Caribbean food is irresistible! There’s a dark fan-fare to each and every meal, which also makes cooking them for yourself quite interesting. In this edition of Ridesharingforum.com, you will get to know the best recipes you can try making at home from Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucian cuisine has every inch of Caribbean flair to it. It is a vibrant Creole melting pot influenced by African, French, British, East Indian, and Carib and Arawak roots. Plus, the island’s rich volcanic soil and surrounding Caribbean waters provide a menagerie of fresh seafood, tropical fruit, and root vegetables. Here are the best recipes:
Green Figs and Saltfish
The figs are actually bananas served with fresh saltfish.
Ingredients:
- Saltfish
- Green figs
- Spring onion
- Red bell pepper
- Seasoning peppers
- Parsley
- Onion
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Coconut oil
- Salt and black pepper
Directions:
First, peel your green bananas, or figs, or unripe bananas, boiling them in salted water until tender. Then, separately, soak and boil your saltfish to remove the excess salt, before shredding.
This is followed by this: sauté onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, and thyme in oil. Add saltfish and seasonings, stirring gently. Serve alongside boiled green figs, garnished with parsley and a drizzle of oil. Delicious! Luscious!
Smoked Herring and Breadfruit
The Caribbean region lives and breathes seafood, and another outstanding dish from Saint Lucia is this smoked herring and breadfruit. Here are the ingredients:
Ingredients:
- Breadfruit
- Smoked herring
- Onion
- Tomatoes
- Garlic
- Pepper
- Scallions
- Vegetable oil
- Thyme
- Black pepper
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Lime juice
- Salt
- Fresh parsley
Directions:
Herring is sold in the market after being dried and smoked, while breadfruit grows on tall trees, and is characterized by roundness, green-ness, and roughness on the outside, while the yellow-ness and creaminess reign on the inside. You can serve breadfruit boiled, fried, or roasted, and you may also eat this on its own, or prepared as a casserole or salad.
For this dish, you must boil the breadfruit, though others prefer it roasted. Similar to the recipe above, you can serve this food with cucumber salad, avocado slices, and steamed or sautéed vegetables.
Stewed Pork and Ground Provisions
Last, but not the least is this tasty dish, should you want a serving of pork:
Ingredients:
For the stewed pork and ground provisions:
- Pork, cut into cubes
- Caribbean green seasoning
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar
- Onion
- Garlic
- Scallions
- Fresh thyme
- Scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- Black pepper
- Paprika
- Ketchup
- Soy sauce
- Water or chicken broth
- Salt to taste
For the ground provisions:
- Green bananas
- Sweet potato
- Yam
- Dasheen (taro)
- Cassava (yuca)
- Salt
- Water for boiling
Directions:
Pork is the preferred meat in the Caribbean. Remember those swimming porks in the Bahamas? You got it. Meanwhile, the different ground provisions, a term used in the West Indies to describe traditional rootcrops, are available for purchase in markets and supermarkets. They are boiled to be served with the pork. You may also use green figs, breadfruit, and plantain as your sides.
Saint Lucia is not called the Helen of the West Indies for nothing. Buying these ingredients from grocery stores available on Uber Eats could also be your option. This is RSF! ‘Til then!