Traditional Caribbean Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are 4 common ingredients in Caribbean cuisine? ›

Caribbean dishes

Ingredients may include garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, celery, green onions, and herbs like cilantro, Mexican mint, chives, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon and thyme.

Corn, cassava, chayote, beans, peanuts, guava, pineapple, and hot peppers (e.g. Scotch Bonnet peppers) are all native to the Caribbean.

Food guide

It is divided into the six Caribbean food groups: staples, vegetables, fruits, legumes, foods from animals and fats and oils; and surrounded by images of people doing physical activity.

Here are a selection of must-try national dishes of the Caribbean. Barbados – Flying Fish and Cou Cou. Jamaica – Jerk Anything. Antigua – Fungee and Pepperpot. Dominican Republic – Mangu.

The Joy of Caribbean Cooking

Known for its fragrant spices and diverse influences, Caribbean cuisine is a testament to the cultural richness and resilience of the region, combining flavors from Africa, India, Europe and the Indigenous communities that have shaped the region for centuries.

The food groups include staples such as corn, tubers, rice and plantain; vegetables; fruits; fats and oils including fat-rich foods such as avocado and coconut; animal-source foods including fish, meat, eggs and dairy products; and legumes and nuts.

1. Jerk Chicken – Jamaica. Although you can find Jerk-style cooking all over the Caribbean, it's actually native to Jamaica, where meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. It's traditionally applied to pork and chicken, but any meat or fish can be used.

The slaves' diet consisted of a mix of traditional African foods brought over to the Caribbean (including okra, blackeyed peas, saltfish, ackee, mangos, kidney beans and rice), vegetables and fruits native to the Caribbean (such as papaya, yams, guavas and cassava).

What is a Caribbean diet? ›

The Caribbean six food groups are staples, legumes, animal foods, fruits, vegetables, and fats and oils (5). The staples group — which includes rice, ground provisions (tubers), wheat, oats, corn, and starchy fruits — is always represented at each meal and forms the foundation of the Caribbean diet.

Jerk chicken: Often combined with rice and peas, jerk chicken is one of the most traditional Jamaican food options. The flavoursome meal is marinated with hot Jerk spice, which includes Scotch bonnet peppers, and is a popular way of cooking in the Caribbean.

Hard Food! This is one the of the most authentic dishes in Jamaica, mostly eaten for breakfast. Hard food is a combination of Boiled dumpling, banana and yam and can be eaten with many dishes such as Ackee and saltfish, callaloo, and more. Try this filling dish you'll be wanted more and more!

Ask someone, “What exactly is Jamaican food?” and the answer will probably include the following: jerk chicken, rice and peas, oxtail and broad beans, beef patties, curried goat—all delicious and all equally perceived as heavy, fattening, and heavy on the meat and starch.

The Caribbean and Jamaican foods contain many local plants. Usually they prepare the meals with lots of herbs, condiments specific to the Caribbean islands. Sometimes, they use the same meats, fish, veggies or fruit. However, plants or other ingredients may be called with a different name.