A Taste of the Caribbean
Sugar, spice and everything nice, island cuisine is simply delicious!
Not simple, but simply as is in absolutely, without a doubt mouthwatering and rightly so. Where else in the world can one find cookery that is mingled with Amerindian, English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Dutch, and of course African cuisine? Caribbean food is exotic and distinctly different from any other place in the world!
The difference with Caribbean cooking
Anyone can gain weight by simply smelling the food in the Caribbean. It is not surprising that on a visitor’s departure his or her suitcase is ram-packed with hot sauces, spices and beverages-including rum- from the islands. Furthermore, in the Caribbean, meat is properly marinated and seasoned. It’s left for days in seasoning so every nook and cranny of that meat is highly flavored. By the time it is thawed and enters the pot, the entire neighborhood mouth waters just by smelling the flavored food.
In other countries, there is no time to be caught up with, what some may call, “time-consuming recipes” when there is a train or subway to catch. However, in the Caribbean time goes at a different pace. The sun lazily rises and sets, clouds drift aimlessly in the sky and if there is a traffic jam, it just might be goat, sheep or cattle waddling crossing the road.
There is always something growing in your neighbor’s back yard – whether yams, herbs, breadfruit, limes, guavas, bananas and the list goes on. Going to the market is not just to shop and hurry out of the place. One has to see the item, smell it, taste it-depending on what it is, inspect the item, weigh it, bag it and ask how Tante or Ma doing and the grandchildren, while sipping coconut water, as fishermen spread their catch of fish for the customers to survey in the background.
No matter the island or the history, one thing that the Caribbean islands have in common is highly seasoned food. “Seasoned” doesn’t necessarily mean peppery hot, but cooked with a generous usage of condiments and herbs. Whether it is phulourie in Guyana; callaloo and roti in Trinidad; flying fish in Barbados; coucou (cornmeal), goatwater, pudding and souse, cookup in the various islands; coconut dumpling, spicy plantain and saltfish in St. Kitts; or curried goat and jerk pork in Jamaica, every islander’s pot simmers with zesty mixture of herbs and spices.
About Alain Kandaperredy
No one knows this best than Alain Kandaperredy who is currently the Food & Beverage Consultant, Executive Chef & Food and Beverage Controller at one of the finest resorts in Anguilla. Alain has a passion for excellence which has been the driving force throughout his career.
“No matter that you may think a dish is perfection, the final test is the feedback from your guests – you can always do better,” he expresses.
Son of Indian and Creole parents, Chef Alain was influenced by the determination of his grandmother who taught her grandchildren the traditional dishes that no one prepared anymore because they were too time consuming. She hoped to keep the tradition of island favourites such as callalou, zesty lentil soup made with spinach, anise seed, ginger pod, thyme leaves and coriander, stuffed chicken breast and conch in lobster sauce.
Born in Guadeloupe, Chef Alain began his career as a pastry chef apprentice. At that time there was no culinary school in the islands. He later earned degrees in culinary arts in Strassbourg, France and Guadeloupe. He learned traditional French cooking from Charles Walter, one of the top chefs of the day, at Auberge de la Vieille Tour, a four star restaurant in Guadeloupe in the early 1960s.
His career took him on an eclectic array of assignments, from the Yacht Haven Hotel in St. Thomas, to a luxurious yacht called the Yankee Clipper, a chef’s position at Little Bay Beach in St. Maarten and a position as executive chef for four restaurants at the Maho resort on St. Maarten to the renowned Le Coup de Bambou in Toulouse, France.
He also owned La Chaumiere, an Indonesian restaurant on Guadeloupe, for five years. When he arrived at Port de Plaisance Resort in St. Maarten in 1992, he served as sous chef under French master chef, Frank Dolisi and became executive chef in 1994.
While he loves classic French dishes such as Sole Bon Femme, he became passionate about curry dishes incorporating coconut, banana, ginger and pineapple into many of his specialties.
“Because we are able to use the natural, more flavourful ingredients of the islands – even the local tomatoes, basil and Caribbean thyme – the robust flavours we can create are far more powerful than those in typical French sauces,” he adds.
“We are born with a different palette here in the Caribbean, a much broader taste,” says Chef Alain. His recipe for success is to start with basic hearty home cooking and to adapt to the guests level of spiciness. One of the favourite dishes is the saltfish fritters, a typical West Indian dish cooked in beer batter and seasoned with hot pepper, green onion, thyme and other island herbs.
Chef Alain cautions, “The main basis of the dish should be the strongest flavour. Our Caribbean spices are out of this world, but they should never overshadow the main ingredients.”
Bon Appétit!