If you know me, then you know that the Beach Boys are one of my guilty pleasure artists. If one of their popular hits comes on the radio, I am definitely going to turn it up. One of their greatest songs by far is “Kokomo.” If you’re a foodie like me, you’re probably wondering what Kokomo food is like, and while it isn’t an actual place, the Beach Boys mention a lot of places that are, so it’s safe to assume the culinary tradition would be the same.
Amidst the “cocktails and moonlit nights” and “perfecting chemistry,” the Beach Boys forgot to mention one of the most important reasons for traveling: the food!
So, we are going to fill in the spots for ‘em.
Before delving in, let’s talk about the ALLMYNE app, the easiest way for you to add all the places we are going to mention in this article to your personalized itinerary.
With the ALLMYNE app, you will be able to create and share detailed itineraries, organize travel memories, and connect with like-minded travelers. You can find the app in the Google Play Store or Apple Store and can enjoy it on your computer, tablet, or smartphone!
What better way to contribute to the sustainability of traveling than to use the ALLMYNE app? With local guides on your side, you are sure to make the most out of your journeys.
Now let’s journey on down to Kokomo. First stop is of course…
Off the Florida Keys
Yeah, yeah. I know you thought Aruba was first, but technically the Florida Keys start off the verses (I am choosing to ignore the introduction of the song).
Plus, I just couldn’t pass up on all the delicious Kokomo food at one’s disposal while still in the United States! Let’s get started.
Conch Foods and the Cuban Influence
Conch fritters are a Key West delicacy. Made from the tough, meaty mollusk inside spiraled conch shells, conch fritters are best eaten fried like a hush puppy but in fritter form.
Conches are now protected in Florida, so all the conches you eat in the Keys are farmed or from the Bahamas.
Understandably, there is a lot of Cuban food in the Keys because Cuba is only 90 miles from Key West. And what could be more Cuban than a cubano?
The Cuban sandwich can be found all over, but the Florida Keys is hands down the best place to try one if you haven’t before. The sandwich is a heavenly dose of sugar glazed ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on crusty Cuban bread.
Key Lime Pie
No list of Kokomo food is complete without a zesty lemon pie.
Did you know that key lime pie originated in Key West? Once abundant in Florida, the bittersweet citrus fruit is now sourced from Mexico and the West Indies. Traveler’s tip: go to Blue Heaven for one of the best key lime pies you will ever eat. They bake them fresh daily and top it with a heaping of meringue.
They also have a tropical patio that has everything from pineapple pancakes to yellowtail snapper with pasta and tropical fruit. It’s a great place for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Sour orange pie has a cleaner and brighter flavor than key lime pie. Originally using sour Seville oranges from the Spanish to make the dish, the pie crust has graham crackers in it, and the filling has condensed milk with both orange and lemon juices and orange and lemon zests. Yummy!
Pan con minuta is a cuban-style sandwich. It’s a butterflied Snapper fish filet with chopped tomatoes, onions, and tartar sauce on a Cuban bread roll. The best place to get one is the family owned restaurant “La Camaronera.” Guy Fieri actually covered their place in his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!
Ropa vieja is another Cuban dish popular in the Keys. It is stewed, shredded beef with a side of yellow rice, black beans, and sweet plantains. Can’t go wrong with this combination!
Local Pink Shrimp and Mediterranean Chowders
In season from November to June, Key West pink shrimp is caught locally. There are a bunch of ways to enjoy this seafood: eaten cold, steamed and served in a giant bucket, put on a savory sandwich with bacon and swiss cheese, in a shrimp and crab dip, and much much more! The thought of it makes my mouth water.
Brought to St. Augustine by the Minorcans in 1777, Minorcan clam chowder is a tomato-based chowder with clams (along with their juice), onions, bacon, green bell peppers, celery, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, and datil chili peppers grown locally. This adds a whole new dimension to our Kokomo food list.
Conches will be all over this article, so it’s no surprise that red conch chowder is next on the list. This Caribbean dish is prepared in a spicy tomato broth with potatoes and other vegetables depending on who is making it.
The conch is pounded with a hammer to make it tender. Also popular in the Bahamas and Cayman islands, this chowder can be eaten as soon as it’s made for a lighter version or eaten the next day for a thicker consistency because of the potato starch.
Sustainable Crab Claws
You’ve most likely heard of crab claws before, but what about stone crab claws? These crabs are unique because they’re harvested for their claws and then returned to the ocean alive. Don’t worry! They regenerate their claws, making this practice sustainable.
The claws are boiled for a few minutes and then immediately chilled. This helps the meat firm up so you can easily remove it from the shell. If you’re in Florida from mid-October to mid-May, you have to get your hands on some of these stone crab claws!
Next stop coming up on our list of Kokomo food!
Aruba
In Aruba, you are sure to hear many people saying “ban come” (let’s eat) shortly followed by “E cuminda ta dushi” (the food is delicious).
There are roughly 90 different nationalities in Aruba, making a culinary melting pot.
A Few Tips Before You Eat
Creole sauces, seafood, and cooking traditions come from all over the world. The local language there is Papiamento, which might sound very daunting. How will you know what to say? Well, ALLMYNE might just have the solution for you. The last thing you want to worry about when booking a last-minute trip is how to learn the language of the locals.
That’s how ALLMYNE can help. With our extensive list of local guides, ALLMYNE’s app can give you access to the true wonders of your destination with someone who has not only been there before but also knows how to linguistically relate to the locals.
Christmas with Ayacas
If you’re heading to Aruba over Christmas or New Year’s, you might run into ayacas. This holiday staple is a Latin American dish. It’s an envelope of steamed banana leaves and funchi with a mix of meats, spices, olives, raisins, pickled onion, prunes, and cashews inside, wrapped in a dough of mashed potato or corn.
If you happen to be in Nicaragua, you can also find this delicious dish under the name nacatamal.
Bolitas and Rum
A fan of fried food? Then you’ll want to grab yourself some bolita di keshi from a street vendor or food truck in Aruba. (Obsessed with food trucks and street vendors? Check out this article we did on food trucks and street food around the world!) These small, fried cheese balls are an easy pick when walking down the streets of Aruba.
Rum is essentially a food group of Aruba along with other Caribbean islands. So, it’s no surprise that bolo borracho is as popular as it is. Also known as the “tipsy Rum cake,” bolo borracho comes from Curaçao. This sponge cake is soaked in white rum. Then white rum is poured over the top and covered with whipped cream, sprinkles, and maraschino cherries.
This boozy dessert is to die for!
Here Come the Conches Again!
Remember how I mentioned conches? Calco stoba is Aruba’s conch stew. With a white wine vinegar stock and onions and peppers, people use pan bati (more on that later) to soak up all the sauce.
Some use a tomato base for the stew like the red conch chowder of the keys. There are other stews to consider like cabrita soba, goat stew, and carni stoba, beef stew.
From a Cicada Nightmare to a Gourmet Treat
The word “cicada” may bring about a nightmarish thought if you have a mental image of them all rising from the ground during that specific part of their life cycle like a bunch of clingy, winged zombies.
However, in Aruba, cicada is a dessert of sorts.
Usually served on pieces of a coconut shell, cicada is a candy made from grated coconut, brown sugar, and lime juice. The consistency is more fudge-like than hard like toffee, and they achieve this by adding in some condensed milk.
Stews and Stuffed Cheeses
Stews are just as popular as rum on the islands. Keri keri is a stew from the Arawak people. The traditional stew is made with shark, but it can also be made with any firm whitefish. The fish used is either stewed or leftover and mixed with sautéed achiote, basil, onion, celery, tomato, and green pepper. It can be served on its own or with a side of rice.
Similar to bolita di keshi, keshi yena means “stuffed cheese.” Rather than shaped into small balls, keshi yena is more of a comfort Kokomo food casserole. It was brought to Aruba by the Dutch West Indies slaves. It has either a filling of beef or chicken with raisins, olives, capers, and Habaneros served in a Gouda or Edam cheese rind.
How this came about was that the Dutch would discard their leftover rinds, so the slaves used them as bowls to cook the casserole and eat from.
Delicious Bread and a Fun Replacement
As I mentioned earlier, pan bati is a flat bread used to soak up broth from soups and stews. Literally called “beaten bread,” pan bati is made from a mix of corn and all-purpose flours. It is traditionally cooked in a cazuela, which is a Spanish clay baking dish. It can also be fried and topped with jam for breakfast!
Another sandwich to add to your list while traveling around “Kokomo” is the patacon. This sandwich uses fried plantains in lieu of bread and is layered with beef, chicken, cheese, ham, and fried egg. Traveler’s tip: the best place to get a patacon is in Savanata at the Tia Rosa Snack food truck. They won first place for their version of the sandwich!
The Fish Frenzy
Our final food is pisca hasa creole. A traditional entrée, this dish is fried fish with a sauce of onion, tomato, pepper, and garlic. Side note: you seafood lovers out there can have your pick from the abundance of shrimp in Aruba. From wahoo, red snappers, and mahi-mahi to grouper, swordfish, and yellowfin tuna, Aruba has you covered.
Grab yourself another plate, and let’s move on to…
Jamaica (Ooh, I wanna take you)
Jamaica is a mix of culinary traditions from all over due to who was ruling at the time. And if you’ve ever been, you know that Jamaican food is more than just jerk chicken!
Did you know that Jamaican Rastafarians were a part of the original vegan movement? The Ital diet they practice for vitality, energy, and life force paved the way for vegans today!
Now a bit of history.
Spanish colonization brought traditional Jewish dishes to Jamaica, one of which we will be covering later. British rule introduced pastries and sugar production, making Jamaica well known for its rum. They also brought West African slaves who introduced ackee fruit, callaloo (steamed shredded greens), and jerk sauce.
The British empire also brought Hakka people from China to be laborers. And despite violence towards Chinese descendents in Jamaica during the 1970s, there is still some culinary influence present like Cha Chi Kai and the introduction of rice.
Finally, curries and usage of coconut milk came from the Indian migrants who were indentured workers for the British.
Starting with the Hits
The best place to start with Jamaican food is their national dish (and has absolutely nothing to do with my obsession with alphabetical order). Ackee and saltfish came from Ghanaian slaves.
The dish is ackee fruit with a stewed and salted codfish that’s been sautéed with veggies, herbs, and spices. It became Jamaica’s national dish because saltfish is non-perishable, high in protein, and inexpensive; plus ackee is highly nutritions thanks to its high contents of fiber and vitamin C.
During slavery, this helped enslaved people get their nutrition in a refreshing and cheap way while on the hot sugar plantations.
Bammy and Pastries
Next is bammy. This flatbread is made of grated cassava root that is soaked in coconut milk before being fried. Doesn’t that sound absolutely delicious? It’s a usual side dish to curries and meat dishes. It is also popularly served alongside callaloo. Some even eat it for breakfast with syrup.
Jamaican beef patties are less hamburger and more a take on the Cornish pasty. This flaky pastry is filled with meat (or vegetables) sautéed with onions and spices. The shape is in a half circle and is typically baked. Some places offer fillings like ackee and saltfish, lobster, cheese, or fish, but beef is the most common variation. These are quite similar to empanadas.
A Break for a Hot Brew and a Bit of Bread
While not necessarily a Kokomo food, chocolate tea puts hot cocoa to shame. It’s a tea with grated chocolate balls that have been steeped with milk and spices. Grab yourself a yummy cup of this tea when you’re in Jamaica. It’s sure to not disappoint!
I love bread—like a lot—so I love learning about new takes on the gluten-y goodness of bread. Coco bread is a sweet, buttery version of an American dinner roll.
They’re almost like those Texas Roadhouse rolls I can’t resist. (Yes, I would in fact like a third basket of rolls, please.) Once coco bread is prepared, it is cut into squares and folded once over. They’re super filling and can be eaten with vegetables, a beef patty, or jam. You can try your hand at these with this authentic recipe.
Let us know how they turned out in the comments below!
The Jewish Influence in Kokomo Food
Escovitch fish is the Jewish dish I briefly mentioned earlier. It’s a crispy fried fish soaked in a spicy, pickled sauce with onion, carrot, pimento seeds, and scotch bonnet pepper. Fun fact: scotch bonnet peppers, a type of chili pepper, is called that because it looks like a Scottish Tam o’ Shanter bonnet, the traditional hat worn by men.
It’s one of the hottest chilies in the world! Escovitch fish is a definite go-to for people who love spicy food, and it actually originated in Spain. Red snapper was the traditional fish used in the dish, but now you can find it being served with different fish, too.
A Quick Hint of Portugal
Some say that this next dessert has Portuguese roots. Gizzada, or “pinch-me-round,” is a small, round tart with crimped edges—hence the name. It is filled with coconut, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla. As a person who loves baking, you can’t go wrong when any of those ingredients are involved.
A Tradition of Freedom
I, of course, would be remiss if I didn’t cover jerk cuisine in Jamaica. “Jerk” refers to both the method of cooking and the incredible mix of spices that vary depending on familial customs. Originating from the Maroon people of Jamaica, the Maroons were runaway slaves during British rule who lived in the mountains of Jamaica.
To conceal their locations, they would make meals underground over coals and pimento wood. This is why people living in the hills today continue to practice this cooking technique.
Oxtail and Run-Dun
If you’ve never had oxtail before, one of the best places to try it is in Jamaica. Oxtail is the actual tail or beef or veal cattle. Oxtail stew has the meat seasoned, fried, then slow cooked. It takes quite a long time to cook and is usually very expensive in restaurants, hence the reason it is reserved for special occasions.
Quick tip: if you’re making your own oxtail stew, you can achieve that characteristic brown color by either browning the meat prior to cooking or melting brown sugar in a pot before adding the oxtail.
Rounding out our Jamaican dishes list is run-down (pronounced run-dun). This is a fish stew. Mackerel or cod is slowly cooked in coconut milk before garlic, onions, hot peppers, and spices are added to the mix. It is then served with dumplings and green bananas.
Still hungry? Let’s see what the next place has to offer.
Bermuda
Salted cod is a major staple of Bermudian Kokomo food. When Bermudians settled on Grand Turk and Salt Cay of Turks and Caicos, salt was raked there and traded along the North American east coast.
Newfoundland got its hands on some and added it to its coldwater codfish to preserve it. The codfish was thus transported, salted and dried.
While Bermudians could of course catch their own fresh tropical fish, trade had increased because Bermuda and the Caribbeans had lots of sugar plantations. So, plantation owners used the salted cod to feed their enslaved people because it was cheap but had a lot of protein.
Rockfish and Rum Cake
I know I set you up to talk about a type of dried cod, but I’m going to start with Bermuda-style rockfish. This black grouper fish is pan-fried in lemon butter and served with toasted almonds and grilled bananas for a delightful combination of sweet, salty, and savory.
Another rum cake is entering the list (unsurprisingly).
Black rum cake is a huge deal on many of these islands. The tradition of black rum cake apparently comes from British sailors raising a toast to the King with the rum they’d earned.
Then, they’d dip their hardtack biscuits—which are extremely salty, if you’ve ever had some!—into said rum. The cake today is cooked in a Bundt. Don’t be alarmed. There is, in fact, a hole in this cake. Rum is then used in the glaze and of course the batter. They normally use Goslings Bermuda Black Seal Rum for the dessert.
Holiday Cod
Back to cod!
Codfish breakfast is a meal for holidays and every Sunday. There are five parts to it:
- Salted codfish with onions in butter or stewed tomato sauce
- Boiled potatoes
- A banana
- A hard-boiled egg, and
- Avocado slices.
Codfish cakes are salted cod mixed with potatoes, thyme, onions, and the occasional bacon. This is then pan-fried and served with either mayo or hot sauce.
Curries and Fish Chowder
Another meal enjoyed on special occasions is curried mussel pie. This is eaten most of the time at the Cup Match cricket game, but it is also enjoyed year-round.
The pie is filled with ingredients like papaya, lemon juice, curry powder, and bacon along with mussels, of course. The custom is to slice open the lid of the hot pie and put in a dollop of mayo on top.
For Bermudian fish chowder, locals always use Goslings Bermuda Black Seal Rum and Outerbridge’s Original Sherry Peppers. Their fish chowder has potatoes, tomatoes, onions, spices, fish stock, and fish to make a smoky-flavored, spicy chowder.
Fish Sandwiches
In a similar vein, fish sandwiches in Bermuda are deep-fried fish filets tartar sauce on raisin bread or whole wheat toast.
“The works” adds lettuce, tomato, grilled Bermuda onions, coleslaw, cheese, and hot sauce. There are actually annual competitions between chefs for who has the best fish sandwich!
The Legend of Hoppin’ John
This next dish has three probable legends surrounding its origins. Hoppin’ Jack is a dish of black-eyed peas, ham hocks, rice, and often collard greens.
It most likely came from the southern United States, but all legends involving the dish associate the meal with prosperity and peace. It is eaten on New Year’s Day. As for the legends, these are the three most popular stories:
- Union soldiers left the black-eyed peas behind, as they saw them as not fit for human consumption but rather suitable for animal feed. So, the Southerners adopted them into their meals, resulting in Hoppin’ John.
- The dish is possibly named after a disabled man named “Hoppin’ John” who sold rice and peas in Charleston.
- Finally, some believe that the name is derived from happy and excited enslaved children who hopped around with excitement while waiting for the dish to be served.
Which story do you believe the most? Let us know down below!
Papaya Stew and Spiny Lobster Specials
In Bermuda, papayas are called pawpaws.
So it’s no surprise that pawpaw Montespan uses the fruit. It’s a casserole of ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and chopped pawpaw with cheese and breadcrumbs on top. The name supposedly comes from the Montespan Lodge in Warwick.
The final dish to check out in Bermuda is spiny lobster, or rock lobster. In season from September through March, these lobsters are different from ones in Maine because they don’t have any claws.
It’s the tail that contains the most meat, and it has more of a subtle flavor than a sweet one. Chefs serve it with bread crumbs, fish stock, or curried shrimp.
Got room for more? Let’s see what the next location has in store for us.
The Bahamas (Come on, pretty mama)
Food in the Bahamas can be described as West Indian flavors with Latin and British influences.
Fish and conch are the main staples, and grits also make appearances on menus from the southern United States.
Peas, Rice, and Curries
Peas, rice, fritters, stew fish/stew chicken come from West African enslaved people along with the “short water” method of cooking. The steaming method of cooking is from the British, along with Kokomo foods prepared with fruit.
Finally, curries, codfish, and roti come from the West Indies. Rock ovens are normally used for baking, and there are a lot of preservations of fruits as jams. They also use coconuts in different ways: milk for sweetening dishes and use of the flesh for dessert dishes or beverages.
Bagged Chicken Never Tasted This Good
While in the Bahamas, you will come across “chicken in da bag,” which is a common fast-food option at “chicken shacks.”
This crispy, fried chicken is seasoned with a blend of spices, differing based on familial recipes, and served with hand-cut fries that are topped with ketchup and hot sauce.
These two are joined by a dinner roll, and then the trio is all wrapped up in parchment paper and thrown into a paper bag!
The Power of the Coconut
Did you know that coconuts were brought to the Bahamas roughly 500 years ago by South American migrants? The coconuts actually thrive in the sandy soil of the Bahamas and are strong enough to survive humid climates and intense hurricanes!
For coconut tarts, a doughy, bread-like cake is used for a base rather than the flaky crust of a normal tart. The cake is covered with a thick layer of fruit filling, which is purely fresh, blended coconut, simple syrup, and nutmeg. The dough is actually only lightly sweetened with sugar, allowing the filling to take center stage.
The Kokomo Food That’s So Nice We Mentioned It Thrice
Conches are back again! Conch fritters are deep-fried conch meat with onion, peppers, celery, garlic, and spices. The dipping sauce is a mix of lime juice, ketchup, and mayo, which is a huge complement to the savory-packed fritters.
Conch salad (conch ceviche) is also popular. Conch meat is diced with fixings like chopped peppers, onions, and tomatoes. The salad’s marinade is lime, lemon, and orange juices. The addition of local peppers makes it a spicier dish.
Delightful Fire
This next meal has some popular explanations for its unusual name. “Fire engine” is steamed corned beef. It’s salty, spicy, and savory. Some locals use it as a hangover cure!
The dish has corned beef (of course), tomato paste, corn kernels, spices, and grits or rice. Some people also add in locally-harvested vegetables like sweet peppers, celery, and onions. As for the explanations for the name, the not so fun one is that the meal looks like a fire truck with its red tomato sauce, white grits/rice, and yellow corn.
The other theory is that because Bahamian cooks add a lot of local goat pepper to the dish, it can make your mouth feel like it’s on fire, to the point you’d need the fire brigade to put out the flames!
Guava Duff is the Stuff
Moving right along, we recommend you try out guava duff. This dessert is boiled guava inside pastry dough and served with a rum custard sauce that also has chopped guava in it. This just sounds absolutely heavenly.
The guava is simmered until soft and spread out onto the dough. From there, it is rolled up and wrapped in foil and parchment paper to be boiled. It can also be baked in a water bath similarly to cheesecake.
Get Your Cakes for the Journey
Johnny bread/cake came from the Americas and is sort of like southern cornbread. It’s a cross between bread and cake because it’s made with a simple dough and baked until golden brown. It can be topped with butter and jam or served with soups and stews.
While its pronunciation has changed to “johnny” over the years, this food was actually called “journey cakes” because travelers always took them as a road meal during long trips.
The Fiercest of the Kokomo Food Family
Lionfish tacos have earned a spot on this list just because of all the preparation it takes to make the dish.
Before cooking a Lionfish, the spine must be removed. This reveals that white, buttery meat that is perfect for light-tasting tacos. *Le chef’s kiss*
Pigeon Rice and Souse Stew
Pigeon peas and rice aren’t so much a meal on their own as they are a common side dish in the Bahamas and other surrounding countries. The traditional version is made from pork, celery, rice, tomatoes, thyme, and the pigeon peas, which are a staple bean in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The last dish to try is souse. Pronounced “sowse,” this is a soup with lots of veggies like onions, bell peppers, and carrots. They add a zesty touch of fresh lime juice in it, and the meat can be chicken, oxtail, sheep’s tongue, or pig’s feet. Locals advise to not knock those last three meat options, as they are just as tasty as chicken in this super savory dish.
When you wake up from your food coma, join me for some more Kokomo food in…
Montego (Baby, why don’t we go?)
Because Montego Bay is a part of Jamaica, I’ve tacked on eight more Jamaican foods for you along with two must-try drinks.
So, let’s go!
Goat Curry and Festival
Curry goat is a spicy curry sauce with fall-off-the-bone, tender goat meat usually served with rice and peas.
This next Kokomo food is one people celebrate when they eat it because it’s just that good. “Festival” is sweet, fried dough made from vanilla, milk, cornmeal, flour, and some sugar and salt. It goes well with jerk chicken, escovitch fish, and ackee and saltfish.
Jamaica’s Fave Soup
Referred to occasionally as “Jamaica’s favorite party soup” for reasons we won’t name here, mannish water is a soup made from goat offal—you can look up what that is, but don’t let it deter you!—with yam, coconut, green bananas, dumplings, and hot peppers. Some people, no surprise whatsoever, add in white rum.
Jamaica has many traditional soups and stews, and pepperpot soup is one of the most popular. It’s made with scotch bonnet peppers, callaloo, and yams.
Red Snapper and Red Stripe
Red snapper, as you know, is a type of fish, but how Jamaicans prepare it is something deliciously unique. The fish is seasoned with a wine sauce or a ton of seasonings, and then it is baked in an oven while wrapped in parchment paper.
The first of the aforementioned drinks is Red Stripe. This Jamaican-brewed lager beer was created in 1928. Now a subsidiary of Heineken, this amber lager has a light butterscotch flavor. The story of the name is just as fun.
Paul Geddes, one of the original owners of Red Stripe, was stopped by a police officer during a routine check. This inspired him to name his beer after the red stripe that runs down the side of the local police uniform!
Rice, Peas, and Other Sides
Rice and peas are a side dish cooked with coconut milk. Like I said before, these pigeon peas are more like a kidney bean than actual peas.
Usually consumed as a starchy side dish rather than eaten as a fruit, roasted breadfruit is a popular Kokomo food consumed in Jamaica. The whole breadfruit is roasted on top of a stove or in the oven. It can be served roasted as is or can be fried in a skillet after it is roasted.
Octopus Punch
The second drink to try is sea cat punch. “Sea cat” is Jamaican slang for octopus. This punch is made from boiled octopus, white rum, rum cream, peanuts, molasses, a protein drink, and malt powder. The milky white result is either a hit or miss with people, but it becomes a thick, salty-sweet shake once blended with ice. Have you ever had one before? If so, what did you think?
Stamp and Go Fritters
To round out our Jamaican dishes, we’re going to talk about “stamp & go.” Apparently, the name comes from British officers telling sailors to “Stamp and Go!” when they wanted something done fast.
These fritters are made with salt cod—but can also be made with callaloo, ackee, and conch—and are accompanied by a sweet dipping sauce. They are super popular at street vendors!
I hope you’ve saved room for these next courses!
Martinique
Martinique’s culinary origins are quite French. The French showed Martinicans how to preserve Kokomo food with salt, spices, or honey.
During colonization, ships brought salted meat and fish, wheat flour, fried veggies, cheese, and wine, which was all traded for tobacco. Cassava was planted to feed the enslaved people along with cod, bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.
Migrants brought even more cassava, spices, pigeon peas, rice, and beef. Creole cuisine was introduced by the Indians, and most meals in Martinique revolve around Christian holidays.
Fried Fish Fritters and Coconut Sweets
To start, we have accras de morue. This fried-fritter appetizer is found at street vendors and is filled with salt fish. There are also shrimp and vegetable versions.
Blanc manger au coco is a dessert similar to French blancmange. Made from a thick paste of honey, coconut milk, and vanilla powder, blanc manger au coco is served with fruit or almonds. The ingredients are combined with gelatin to create a sweet-tangy flavor.
Traditional and Creole Boudin
During Christmas time in the winter, boudin is extremely popular. Boudin is a traditional blood sausage. There are two versions of boudin. Boudin blanc is white sausage made of seafood like crabs, prawns, or sea conch. Boudin creole, on the other hand, is made with pork, bacon, pig’s blood, onion, and spices.
Another octopus dish to consider is chatrou. You can eat it in two ways in Martinique:
- Fricassée de chatrou: traditional octopus stew with spices, lemon, onions, and tomatoes
- Ragout de chatrou: a rice dish with yams and lentils served with a side of beans.
Colombo
Rooted in the Indian and Hindu communities, colombo is a curry-based dish. It can be made with chicken but lamb colombo is the most common. It’s served with rice, stewed beans, lentils, plantains, and vegetables.
Colombo seasoning is sometimes used for chicken, goat, pork, eggplants, or pumpkins, too.
Fish All Day
Haven’t had enough fish yet? Then, you should try grilled sea bream, or doradé grille. The fish is grilled on a charcoal grill and served with rice, potatoes, or a salad marinated in spices and lime juice.
This next dish was a common breakfast fish for many enslaved people on sugar plantations. Féroce d’avocat literally means “fierce avocado,” which sounds like the cutest name for an avocado. The “fierceness” comes from the proportions of spices used in the sauce.
The dish consists of avocado (duh), lime juice, cassava flour, chilies, spinach leaves, and salted code. Some variations use lobster or crab meat.
Sea Snails and Mangrove Crabs
Not to be confused with Lembas bread from Lord of the Rings, “lambis” is creole for sea snail. Lambis can be served grilled and put in a curry, sauce, pancake, or stew or served alongside tomatoes, lime juice, hot chili sauce, parsley, and salt.
During Easter, the tradition is to eat le matoutou. This is land or mangrove crab, which is captured leading up to the holiday. The crabs are fed spices and vegetables until the holiday. Then, the crabs are fried and filled with rice, onions, tomatoes, chives, and other spices and served with a spicy sauce.
Cod and Banana: A Simple Match Made in Heaven
The final dish is ti nain lan mori, which has only two ingredients: ti nain (green bananas) and seasoned cod. The banana is cooked in water, and the meal is served with cucumber, avocado, and Bondamanjak hot pepper. This dish was super popular for fishermen and land laborers due to its heartiness and affordability.
Seven places down, two to go!
Montserrat (mystique)
The main influences on Montserratian cuisine are Caribbean and British, but there are also some Irish (from the Irish Catholics seeking refuge during British colonization) and African influences.
The island has a surplus of fruits like mangoes and coconut, vegetables like cucumbers and green beans, seafood like mahi-mahi and conch, and farm animals like pigs and sheep. Hot peppers, thyme, pimento, garlic, and curry are the spices used most often.
Veggie and Seafood Dishes
If you truly know me, then you know that “aubergine” is one of my favorite words because it’s just so much fun to say! It just means eggplant, but the aubergine patties in Montserrat are extremely popular during Carnival.
These eggplant fritters are a finger food of mashed eggplant mixed with scallions, garlic, pepper, and a myriad of other spices. They’re deep fried in vegetable oil and served with a spicy sauce.
Breadfruit fish cakes were actually a Trinidadian recipe brought to Monterrat. These fish cakes are little balls of roasted breadfruit with flaked salt fish, onions, garlic, and pimento peppers.
I love the consistency of mousse; so when I go to Montserrat some day, I will definitely be trying their coconut mousse. The fluffy and creamy mousse takes the classic ingredients of milk, confectioners’ sugar, salt, eggs, and cornstarch and combines them with the tropical flavors from freshly grated coconuts.
Coconut Scallops and Dumplings
Another coconut speciality is coconut scallops. Montserratian coconut scallops are a lot simpler than other versions where there are tons of ingredients blended with the scallions. They just use avocado and pineapple with the scallops that are then cooked in coconut oil. Easy peasy!
Our next Kokomo food is popular in Antique and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Duckna, or ducana, is a type of dumpling made with coconut and sweet potatoes. The dumplings are cooked in banana leaves.
Because the island has so many sweet potatoes from the Arawak Indians, they use them for this dish. It can be served cold, thinly sliced and fried, and/or with stewed fish. It is often made on Good Friday.
Goat Water and Mountain Chicken
Goat water, or “kiddy stew,” is similar to the Irish stew. Made from ram meat, the dish is difficult to master but delicious to taste.
It is cooked in a special pot on a wood fire because the smoke enhances the flavor. It is a communal dish reserved for gatherings like christenings and funerals.
It’s also a lunch staple on Fridays due to it being the national dish of Montserrat! This traditional dish from the Irish can take on a unique flavor when rum or whiskey is added.
This next dish is actually quite rare for reasons I’ll get into. Mountain chicken doesn’t actually use chicken. Instead, it uses frogs. The name comes from the chicken-like taste.
The dish was traditionally cooked in a curry or stew; but due to the frog’s currently endangered status, it isn’t eaten so much anymore.
Soup and Roti
Next is good, ole pumpkin soup. Made with calabaza pumpkins, or giraumon pumpkins in the French West Indies, this soup has a velvety texture with lots of spiciness. The main ingredients are usually hot peppers, onion, chicken broth, brown sugar, ginger, and thyme.
Roti is an Indian flatbread brought to the Caribbean by Indian indentured servants. The wrap is normally filled with curried meat like chicken or goat then mixed with potatoes and the occasional chickpeas. In Montserrat, fillings are typically breadfruit or sweet potato.
This final dish is part-snack part-dessert. Tamarind stew is made from tamarind pulp. If you haven’t had tamarind before, it’s a tangy fruit. Made of sugar and spices like ginger and cinnamon, tamarind stew is a mix between a syrup and a jam.
I hope you aren’t too full yet! We’ve got one last stop.
Port au Prince (I wanna catch a glimpse)
Following the Haitian victory during the revolution, many white people and formerly enslaved people fled to Louisiana because it was the strongest nearby French settlement.
It was those formerly enslaved people who brought red beans and rice into Creole cooking. Kokomo Food from Port au Prince is heavily influenced by the Spanish, French, and Africans.
When Haitians cook meat, they rub it with sour orange, salt, and spices. This keeps the meat tender while also cleaning it. Likewise, when Haiti won their independence, they became the first African-American republic in the New World in 1804.
However, they were still heavily influenced by French rule. So, they speak French and have access to french cheese, desserts, and breads in their local markets and stores.
African Influence in Kokomo Foods
Dous makos is the only Haitian candy to ever be mass manufactured and distributed. It’s a fudge-like candy that was invented in 1939 by Ferdinand Makos, a Belgian-Haitian entrepreneur. It has three stripes, each with a different flavor. It can be flavored with rum, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, or almonds.
Brought to Haiti by the Italians, fresco is a sorbet-like dessert. It’s essentially Americans’ “Italian ice” and Italians’ “granita.” Fresco is prepared by shaving a block of ice rather than crushing it beforehand. Flavors are from the country’s fruits like mango, soursop, guava, and passion fruit. It’s a great street vendor treat for hot days!
The national dish of Haiti is griyo. The name possibly comes from the West African Griots and Griottes who told stories, sang, and played music. They were of higher class, and griyo was reserved for them because of the price of the pork.
Once the pork shoulder pieces have been washed in lemon or lime juice and marinated in epis (Haitian spice mix), the meat is frie3d. It is served with diri ak pwa wouj (red beans and rice) and pikliz (pickled cabbage and scotch bonnet peppers) or fried plantain.
Another regular find at street vendors is the Haitian patty. It’s a puff pastry shaped into a small square filled with meat or fish.
Kalalou djondjon is Haitian okra and black mushroom stew. With the occasional use of chili peppers added, this is like a Louisiana-style gumbo.
With heavy African influences, legim has many variations. However, the main version has mixed vegetables cooked with meat, typically beef. Then, it is all mashed together. It can have vegetables like cabbage, eggplant, watercress, and chayote squash. It’s a traditional Saturday dish with cornmeal or rice.
Poul ak nwa, or poulet aux noix, is our next dish. This is chicken and cashew nuts in a tomato-based sauce. The chicken (legs and/or thighs) is heavily spiced and the cashews should be added raw. It’s traditionally prepared for Sunday lunch with a side of rice and green peas
Our next dish is pwason boukannen. This is grilled fish that is smoked in a boukan. Here is the process:
- Take a large piece of wood and split it into two.
- Tie one end and leave the other end open
- Slice and season the fish
- Insert a small stick through the fish from mouth to tail (cinnamon sticks are recommended)
- Tie the open end of the boukan stick
- Place each stick is on two stones to be cooked over the fire
- Turn the fish regularly
Haitian Pumpkin Soup
Soup joumou is the Haitian pumpkin soup eaten on New Year’s Day. The enslaved people cooked this pumpkin soup but were not allowed to taste it whatsoever.
They were later left the scraps. They claimed this dish for themselves after the revolution and now eat it each New Year’s Day to celebrate their independence. It’s pureed squash or pumpkin in either chicken or vegetable broth. Some people add in Christmas leftovers, pasta, or potatoes.
Tassot Farewell
The dish to wrap up our trip through Kokomo is tassot. Tassot is spiced, dried meat that is then fried. In Mexico, it is called tasajo.
There is tassot kabrit with goat or tassot vyann with beef. Both are served with a side of fried plantains. The meat is marinated in orange juice, lemon juice, and onions prior to frying.
Everybody Wants a Little Taste of Kokomo Food
Is your belly rumbling from all this food? Mine sure is! Let us know in the comments what your “Kokomo” is. Is it one of the places on this list? Maybe it’s your favorite little beach tucked away in your hometown. Whatever it is, don’t forget to enjoy Kokomo food while visiting!
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