A Caribbean Garden

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I promise lots of spicy photos!

Here are some of the frequently used spices in the Caribbean



Turmeric is what most people in the Caribbean refer to when they say “saffron”. Needless to say, that caused me quite a bit of confusion while growing up and reading certain recipes that called for saffron- I couldn’t think of how on earth turmeric could possible enhance a sweet dessert.

Similarly, bananas are called “figs” and for the life of me I couldn’t understand Easter mass as a small child when the priest read about Judas hanging himself from a fig tree. I always thought that hanging from a soft and floppy leaved banana tree must be a very ineffective way of killing oneself! Also, I doubted they had bananas in the mid east then. I broached the subject one day with my father, and his explanation of what a fig tree really is cleared that up in my mind. Obviously many others still don’t know what a fig tree is, as for Easter you still see effigies of Judas hanging from banana tress! LOL

Turmeric can be mixed with yoghurt as a facial mask or with sea salt and mineral or massage oil for a body scrub (as I learned in the Spa in Asia)..



From the land of Usian Bolt comes allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper. This spice is the dried unripe fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. The name "allspice" was coined by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of several aromatic spices, namely cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In Jamaica the leaves are also used in cooking, and ground as part of the famous jerk seasoning.



On this tray the allspice leaves are under the nutmegs. Only in Grenada do I get nutmeg ice cream, which tastes wonderful. The reddish lacy things are mace, the covering or arillus of the seed. (I think this is what they use to make the ice cream. Take my advice and buy whole nutmegs and grind fresh as needed, the ground stuff tastes like nothing.

Then we see whole cloves, used extensively in certain drinks, roasting meats etc. Under he cloves is a bay rum leaf. This is what people in the Caribbean refer to when they say "bay leaf". Its lends a wonderful aroma and flavour to many Caribbean dishes.

On the top are sticks of Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum), a close relative to cinnamon and used much the same way.



The red seeds are roucou, or annatto, a spice from the achiote trees of the Americas. It is used both as a red food coloring and a flavoring.
Roucou, or annatto is also used extensively in commercial cheese, butter and margarine production to give that nice deep yellow/orange colour.

The other seeds are fenugreek or methi, used in Indian cooking here.

Achiote is sometimes called the lipstick-tree and is a very attractive tree.



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