My main focus is on Jamaican cuisine with this
garden plan, but many
caribbean regions use the sane ingredients and flavors. You can use this plan to
create all types of caribbean cuisines by just switching out the fruit and
vegetable plants. I am also very
interested in Caribbean fusion cuisine. I love sweet/hot dishes with warm
spices. Always an adventurous foodie and cook, I have learned to love succulent
slow cooked Oxtails, jerk chicken and pork bellies.
What struck me about Jamaican cuisine, is that
most of the ingredients are healthy. Except for the fatty meats. But the felt
melts off during the slow cooking process. Put the spices and seasonings together for
a sweet/tangy/hot dish, which puts the veggies over the top. I'm not sure whether
plant-based "meats" would work as well. Rices add a nice bed for
presentation. Vegetarians would love the
flavors of this cuisine, when eliminating the meats.
To view an ornamental Mexican Food Garden plan,
Mediterranean Diet Food Garden, Kitchen Garden design, or an African American
Heritage Garden, Creole, Mini Gourd or Mini Melon Garden, or Herb Gardens....
Read on, I've got you covered.
First of all, you should create a happy and
colorful Caribbean garden design to tie it all in. You'll have a beautiful food
and ornamental landscape garden. A seating area, garden nook or benches, or a
bistro table is beautiful and restful, or joyful and tropical. Garden statues in
a tropical theme and a solar fountain, solar fairy lights and tabletop torches
are stunning at night and highlight your landscape and path. If planned well,
you can use small beachy items for a party feel, like a grass hut bar. And of
course, colorful bird sculptures fit right in.
Many of the fruits and vegetables come in
varieties for the colder climates of the northeast U.S.
Check the USDA cold hardiness maps for your region to choose plants that will
thrive in your planting zone. There are many plants that can substitute for the
ones listed.
If you are interested in teaching yourself
Jamaican and other Caribbean styles of cooking, might I suggest these seasoning
and spice items that I have tried. They're multi-purpose and yummy on or
in most everyday foods. Like soups, stews, and dips. Fabulous when slow
cooking in your crockpot. No need to marinate before tossing it all into the
pot. But you can, if you like
I like to cook most of the foods on a low simmer overnight. Just add spices
and seasonings, set it and forget it.
Traditional Cookware
The "dutchie" -
dutch oven or "dutch pot", is a very common cooking pot in the
Caribbean. The "Dutchie" reigns supreme.
For fun, i like to use traditional
cookware, bakeware and serving bowls. A crockpot and Dutch Oven go a long way in
several types of cuisine. I also bake bread in Dutch Ovens.What to grow in pots or in-ground to supply
ingredients for Caribbean Cuisines.
I am teaching myself Jamaican cuisine, and
others... so i'm putting together a list of what you can grow, depending upon
your planting zone, to eat fresh, use in cooking your daily meals, or put up for
the winter. If you grow in containers, you can grow a lot of varieties. Tip:
whatever you choose to grow, can be grown in containers, or if you grow from
seed. Pick the vegetables to grow that are bush or dwarf varieties. Or tie
vining plants, like yams and sweet potatoes to a trellis inside the pots or put
the pots along a fenceline. I do both. There are fabric grow bags for potatoes.
Everything i've grown in them has done very well.
Those of you who have urban space restrictions can grow a vertical garden on a
balcony, in a courtyard, on a patio or deck. This garden works for urban rooftop
gardens, as well.
Favorite Source - Caribbean
seeds, bulbs, including cold hardy varieties, and seasonings and spices
The Caribbean
Garden Seed company
Foods popular in Jamaican and Rastafarian
cuisine. Included in the list are plant foods grown and eaten throughout the
Caribbean.
Fruit - Dwarf Fruit Trees or dwarf fruit shrubs
and berries. Get plants and seed directy from nurseries and growers to be sure
there are no chemicals or GMO issues and the plants are healthy and bug/disease
free. The more mature it is when planted, the sooner you get fruit. I buy
nursery stock that's at least 2 years old. Many fruit the first year. There are
patio varieties that produce smaller fruit, but bumper crops. I rarely grow my
flowers from seed. I prefer mature plants. All of my ornamentals, including
fruiting and flowering trees, grow in containers very well and i can keep them
small and just pot upwards, if needed.
Dwarf fruit trees - including figs, lemon and lime, which are great houseplants
in winter.
Oranges
Persimmons
Ackee - National Fruit of Jamaica. Popular in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean
and Jamaican diaspora.
Cassava
Breadfruit
lemons and limes
Cho cho (Christophine, chayote) - same family as melon, gourds, squashes and
pumpkins.
Jamaican Custard Apple
Mango - Peach mango, Haitian mango and East Indian mango
Sapodilla (Naseberry)
Coconut - Coconut milk is a main ingredient in many Jamaican recipes
Watermelon
Flat Pumpkins (Calabaza)
- I haven't grown this yet, but i do grow mini edible pumpkins like the white
"Casperita" and Delicata Squash. I'll get to the Calabaza eventually
if they grow in my planting zone and I have enough pots to grow them in.
I use pumpkin for all types of cooking. I puree the pulp for my puppy's food
toppers. But i grow them because they are mini- and non-vining bush types, and
grow great in large planters or containers. They need no staking. I use support
stakes for the stems if it's heavy with pumpkins. I also grow Heirloom Round
Zucchini. They grow like small bowling balls, but can be picked sooner, the
gourds, squashes and little pumpkins add interest to the garden, can be grown
with your ornamental flowering plants and don't take up much room. Delicatas are
pretty and come in more than one color or striping.
The Delicatas are delicious no matter how you cook them, but i like them crisp
roasted in a pan with sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, sweet frying peppers,
onions, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Or stuffed with a seafood
filling and cheese. Delicata and the zucchini make beautiful quick breads. They
can be used for your fall centerpieces and outdoor displays. My pumpkins kept
their color and shapes outdoors and indoors for more than three months.
pawpaw
Loganberry
Jackfruit
Pomegranate
Jamaican Apple (Otaheite apple)
Soursop
Peanuts
Pigeon Peas (gungo peas)
Culantro (known in Jamaica as spiritweed) similar to cilantro
Taro Root
Tamarillo - Tree Tomato - Grows up to 18 ft. - Bitter tomato - Looks much
like a medium-sized tomato, but the tree tomato is not a true tomato. Tasting
somewhat like a tomato, it is usually eaten with sugar or boiled to make a
popular drink.
String Beans
Yams and Sweet potatoes (Batata)
Corn - for Corn Soup
Irish potatoes
Bird Pepper
Pimiento Peppers
Aji Cito Peppers
Kidney beans
Red Peas
Ginger Root
Avocado
Scotch Bonnet, and Red Hot Peppers/habanero/chili peppers
okra
Spinach (or Callaloo)
tomatoes
Scallions
Carrots
Cucumbers
Red peas
Sweet peppers - I use sweet, long, Italian frying peppers. My favorite is the
red "Carmen" variety. Very prolific, perfect in containers.
Supermarkets carry bags of large and mini sweet peppers in multiple colors.
Makes your dishes and preserved peppers very colorful.
Rutabaga
Parsnips
Cabbage
Gullybean (Susumba)
Squash
Thyme
Sorrel
Garlic, onions,
Recommended Ornamental Landscape
Plants For A Cottagey. Caribbean Island Feel
Look these plants up on the USDA
Zone Hardiness map to be sure they'll thrive, or find alternative plants that
are similar that are hardy to your region.
Most plant and seed listings will give you the hardiness zone information for
each plant
There are so many ornamental to
choose from for a tropical garden, it will be hard to choose. This is just a
teeny selection of my favorites.
Foxglove
Hollyhock
Gloriosa Daisy - These look beautiful with sunflowers and dark red or yellow
dahlias, spider lilies
Blue Star Creeper - beautiful, low growing, spreading mat groundcover. Perfect
between your containers, in spaces in walkways, and in rock gardens. Stunning
when your bulbs bloom, for underplanting of your shrubs and as a groundcover for
containers. Beautiful when combined with creeping phlox.
Hardy and Tropical Hibiscus - tropical variety for warm climates, hardy hibiscus
for cold climates. Any type for containers if staked. In cold climates, bring in
or dig up the tropical varieties and replant in spring.
You can see mine in southwestern Pa. Zone 6 here---> They are strong, sturdy,
reliable plants that laugh at winter. They die to the ground, and come up again
late spring/early summer.
Rose of Sharon - cousin of the
Hibiscus. Hardy and reliably beautiful. I train the shrubs into trees. They are
stunning when planted with hibiscus. I gow the very tall (6-7 ft), hardy
Hibiscus tied along my fencelne, and the trees are kept pruned as accent trees
here and there. You can see mine here--->
Clematis - I grow several
varieties. Grow well in pots. Easy to grow and shape along fences, balcony and
deck railings, and posts.
Pride of Barbados
Jackaronda
Flame Tree
Eucalyptus
Clumping Bamboo
Rock Cress
Red Hot Poker
Amaranthus
Dahlias
Primula
Variegated Plantain
Sunflowers
Amaranthus
Snapdragons
Larkspur
Snow in Summer
Dwarf Goatsbeard
Red Columbine
Gardenia
Lewisia
Lupines
Spider Lilies
Parrot Tulips
Zinnias
Butterfly Weed - Primary food for the Monarch Butterfly. Placed around your
landscape, these will increase your pollination, and provide food for the
endangered Monarchs.
Abutilon - look similar to hibiscus
Five Spot
Jack In The Pulpit
Nemesia
Creeping lilies
Hummingbird Mint (agastache)
Honeysuckle - I grow several types
in pots. They can spread wildly if not kept in bounds, trimmed, tied to
trellises and along fencelines. The lovely fragrance attracts pollinators and
humans.
Angel Trumpets
Pussy Toes ground cover
Grassy Toes
There are lots of evergreens with
colored berries, palms, bamboos and evergreen shrubs, as well as colorful
foliage plants, that will tie it all in. My advice is to think "dwarf' and
fill lots of colorful containers.
A Little Extra - Fun information on how to cook
in the Caribbean style, and ingredients that are common.....
I
began my Jamaican/Carribbean culinary journey by remembering the tastes from
many caribbean cuisine restaurants and street carts i have visited. And from what I've
remember and have learned so
far, the majority of my favorite recipes are stews, soups, rice and bean
recipes. Perfect for simmering in dutch ovens. I use my cast iron dutch pot, but
many times, i'll switch over to my trusty crockpot and slow cook these
incredible meals overnight. I use my lighter-weight dutch ovens for stovetop
breads and soups when I have time to sit around and watch it.
Dutch pots originated in the
Netherlands, and were brought to the Caribbean by Dutch settlers. They an
essential part of Caribbean cuisine, and are still used to cook traditional
dishes.
A heavy cast iron pot is also
called a caldero. This pot is similar to the Dutch Oven. The iron pot is used to
cook meat, stews, soups and rice dishes. A cast iron or heavy dutch oven is
fine. But if your atmosphere and presentation "taste better" with
traditional cookware, find a good quality caldero. You'll find many uses for it.
Roasters - My trusty enamelware
roasters can be used on my stovetop. It makes an awesom roasted anything.
Traditional coal stoves are still
being used. A small charcoal-fuelled cooker on a stand, with a basin-like
top, covered by a flat metal grill, upon which you can roast your meats
and veggies.
Caribbean
Cuisine Pantry Essentials Quicklist
Beans, Rice - I discovered that often beans are called
"peas' in Caribbean dishes. Rices are long grain or jasmine. Carolina is a
good rice brand.
Scallions and Garlic
Mojo sauce - Lots of variations - a blend of oil,
orange juice, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano,
salt and pepper. While there are many variations
Jerk is a blend of spices made into a
marinade and sauce using citrus and hot spices. Once marinated, meat and
vegetables are often grilled. I have the sauces and the dry sprinkle on
different spice blends. I buy several Jerk spice blends and usually don't
marinate. I rub it on meats and fish, sprinkle it on salads, baked potatoes,
fries, ribs, steaks and burgers.
Coconut (Oil, Water, Milk, Flakes, toasted)
Caribbeans use coconut in almost every form ranging from coconut milk, water,
oil and flour to dried and shredded flakes. It has the capability to add a rich
and creamy texture to grains as well as great flavor for stewing meats.
The coconut palm was considered the "staff of life" for centuries in
the Caribbean. Coconut oil is the cooking oil of choice - it has a high smoke
point and good flavor. The liquid in a coconut is coconut water; the liquid
mixed with grated coconut meat is coconut milk. Coconut is used in all kinds of
Caribbean dishes, desserts and drinks. I use this in Thai and Indian cooking, as
well.
Allspice
Jamaican pepper. These spice berries taste like a combination of nutmeg,
cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. In the French Caribbean, allspice is used
frequently to season seafood dishes and creole sausage. Allspice leaves are like
bay leaves. The wood of the allspice plant is used for authentic Jamaican
"jerked" foods, that are grilled over a fire of allspice branches.
Curry Powder or Curry Blend
Callaloo
This is a traditional Caribbean soup and also the name of the greens.
They are often prepared like collard greens, spinach or turnip greens. Canned
leaves are easier to find than fresh. Jamaica's Grace brand is one to
check. I love Grace brands for my seasonings, marinades and other grocery items.
You can substitute spinach leaves in a recipe that calls for Cllaloo.
Molasses
It has a slightly spicy flavor and is used in all kinds of Caribbean sweets.
Pigeon Peas (And Other Beans)
These are the "peas" predominantly used in rice and peas, a staple
Caribbean side dish. They are also used in soups and stews. Pigeon peas are
African in origin and can usually be found dried or canned. Kidney beans,
butterbeans, black beans, mayacoba, red beans, cranberry and pink beans are also
frequently used in Caribbean cooking. I found them in the Goya section. I
haven't found them dried yet, which I prefer, because i like to use dried beans
and make the dish from scratch.
Pepper Sauces
It is used as a condiment, like hot sauce, to enhance and add heat to a wide
variety of dishes. I have found Jamaican marinades and sauces in my supermarket.
Plantains
Never eaten raw - it is much starchier and much less sweet. The ripeness of
the plantain determines its cooking use in Caribbean cuisine. Green, under-ripe
plantains are used for fried plantain chips and stews. Yellow plantains are
softer and less starchy, so they are mashed and eaten as a side dish.
Black-skinned, ripe plantains are used in Caribbean desserts.
Rum - Screams Caribbean Islands and laid back lifestyles. I've had
island rum cakes and they are spectacular. It can be used with coconut milk and
jasmine rice for desserts.
Scotch Bonnet Hot Peppers
Used in almost all courses of Caribbean cuisine, except dessert. Mexican
habanero peppers are a close substitute. These spicy chiles are always used
fresh in Caribbean cuisine. If you prefer your food slightly less spicy, remove
the seeds from the chile (any hot chili) before cooking with it. Seeds and
seedlings are readily available to grow your own.
Turmeric
In the Caribbean, it is often sold as saffron, which is way more expensive.
Get the store-bought turmeric - it's popular, available everywhere, and not very
expensive. It adds color and flavor to curries and rice. Turmeric is well-known
as a medicinal herb.
Bacon or another animal fat, oxtails and pork bellies - Tails make an
amazing stew or soup, bacon fat is sometimes used to season bean and rice
dishes, and pork bellies are a fabulous jerk dish, as an entree cooked slow with
beans and spices.
Salt Cod - If you've ever enjoyed an Italian Christmas Eve Feast of Seven
Fishes, chances are that baccala - salted cod - was served. Salt cod is
featured in many Caribbean dishes, as well. Flaked, seasoned, and made
into cakes and fried is my favorite.
|
If you are interested in teaching yourself
Jamaican and other Caribbean styles of cooking, might I suggest these seasoning
and spice items that I have tried. They're multi-purpose and yummy on or
in most everyday foods. Like soups, stews, and dips. Fabulous when slow
cooking in your crockpot. No need to marinate before tossing it all into the
pot. I like to cook most of the foods on a low simmer overnight. Just add spices
and seasonings, set it and forget it. For fun, i like to use traditional
cookware and bakeware and serving bowls.
Traditional Cookware
The
"dutchie" - dutch oven or "dutch pot", is a very
common cooking pot in the Caribbean. The "Dutchie" reigns supr
What to grow in pots or in-ground to supply
ingredients for Caribbean Cuisines.
I am teaching myself Jamaican cuisine, and
others... so i'm putting together a list of what you can grow, depending upon
your planting zone, to eat fresh, use in cooking your daily meals, or put up for
the winter. If you grow in containers, you can grow a lot of varieties. Tip:
whatever you choose to grow, can be grown in containers, or if you grow from
seed. Pick the vegetables to grow that are bush or dwarf varieties. Or tie
vining plants, like yams and sweet potatoes to a trellis inside the pots or put
the pots along a fenceline. I do both. There are fabric grow bags for potatoes.
Everything i've grown in them has done very well.
Those of you who have urban space restrictions can grow a vertical garden on a
balcony, in a courtyard, on a patio or deck. This garden works for urban rooftop
gardens, as well.
My focus is on Jamaican cuisine, but many
caribbean regions use the sane ingredients and flavors. I am also very
interested in Caribbean fusion cuisine. I love sweet/hot dishes with warm
spices. I have learned to love succulent Oxtails and pork bellies.
What struck me about Jamaican cuisine, is that
most of the ingredients are healthy. Put the spices and seasonings together for
a sweet/tangy/hot dish, puts the veggies over the top. I'm not sure whether
plant-based "meats" would work as well. Vegetarians would love the
flavors of this cuisine, eliminating the meats.
To view an ornamental Mexican Food Garden plan,
Mediterranean Diet Food Garden, Kitchen Garden design, or an African American
Heritage Garden, Creole, Mini Gourd or Mini Melon Garden, or Herb Gardens....
Read on, I've got you covered.
First of all, you should create a happy and
colorful Caribbean garden design to tie it all in. You'll have a beautiful food
and ornamental landscape garden. A seating area, garden nook or benches, or a
bistro table is beautiful and restful, or joyful and tropical. Garden statues in
a tropical theme and a solar fountain, solar fairy lights and tabletop torches
are stunning at night and highlight your landscape and path. If planned well,
you can use small beachy items, like a grass hut bar.
Many of the fruits and vegetables come in
varieties for the colder climates of the northeast U.S.
Check the USDA cold hardiness maps for your region to choose plants that will
thrive in your planting zone. There are many plants that can substitute for the
ones listed.
Favorite Source - Caribbean
seeds, bulbs, including cold hardy varieties, and seasonings and spices
The Caribbean
Garden Seed company
Foods popular in Jamaican and Rastafarian
cuisine. Included in the list are plant foods grown and eaten throughout the
Caribbean.
Fruit - Dwarf Fruit Trees or dwarf fruit shrubs
and berries. Get plants and seed directy from nurseries and growers to be sure
there are no chemicals or GMO issues and the plants are healthy and bug/disease
free. The more mature it is when planted, the sooner you get fruit. I buy
nursery stock that's at least 2 years old. Many fruit the first year. There are
patio varieties that produce smaller fruit, but bumper crops. I rarely grow my
flowers from seed. I prefer mature plants. All of my ornamentals, including
fruiting and flowering trees, grow in containers very well and i can keep them
small and just pot upwards, if needed.
Dwarf fruit trees - including figs, lemon and lime, which are great houseplants
in winter.
arborvitae and many shrub evergreens
Ornamental Flowering Trees
Oranges
Persimmons
Ackee - National Fruit of Jamaica. Popular in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean
and Jamaican diaspora.
Cassava
Breadfruit
lemons and limes
Cho cho (Christophine, chayote) - same family as melon, gourds, squashes and
pumpkins.
Jamaican Custard Apple
Mango - Peach mango, Haitian mango and East Indian mango
Sapodilla (Naseberry)
Coconut - Coconut milk is a main ingredient in many Jamaican recipes
Watermelon
Flat Pumpkins (Calabaza)
- I haven't grown this yet, but i do grow mini edible pumpkins like the white
"Casperita" and Delicata Squash. I'll get to the Calabaza eventually
if they grow in my planting zone and I have enough pots to grow them in.
I use pumpkin for all types of cooking. I puree the pulp for my puppy's food
toppers. But i grow them because they are mini- and non-vining bush types, and
grow great in large planters or containers. They need no staking. I use support
stakes for the stems if it's heavy with pumpkins. I also grow Heirloom Round
Zucchini. They grow like small bowling balls, but can be picked sooner, the
gourds, squashes and little pumpkins add interest to the garden, can be grown
with your ornamental flowering plants and don't take up much room. Delicatas are
pretty and come in more than one color or striping.
The Delicatas are delicious no matter how you cook them, but i like them crisp
roasted in a pan with sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, sweet frying peppers,
onions, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Or stuffed with a seafood
filling and cheese. Delicata and the zucchini make beautiful quick breads. They
can be used for your fall centerpieces and outdoor displays. My pumpkins kept
their color and shapes outdoors and indoors for more than three months.
pawpaw
Loganberry
Jackfruit
Pomegranate
Jamaican Apple (Otaheite apple)
Soursop
Peanuts
Pigeon Peas (gungo peas)
Culantro (known in Jamaica as spiritweed) similar to cilantro
Taro Root
Tamarillo - Tree Tomato - Grows up to 18 ft. - Bitter tomato - Looks much
like a medium-sized tomato, but the tree tomato is not a true tomato. Tasting
somewhat like a tomato, it is usually eaten with sugar or boiled to make a
popular drink.
String Beans
Yams and Sweet potatoes (Batata)
Corn - for Corn Soup
Irish potatoes
Bird Pepper
Pimiento Peppers
Aji Cito Peppers
Kidney beans
Red Peas
Ginger Root
Avocado
Scotch Bonnet, and Red Hot Peppers/chili peppers
okra
Spinach (Callaloo)
tomatoes
Scallions
Carrots
Cucumbers
Red peas
Sweet peppers - I use sweet, long, Italian frying peppers. My favorite is the
red "Carmen" variety. Very prolific, perfect in containers.
Supermarkets carry bags of large and mini sweet peppers in multiple colors.
Makes your dishes and preserved peppers very colorful.
Rutabaga
Parsnips
Cabbage
Gullybean
Squash
Thyme
Sorrel
Garlic, onions,
Recommended Ornamental Landscape
Plants For A Cottagey. Caribbean Island Feel
Look these plants up on the USDA
Zone Hardiness map to be sure they'll thrive, or find alternative plants that
are similar that are hardy to your region.
Most plant and seed listings will give you the hardiness zone information for
each plant
There are so many ornamental to
choose from for a tropical garden, it will be hard to choose. This is just a
teeny selection of my favorites.
Foxglove
Hollyhock
Gloriosa Daisy - These look beautiful with sunflowers and dark red or yellow
dahlias, spider lilies
Blue Star Creeper - beautiful, low growing, spreading mat groundcover. Perfect
between your containers, in spaces in walkways, and in rock gardens. Stunning
when your bulbs bloom, for underplanting of your shrubs and as a groundcover for
containers. Beautiful when combined with creeping phlox.
Hardy and Tropical Hibiscus - tropical variety for warm climates, hardy hibiscus
for cold climates. Any type for containers if staked. In cold climates, bring in
or dig up the tropical varieties and replant in spring.
You can see mine in southwestern Pa. Zone 6 here---> They are strong, sturdy,
reliable plants that laugh at winter. They die to the ground, and come up again
late spring/early summer.
Rose of Sharon - cousin of the
Hibiscus. Hardy and reliably beautiful. I train the shrubs into trees. They are
stunning when planted with hibiscus. I gow the very tall (6-7 ft), hardy
Hibiscus tied along my fencelne, and the trees are kept pruned as accent trees
here and there. You can see mine here--->
Clematis - I grow several
varieties. Grow well in pots. Easy to grow and shape along fences, balcony and
deck railings, and posts.
Pride of Barbados
Jackaronda
Flame Tree
Eucalyptus
Clumping Bamboo
Rock Cress
Red Hot Poker
Amaranthus
Dahlias
Primula
Variegated Plantain
Sunflowers
Amaranthus
Snapdragons
Larkspur
Snow in Summer
Dwarf Goatsbeard
Red Columbine
Gardenia
Lewisia
Lupines
Spider Lilies
Parrot Tulips
Zinnias
Butterfly Weed - Primary food for the Monarch Butterfly. Placed around your
landscape, these will increase your pollination, and provide food for the
endangered Monarchs.
Abutilon - look similar to hibiscus
Five Spot
Jack In The Pulpit
Nemesia
Creeping lilies
Hummingbird Mint (agastache)
Honeysuckle - I grow several types
in pots. They can spread wildly if not kept in bounds, trimmed, tied to
trellises and along fencelines. The lovely fragrance attracts pollinators and
humans.
Angel Trumpets
Pussy Toes ground cover
Grassy Toes
There are lots of evergreens with
colored berries, palms, bamboos and evergreen shrubs, as well as colorful
foliage plants, that will tie it all in. My advice is to think "dwarf' and
fill lots of colorful containers.
A Little Extra - Fun information
on how to cook in the Caribbean style, and ingredients that are common.....
eme.
And from what I've learned so far, the majority of my favorite recipes are
stews, soups, rice and bean recipes. Perfect for simmering in dutch ovens. I use
my cast iron dutch pot, but many times, i'll switch over to my trusty crockpot
and slow cook these incredible meals overnight. I use my lighter-weight dutch
ovens for stovetop breads and soups when I have time to sit around and watch it.
Dutch
pots originated in the Netherlands, and were brought to the Caribbean by Dutch
settlers. They an essential part of Caribbean cuisine, and are still used to cook traditional
dishes.
A
heavy cast iron pot is also called a caldero. This pot is similar to the Dutch
Oven. The iron pot is used to cook meat, stews, soups and rice dishes
Roasters
- My trusty enamelware roasters can be used on my stovetop. It makes an awesom
roasted anything.
Traditional
coal stoves are still being used. A small charcoal-fuelled cooker on a
stand, with a basin-like top, covered by a flat metal grill, upon
which you can roast your meats and veggies.
Caribbean
Cuisine Pantry Essentials Quicklist
Beans, Rice - I discovered that
often beans are called "peas' in Caribbean dishes. Rices are long grain or
jasmine. Carolina is a good rice brand.
Scallions and Garlic
Mojo sauce - Lots of variations - a blend of oil,
orange juice, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano,
salt and pepper. While there are many variations
Jerk is a blend of spices made into a
marinade and sauce using citrus and hot spices. Once marinated, meat and
vegetables are often grilled. I have the sauces and the dry sprinkle on
different spice blends. I buy several Jerk spice blends and usually don't
marinate. I rub it on meats and fish, sprinkle it on salads, baked potatoes,
fries, ribs, steaks and burgers.
Coconut (Oil, Water, Milk, Flakes, toasted)
Caribbeans use coconut in almost every form
ranging from coconut milk, water, oil and flour to dried and shredded flakes. It
has the capability to add a rich and creamy texture to grains as well as great
flavor for stewing meats.
The coconut palm was considered the "staff of life" for centuries in
the Caribbean. Coconut oil is the cooking oil of choice - it has a high smoke
point and good flavor. The liquid in a coconut is coconut water; the liquid
mixed with grated coconut meat is coconut milk. Coconut is used in all kinds of
Caribbean dishes, desserts and drinks. I use this in Thai and Indian cooking, as
well.
Allspice
Jamaican pepper. These spice berries taste like a combination of nutmeg,
cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. In the French Caribbean, allspice is used
frequently to season seafood dishes and creole sausage. Allspice leaves are like
bay leaves. The wood of the allspice plant is used for authentic Jamaican
"jerked" foods, that are grilled over a fire of allspice branches.
Curry Powder or Curry Blend
Callaloo
This is a traditional Caribbean soup and also the name of the greens.
They are often prepared like collard greens, spinach or turnip greens. Canned
leaves are easier to find than fresh. Jamaica's Grace brand is one to
check. I love Grace brands for my seasonings, marinades and other grocery items.
You can substitute spinach leaves in a recipe that calls for Cllaloo.
Molasses
It has a slightly spicy flavor and is used in all kinds of Caribbean sweets.
Pigeon Peas (And Other Beans)
These are the "peas" predominantly used in rice and peas, a staple
Caribbean side dish. They are also used in soups and stews. Pigeon peas are
African in origin and can usually be found dried or canned. Kidney beans,
butterbeans, black beans, mayacoba, red beans, cranberry and pink beans are also
frequently used in Caribbean cooking. I found them in the Goya section. I
haven't found them dried yet, which I prefer, because i like to use dried beans
and make the dish from scratch.
Pepper Sauces
It is used as a condiment, like hot sauce, to enhance and add heat to a wide
variety of dishes. I have found Jamaican marinades and sauces in my supermarket.
Plantains
Never eaten raw - it is much starchier and much less sweet. The ripeness of
the plantain determines its cooking use in Caribbean cuisine. Green, under-ripe
plantains are used for fried plantain chips and stews. Yellow plantains are
softer and less starchy, so they are mashed and eaten as a side dish.
Black-skinned, ripe plantains are used in Caribbean desserts.
Rum - Screams Caribbean Islands and laid
back lifestyles. I've had island rum cakes and they are spectacular. It can be
used with coconut milk and jasmine rice for desserts.
Scotch Bonnet Hot Peppers
Used in almost all courses of Caribbean cuisine, except dessert. Mexican
habanero peppers are a close substitute. These spicy chiles are always used
fresh in Caribbean cuisine. If you prefer your food slightly less spicy, remove
the seeds from the chile (any hot chili) before cooking with it. Seeds and
seedlings are readily available to grow your own.
Turmeric
In the Caribbean, it is often sold as saffron, which is way more expensive.
Get the store-bought turmeric - it's popular, available everywhere, and not very
expensive. It adds color and flavor to curries and rice. Turmeric is well-known
as a medicinal herb.
Bacon or another animal fat, oxtails and pork bellies - Tails make an
amazing stew or soup, bacon fat is sometimes used to season bean and rice
dishes, and pork bellies are a fabulous jerk dish, as an entree cooked slow with
beans and spices.
Salt Cod - If you've ever enjoyed an Italian
Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes, chances are that baccala - salted cod
- was served. Salt cod is featured in many Caribbean dishes, as well. Flaked,
seasoned, and made into cakes and fried is my favorite.
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