This event offered reflections on Caribbean cuisine and the history of food in communities as part of Black History Month at the University of Guelph.

Speakers Included:

Dr. Mary Anne Chambers, Chancellor of the University of Guelph, immigrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1976. Since then, she has worked as an executive in financial services, served as cabinet minister and MPP in the provincial legislature, and in various governance positions for non-profits and corporate organizations.

Chef Warren Ford has been a Chef for over 25 years, and worked at various restaurants and resorts throughout the Caribbean and beyond. He is a member of the culinary faculty at George Brown College, and spent several years running his own catering company.

Our speakers reflected on the roots of Caribbean cuisine across the many different islands and countries of the region, and discussed ingredients, flavour profiles, and meaning of food within the community. Some of the themes that emerged from their discussion included:

Caribbean food uses ingredients and flavours that are a reflection of the region’s history.

What is Caribbean food, anyways? It often involves a lot of ‘nose-to-tail’ preparations – this stems from the slave trade, where enslaved peoples often got the cuts of meat that were less in demand. Oxtail is a particular favourite of Chef Ford, who noted that stews, soups and one-pot meals like pepper pot are common dishes.

Caribbean food is “food that makes you feel good – it warms the heart.” – Chef Warren Ford

Many Caribbean dishes use common ingredients, prepared in different ways. Take cornmeal, for example. In Jamaica, you’ll often see it in the form of cornmeal porridge. In Aruba, they use cornmeal to make funchi, or sheets of prepared cornmeal that they cut into strips and fry. In Bermuda, they combine cornmeal with cassava to make porridge. Souse is another dish that might look slightly different depending on where in the Caribbean you eat it.

Cultural roots can also take hold in new places. When Newfoundland had a very strong trade in salt fish, ships would go to the Caribbean with salt fish and come back with rum. The story goes that “screech” originated from barrels of Jamaican rum that had been sampled over the shipping route, and refilled with water.

Food is a connection to a place and people – how do you replicate that if you live elsewhere?

When you’re trying to cook Caribbean food outside of the Caribbean, the ingredients you can access may be different. Citrus fruits are juicier in the Caribbean, and bananas riper and sweeter, as they don’t have to be picked when under-ripe for transport. But what happens when you crave a sense of home from so far away? “You adjust,” says Mary Anne. “Some items will hold in travelling from Jamaica, but will lose quality. Some larger supermarkets will carry certain products, but smaller West Indian stores often are the place to go. When you walk through the door, you’re welcomed by all the smells. You get pretty close to the real thing.”

If you don’t have time to cook from scratch like Chef Warren, consider looking into Grace Foods Canada, of which Mary Anne is Chair of the Board. Grace Foods has developed products for a quick and easy way to prepare Caribbean dishes at home. And don’t worry if you don’t eat chicken – you can “jerk” anything (chicken, prawns, fish, cauliflower, mushrooms)… the possibilities are endless!

Building community and a tradition of sharing goes hand in hand with food security.

In many Caribbean countries, it’s common to make more food than your family can eat, and to share it with others. This helps to build a sense of community and ensures everyone has enough nutritious food. Many people move from rural areas to urban ones to make more money, but this can reduce their access to fresh foods. Sharing – and sharing generously – to reduce this gap is a way of life. In addition, finding ways to make use of very part of an ingredient, helps to ensure nothing goes to waste.

Mary Anne also shared her memories of going to the market every Saturday with her mother, to get fresh ingredients for the day. She loved the banter in the market, seeing food arriving to the market on buses and shopping with her mother to buy ingredients for soup.

Watch the Deep Dish Dialogues recording to learn more about Chef Warren’s recipe for jerk chicken, coconut rice and peas, and coleslaw with guava vinaigrette, and hear our guests discuss Caribbean food.