A Complicated Past Spices Caribbean Cookery

We’d stopped at the New Bahamian Kitchen, a Nassau restaurant that serves local foods accompanied by johnnycake, a traditional, yeastless bread. Still warm from the oven, the johnnycake we tried was delicious--slightly sweet with a coarse texture.

“Today we call this johnnycake , but the original name was journey cake ,” said Lloyd Delancey, a lifelong resident of the Bahamas. “In the old days, fishermen would go out in their boats for days at a time. They took johnnycake with them because it would last at least a week.”

While the bread is a little dry, that makes it perfect for dunking into fish stews and conch chowder, Delancey said. We suspected that this johnnycake was far better than any prepared by fishermen from days gone by.

Johnnycake was just one of the West Indian specialties we tried on a recent cruise through the Caribbean, which provided good opportunities to try local foods.

“Throughout the islands, the spices and age-old cooking traditions of Africa blend with culinary influences from Spain, France, the Netherlands and other European countries to create a variety of cuisines alive with flavor,” said local cookbook author John DeMers.

“Caribbean cooks combine the fresh fish and conch of local waters with such ingredients as okra and plantains, brought with the slave trade.” DeMers, who lives in New Orleans, finds Caribbean cooking far more complex than commonly believed. We discovered this for ourselves as we ate our way through Nassau, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.

For about $7 to $10 per person at the New Bahamian Kitchen, it’s possible to sample such specialties as grouper, a fish abundant in the Caribbean; rice with pigeon peas, a locally grown legume, and conch, a firm shellfish reminiscent of abalone. The conch is fried into fritters, tossed into salads and deep fried in a dish called cracked conch.

“The best cracked conch is at Rosalee’s on the way to the airport,” Delancey told us. So we took the $5 taxi ride from the center of town out Nassau Street to a small, ocher-colored building.

Rosalee’s has no tables, and you order from a narrow window. For $4.50 we got a paper plate heaped with French fries and pieces of conch that had been pounded until soft, then dusted with flour and deep-fried. It was laced with tomato spiced with hot sauce. We ate the hot conch with our fingers. It was tender and the crust was delicate and flaky without being greasy.

For a more sophisticated version of Bahamian food, we tried Chatter’s near the Straw Market. We walked through the bakery in front to a bright room decorated in parrot prints and bamboo furniture.

We began with conch chowder, an intensely flavored tomato-based soup thick with chopped conch, carrots, celery, peppers and pieces of sweet potato. It was fragrant with thyme, and we ate every drop, sopping up the remains with yeasty, whole wheat rolls studded with poppy seeds.

Next, fresh grouper--a firm white fish with a delicate, slightly sweet taste--was served with a pineapple sauce. Rich and buttery, the sauce was not at all sweet except for small bits of pineapple. We also tried a paper-thin crepe stuffed with shrimp, crab meat and lobster in a silken curry sauce. The sauces were so delicious that we used up four more rolls. Appetizers cost $4 to $5, main courses $9 to $14.

The cuisine of Puerto Rico reflects the island’s 400 years of Spanish rule. Most cruise ships dock a short distance from Old San Juan, which is easily explored on foot. La Zaragozana offers such Spanish dishes as paella and gazpacho, as well as Puerto Rican specialties. The restaurant has white vaulted ceilings and dark wood paneling.

“Puerto Ricans feel that they haven’t gotten their money’s worth unless they have lots of food,” Salvador Cordero told us as the waiter brought plates piled high. Cordero is host of a local television show that explores interesting places for residents to visit and there is not much that he doesn’t know about Puerto Rico.

“ Mofongo is cassava, a local root,” he explained as we tasted the starchy, potato-like vegetable that cradled clams, mussels and scallops. The fresh seafood was flavored with tomatoes and garlic but mofongo may be an acquired taste.

We loved asopao de pollo instantly. The hearty stew of chicken, rice, peas and pimento in a savory broth of tomato and garlic was served with tostones, or fried plantain, a banana-like vegetable that’s starchy but not sweet. “Dip the plantains in the stew,” Cordero instructed. We dipped one too many plantains and could barely rise from the table. Entrees at La Zaragozana are $10 to $15.

For dinner, we wanted something light and headed for Amadeus, a popular restaurant serving nouvelle Puerto Rican cuisine--new versions of traditional dishes using local ingredients. We found that in Puerto Rico, nouvelle still means a lot of food. But at Amadeus, you can eat lightly from the bar menu.

Fried plantains were topped with huge dollops of sour cream and caviar, and plantain soup was flavored with asparagus, avocado, garlic and pepper. Arrowroot fritters, made from a bland-tasting, taro-like root, were served with a fresh tomato sauce. Dessert was a mango mousse enriched by heavy cream. Full as we were, we ate every bite. These small dishes cost $2 to $5 each, and two make for a very nice dinner.

On St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, we headed for Victor’s New Hide-Out and then for Eunice’s Terrace.

St. Thomas has changed hands so many times during its history that its culinary influences are as varied as any you’re likely to find in the Caribbean.

Victor’s, in the port city of Charlotte Amalie, is the more scenic, sitting high on a hill overlooking the water. It’s a $3-per-person taxi ride from the dock.

Open windows channel cooling breezes through the restaurant, and we were joined by local islanders eating a wide variety of fresh fish. Our waitress, Joycelyn, recommended the kingfish. “It just came in this morning,” she assured us. “You’ve got to try the fungi as well. Victor’s is the best.”

The fish is served steamed or fried. We had ours steamed under a huge pile of onions cooked in butter. The kingfish was an excellent choice with the onions and we liked the fungi , cooked corn meal mixed with okra that has been pounded to a paste. It’s sort of like a green polenta. The locally grown, white sweet potatoes were also good, tender and very sweet. Try Victor’s ginger beer, which is made at the restaurant and is so good you’ll want more than one. Entree’s range from $10 to $17.

Eunice’s Terrace is a local hangout by the side of the road, a $5-per-person taxi ride from the center of Charlotte Amalie. We walked upstairs to find a large room with walls open to the breezes. Hanging plants and rattan furniture gave the place a tropical feel.

The conch steamed with butter sauce ($11) tasted a little like abalone. It was wonderfully tender. The sauce tasted of garlic, tomato and butter. The local fish is a good bet as well, and everyone ends with either the freshly made rum cake or the Key lime pie ($3.75). We opted for rum cake, which was a light pound cake laced with rum.

Occasionally, we find a dish we will always remember--like goat water at Ashley’s Restaurant, a tiny roadside stand on the way to the airport on St. Thomas. Goat water ($3 for a large bowl) may just be the most savory stew we have ever tried. A very thick broth, with chunks of meat, it tasted a little of curry with a spicy heat. We would have had seconds had our ship not been sailing.

GUIDEBOOK

Caribbean Eateries

Recommended:

Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas: the New Bahamian Kitchen, Trinity Place, one block from the Straw Market; (809) 325-0702. Rosalee’s, Nassau Street at Meadow Street (takeout only); (809) 323-6978. Chatters, Market Street, one block from Bay Street; (809) 326-6447.

San Juan, Puerto Rico: La Zaragozana, San Francisco 356, San Juan; (809) 725-3262. Amadeus, San Sebastian 106, Plaza San Jose, Old San Juan; (809) 722-8635.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands: Victor’s New Hide-Out, 103 Sub Base, Charlotte Amalie; (809) 776-9379. Eunice’s Terrace, 67 Smith Bay; (809) 775-3975. (Eunice has also opened a branch closer to town, in Crown Bay, 809-774-4776.) Ashley’s Restaurant, Airport Road, Charlotte Amalie; (809) 774-1533.