BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Caribbean Culture Hello Everyone

Hello! I'm the new Caribbean Culture editor. I looked over the previous activity in this forum...I didn't like what I saw (lol). I'm hoping that things will 'live up'. I look forward to corresponding with all of you. Please join me in my attempt to make this forum interesting, entertaining, and insightful. We can even try to make this a 'liming' spot (lol) .

*Lime- hang out
*live up- active or brisk

I know this is an old post, but I love Carribean food and I am interested in the culture so if you see this You have a friend!! Nicola Jane

I know Haitian food. It's really delicious!

what is Haitian food like Buffalo woman? By the way Welcome to Bellaonline!

There are a lot of dishes - with meat, fish, or vegetable. One thing they have in common is: they are not very hot (unlike African food). They use cooked bananas for almost all the dishes (they are smaller than the sweet ones, harder, and they taste a little bit like potatoes). A considerable amount of fat/oil used (at least by the poor people in the country - maybe because this lasts in the stomach for a long time, and it takes longer before you get hungry again). The chicken are rather small - almost like pidgeons. So when you are very hungry you should eat two. There is also rice, and potatoes, but the cooked bananas are most frequently used. And there are a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, e.g. avocados, coconuts...

Hello, and welcome to BellaOnline Kimberly.

I have two food questions.

What exactly is Jamaican Bammy? Is it a type of root vegetable?

Does anyone have a good receipe for fried plantains? Not just your average, but tips to make them really excellent?

Kimberly, welcome to BellaOnline!

Shay

Hmmm, I love Hatian food as well, it's very similar to Dominican food.

I do love both coconut and advocado. Are the chickens kind of guinea fowl?

My younger brother has been on cruises to the Caribbean and loved it! He said the people are so laid-back and polite. Their music is very catching and fun to dance to. I would love to visit there.

Hi Rose,
My husband, a St Lucian, slices the plantain diagonally and just puts it in a pan with a little oil and fries. Now, I like it with a little butter and brown sugar added...mmmm!

Is Paella a Caribbean recipe? I love to make it but am not sure of it's origin. I make mine with chicken, Italian sausage, shrimp, mushrooms and green onion - and of course, rice (brown rice).

Paella is technically a Spanish recipe - as in from Spain.

But it has been adopted by many different cultures and tweaked to fit the palates of whomever is eating it.

It's just one of those easy comfort foods that is great on a cold winter night.

Paella is good, on wintry nights, Michelle. I often take it to family potlucks in my largest electric wok and everyone loves it. Spanish - I thought it would have been South America somewhere or maybe European. Do you make ever make it? What do you put in your recipe?

Welcome Lea!

I hope you enjoy your stay at bellaonline. I'm looking forward to the recipes and folklore you publish on the islands. I'm West Indian and have friends whose families come from the different islands. So it's going to be interesting to read how it's done on your island.

As far as Charity's fried plantains question...

if you're going for sweet, you fry them up after they turn black. In some houses they will double fry them [fry, press and re-fry], but all in all it's how you embellish them. I like to embellish mine with a nice ginger/lemongrass glaze. It's like eating a nice hot ad crispy desert.

If you're gonna have them with your soups or boiled fish you work with them when they are green or just yellowing - the more yellow they get the more sugar develops in them. Try rubbing them down with a nice spice or jerk rub and let sit for a half hour peeled and covered in the fridge. Then slice and fry them.

They all taste good to me though.