Knowra Caribbean cuisine Caribbean cuisine Caribbean cuisine comprises the diverse food traditions of the Caribbean, shaped by Indigenous, African, European, South Asian, and other influences and by local ingredients.
Scotch bonnet : A hot pepper widely used in Caribbean cooking, especially in Jamaica and other parts of the Greater Antilles. Its heat and fruity flavor distinguish many pepper sauces, stews, and marinades.
Jamaican patty : A Jamaican baked pastry filled with seasoned meat or other savory ingredients and colored with turmeric or annatto. Its flaky crust and spiced filling make it a widely known Jamaican street food.
Taíno : An Indigenous people of the Caribbean whose societies cultivated crops including cassava before European colonization. Taíno cultivation and food preparation shaped enduring Caribbean staples.
Creole cuisine : A set of cuisines formed through cultural mixing in colonial societies, with meanings that vary by region. Caribbean Creole cooking names some of the region’s distinctive cultural and culinary mixtures.
Caribbean diaspora : Communities of Caribbean origin living outside the Caribbean, connected through migration, family, and cultural ties. Migration has carried Caribbean dishes into new cities and reshaped them across generations.
Allspice : The dried unripe berry of a Caribbean tree, used as a spice with flavors reminiscent of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It seasons jerk preparations and other dishes across the region.
Ackee and saltfish : Jamaica’s national dish of cooked ackee fruit and salted cod, commonly served with vegetables and starches. It reflects the pairing of a West African-origin crop with preserved imported fish.
Atlantic slave trade : The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Enslaved Africans brought crops, culinary knowledge, and techniques that transformed regional cooking.
Cajun cuisine : A Louisiana cuisine associated with Acadian descendants and shaped by French, African, Indigenous, and other influences. Its history of cultural blending offers a comparison without making it interchangeable with Caribbean traditions.
Jerk (cooking) : A Jamaican method of seasoning and slow-smoking meat over pimento wood, traditionally with allspice and hot peppers. Jerk has become a prominent expression of Jamaican culinary identity at home and abroad.
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