My dad is a BOSS at making homemade ice cream from the many local tropical fruits we had growing in our yard and to this day he still relies on his old hand-crank ice cream maker (aka ice cream pail). According to him, the electric machines just can’t get the consistency correct. Besides coconut, making soursop was his next favorite flavor to make for us. Ice cream making was a sort of weekend tradition, especially when relatives were visiting.
With the natural abundance of fruits we have in the Caribbean I’m surprised we didn’t have a wider jam and jellies culture, when I was a kid on the islands. To be honest, the only jam mom would make was guava, sour cherry and Pommecythere (ambarella). However with all the artisan -like initiatives lately, we’re seeing more and more creative use of our fruits. We’ve come to realize that we can still enjoy tropical fruits when it’s out of season. If you’re from the Caribbean you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say we eat ‘seasonally’… take sorrel for example. We only drink sorrel at Christmas time. Why? In this recipe we’ll take two of the most common topical fruits and make what I believe is the perfect marriage of flavors and texture.
I’ve been fortunate to travel up and down the Caribbean island chain over the years and one of the things I find astonishing, are the many uses we have for plantains. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Sunday lunch (most important family meal) always consisted of boiled ripe plantains to go along with the stewed meats, Callaloo, Macaroni Pie, Stewed Beans, Sweet Potato and other tasty treats mom would prepare. Very simple, but what a joy to eat. The English, Spanish, French and Dutch Caribbean all have their unique take on preparing Plantains (green and ripe) and I’m sure this orange brown sugar glazed plantain recipe will surely join in among other classics.
Kurma is one of those snacks I fondly recall buying with my daily school allowance at recess and at lunch break as it was not something regularly made at home and which kid does not like sweets? Mind-you, come Divali time, mom’s cousin who was a Hindu would always invite us to her home to…
Ask any Trinbagonian what’s their favorite dessert/snack and I can guarantee it would be almost impossible to find someone who would not say currants roll. A lovely flaky dough filled with cinnamon, brown sugar and currants.. layers and layers of island delight. There are some who like it somewhat wet or moist and compact and…
Without a doubt, this will become THE go-to dessert recipe in your home as it is in ours. With juicy pineapple dusted with cinnamon and grilled to release it’s natural sugars and juices, then simmered in a wonderful rum / brown sugar sauce.. yum! On it’s own or as a topping for a couple scoops…
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked for a cassava pone or “doubles” recipe, yuh boy would be rich. No Joke! Though I’m still to come up with a good doubles recipe, I’m very excited to share this tasty cassava pone recipe with you all. I’m sure “bake and shark” will…
One thing you can’t get away from in the Caribbean is the love and appreciation of bananas. So this banana nut bread is a common visitor in our kitchen whenever we have bananas which are about to go bad (rude house guest though – never sticks around for more than a day and just disappear…
I’ve been told that I don’t do enough dessert recipes, so with some time on my hands I decided to raid the cupboards and come up with a dessert recipe to share with you all. This recipe is somewhat refined from the one my dad would do, but it’s just as delicious and if I…
So you’re confused if you’re not form the Caribbean, tambran is just the local way of saying tamarind. This was a favorite of mine as a kid in primary school on the islands. Today I still search them out whenever I make a trip back home or when I go shopping at the many Asian…
With or without some homemade coconut ice cream, this one will surely be a huge hit at your next BBQ. Maybe it’s just a casual weekend “lime” with friends and you want to wow them with a simple but outstanding dessert. You’ll need: 1 ripe pineapple 2-3 tablespoons of dark rum 1 teaspoon of granulated…
