A TOTALLY TROPICAL TASTE
WITH cheap air fares and holiday packages to Jamaica, St Lucia, Antigua and other parts of the Caribbean, more and more consumers are visiting this exotic part of the world. The result? British consumers come home with a real taste for Caribbean food and drink. It makes sense to capitalise on this by adding Caribbean dishes to the menu and by holding special Caribbean theme evenings, days or even weeks!
Each of the Caribbean islands has its own characteristics, which means there is no distinct trend in Caribbean cooking, but a combination of ideas from different regions and countries.
Create Caribbean dishes using ingredients such as coconut milk, scotch bonnet peppers and pimento berries by Walkerswood, 718, distributed by R.H.Amah, 719.
Jerk Marinade, 720, its original product, is a blend of herbs, spices, hot peppers and escallions.
Jerk Seasoning, 721, is a hot and spicy seasoning - a combination of escallions, hot peppers and spices.
Escoveitch Sauce for Fish, 722, is a hot combination of vinegar, pimento berries, scotch bonnet peppers, garlic, onions and thyme.
Coconut Rundown Sauce, 723, is a concoction of coconut milk, selected spices, hot peppers and seasonings.
Solomon Gundy, 724, is a spicy fish paste made of smoked herring, hot peppers and seasonings.
Jonkanoo Hot Pepper Sauce, 725, is for customers who really like hot food, as it is made of hot peppers, blended with escallions, onions, thyme and garlic.
Sautéed Ackees, Baked Callaloo, Escoveitch Chicken Salad and Jamaican Jerk Chicken are just some of the recipes featured in a new full colour recipe booklet from Walkerswood, 726.
Many Caribbean recipes use coconut milk. Pritchitt Foods' Millac Coconut Cream, 727, can be mixed with ready-to-use sauces to enhance flavour, to add an exotic touch to desserts and can be used behind the bar for cocktails. It is bain-marie stable, microwaveable and freeze thaw stable.
Save preparation time by buying in ready-made Caribbean style dishes such as the range from Brake Bros, 728. These include Trinidad Chicken, 729 - diced chicken mixed with lime juice, diced tomatoes, on-ions, celery and coriander or Lamb Havana, 730, diced lamb in a spicy sweet sauce filled with tomatoes and raisins. Or for customers who like seafood, Prawn Fritters, 731, or Seafood Kebabs, 732. For vegetarians, there's Caribbean Fruity Vegetable Curry, 733 - a blend of vegetables and fruit in a mild and creamy Caribbean sauce.
Larderfresh, 734, also offers a wide choice such as Chicken Creole, 735, or Seafood Kebabs, 736.
What about dessert? From Brakes, there's the St Lucia Gateau, 737 - a coconut meringue topped with a Tia Maria mousse. Or Menorquina Whole Baby Coconuts, 738, and Pineapple Quarters, 739. From Larderfresh, there's Fresh Exotic Fruit Salad with Guava Sorbet, 740.
For creating Caribbean dishes from scratch, Stewmate Products, 741, produces Jigi Jigi Caribbean cook-in sauce made with onions, tomatoes, herbs and spices and Scotch Bonnet chilli peppers in mild, medium and hot.
Patties are a very traditional dish - they are made of shortcrust pastry coloured turmeric yellow filled with a spicy curry filling and sealed with a side crimp. Cleone Foods, 742, produces a wide variety with fillings such as Jamaican Beef, Vegetable, Saltfish, Halal Lamb, Halal Chicken. When a pattie is taken out of the wrapper, it can be identified by the hole pattern on top of the product.
Caribbean Chicken and Pineapple Kebabs, Jamaican Pork with Chickpeas and Jamaican Fish and Coconut Stir Fry are just some of the recipes available from Maggi, 743, using its World of Tastes ethnic sauce pastes.
Add some Caribbean heat to your dishes with authentic sauce such as Banana Jumbie Chutney, Hot Passion Glaze and Pap Baje Hot Ketchup from Native Treasures, 744. Or there's Bajan Pepper Sauces from Aunt May's, 745. For traditional seasonings and sauces such as Hot Pepper Sauce and Bajan Seasoning, Superb Blend, 746, offer a wide choice.
Rum is a very well-known Caribb-ean alcoholic drink, but your customers might like to try Crisma, 747, a new Caribbean Rum Cream Liqueur, imported by American Woods.
Fruit drinks are very popular in the Caribbean such as the range from Pinehill Dairy, 748 - Guava Pineapple, Fruit Punch, Bajan Cherry and Passion Fruit Drink. Drinks from C & G Star Trading, 749, include Old Fashioned Sorrel Drink — a tropical drink blended with spices.
For something completely different, how about West Indian biscuits? Shirley, 750, are Caribbean classic biscuits. Sodabix, 751, and Eclipse, 752, are crackers, which can be served as starters with toppings such as cheese, sardines and corned beef.
