Meal Schedule

Their schedule is just like Americans. Everyone cooks certain foods for certain holidays.

Flavor Principles

Rum is distilled from wine fermented from sugar cane juice, sugar cane syrup, or fermented molasses. Imagine the taste of a sugar cane juice wine compared to wine made from fermented molasses. A lot of rum companies like to talk about the quality of the cane used to make their rum. But most rum sold in the US today is distilled from fermented molasses.

Cooking Methods

Jerk cooking refers to the use of dry or wet seasoning for meat, seafood and vegetables. The seasoning is typically sweet and spicy. Spices in jerk cooking include allspice, scotch bonnet pepper, pimento, thyme, cinnamon, cloves, garlic and ginger. The spices are blended together and then the food is marinated for 12 hours or more before cooking. While most items are grilled when using the jerk cooking method, other cooking methods such as broiling, baking and steaming are also used.

Fish and other seafood are a major part of Caribbean cooking. Blaff is a popular cooking method that originated on the island of Martinique. White fish is marinated in a mixture of hot peppers, garlic and lime juice for several hours and then poached. This method can also be used for other seafood, such as shrimp.

Geography And Climate

The geography and climate of the Caribbean are as varied as the culture and demographics of its inhabitants. Typically warm and forgiving weather is an additional incentive for tourists. The variety of the Caribbean region leads to significant land forms and a surprising variety of climatic conditions. 
Some parts of the Caribbean - like Margarita and the Dutch Antilles - experience semi-arid conditions that lead to the formation of deserts. Cloud cover is generally sparse or absent in these areas for many parts of the year as well. The climate of Trinidad - as the southernmost Caribbean island - is similar to that of Guyana with a very prominent "rainy season" and high humidity.

 

32 medium shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled and deveined

2 large red bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, cut into 24 pieces (about 11/2 inches each)

2 tablespoons dark rum

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for grill

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (preferably Madras)

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

coarse salt