dish of Jamaica. The ackee fruit is fried with onions, tomatoes and hot and sweet peppers; the salt fish — usually boiled cod — combines for a dish that looks similar to scrambled eggs.

Haitian Cuisine

Based on a combination of Creole and French cooking techniques, there are several native dishes that distinguish Haitian cuisine from other Caribbean foods. Djon-djon (rice) served with black mushrooms or black bean sauce known as sospwa are signature Haitian dishes, usually served with pork or goat, lobster, duck, shrimp, poule (fried chicken), tasso (deep-fried beef) or griot (fried pork).

Locals favorites also include bouillon, a native soup mixed with green vegetables, watercress and sweet potatoes; joumou, a pumpkin soup made with vegetables, pureed squash and spices; and légume, a beef stew that uses an array of ingredients including peppers, cabbage, lima beans, green beans, carrots, spinach and crab or shrimp. This is an entrée Miramar resident Marie Ettienne claims to specialize in. The 45-year-old private caterer, who also serves griot and sospwa out of her home during the weekend, said South Florida’s rapidly growing Haitian community demands native cuisine.

“About 10 years ago, I had thought about opening up a Haitian restaurant, but I was unsure the business would sustain in this market. So that’s the reason I chose to go into private catering,” Ettienne said. “But now I really see that there is a strong desire for people both within and outside of the Haitian culture for places to get these dishes.”

It is Haiti’s poor economy, she said, that sets its cuisine apart from that of other islands. “We are one of the poorest islands, so we have to cook food with the resources of the land,” she said. “Most of the residents aren’t able to afford meat, so we use an abundance of fruits, spices, rice and vegetables in our dishes because, for most of us, it’s all we had.”