roxas07

A Brief History Of Caribbean Cuisine

The food of Latin America and the Caribbean has greatly influenced the word with both it's flavors and customs. Many of the techniques used in these countries have been brought through the methods used by the native people of the Caribbean islands (the Carib's- to which the Caribbean sea is the namesake), the Borriquen/"Taino"and Arawak Indians for starters), colonization ( Portugal, Spain, France,and Great Brittan), and the slave trade of western Africa. Due to this, beginning in the 1600's the Caribbean and Latin America became the proverbial melting pot of both "new world" and "old world" cuisine beginning with the arrival of Cristobal Colombo, better known today as Christopher Columbus, and Nicolas D. Ovando better known as Christopher Columbus' successor.
The Native People:
The early or native Caribbean diet consisted of many fruits and vegetables such as papaw, cassava (or yucca), yams,papaya, and Guava (or Guayaba)along with meat, and fish which was first cooked in clay pots by the Borriquen people.
The Arawak people where the first to take large strips of wood and make grates to slowly cook meats. This method was called Barbacoa which is now known today as Barbeque. Native fruits such as Taro root had also been cultivated and can be accounted by the Arawak Indians.
The Carib people added spice to their by usage of peppers in sauces. The Carib people are also known for the usage of both lemon and lime juice in their fish and meats. These people had also been thought to be cannibals by many European explorers due to their appearances.
African Influences:
Once the Europeans brought slaves to the island the salve diet consisted of mainly food that the slave owners wouldn't eat themselves. To do this they invented new meals using not only ingredients from their native homeland with spices and ingredients from the land that had been found on the island. Many of this included food such as callaloo, salt fish, okra, ackee, pudding, souse, mangoes, and fish cakes.
Many African men who had been enslaved and brought to the island of Jamaica had been raised as hunters in their homeland and had learned to cook spiced pork slowly over hot coals , developing the cooking process we now know as "jerk."
The East:
in 1832 slavery in the Caribbean had finally been abolished and as a result European colonists had to find a new source of cheep labor so they went to India and China. Many of the Indian influences still remain today with it's introduction of curried meats which they called kari podi. While India came along with the intense flavor of curry china had brought rice, which is a staple in every Caribbean diet. China had also brought mustard. The Lebanese and Syrians which added complexity to the country's couisine
Europe:
While Portuguese sailors brought codfish known in many Spanish islands as Bacalao, few people know that most of the fruits we think of as "native" to the caribbean has also been brought to these islands by Spanish explorers. These fruits include Oranges, plantains, limes, lemons, ginger, figs, date palms,grapes, sugar cane, and coconuts,and tamarind.
Polynesia:
Polynesians also played a huge role in the development of Caribbean cuisine with the introduction of bread fruit which it a staple all across the Caribbean islands today.
America:
America is responsible for the introduction of beans, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn to the islands as well as certain types of chili peppers.

TO BE CONTINUED...