Demystifying Caribbean Cuisine
People can tell a lot about a culture through its cooking. The many different cooking styles available across the globe paints a wonderful picture of how plentiful and culturally diverse our world is. An interesting thing about cooking is that each culture is easily influenced by each other. This is evident in Caribbean cuisine, which itself takes many influences from many different cultures to create its own unique culinary creations.
What is Caribbean cuisine?
Caribbean cuisine is a reflection of the many different cultural makeup of the area and different explorers travelling to the region. Most known for combining certain culinary aspects of West African, East Asian, Arab, South Asian, and British cuisine, while incorporating traditional cooking methods, it’s no wonder why Caribbean gastronomy is so well loved across the globe.
Many of the Caribbean dishes are comprised of ingredients that are native and locally available in the region which usually include plantains, cassava, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and coconuts. A seasoning style that is specific to the Caribbean is sofrito, a green herb and oil-based marinade that gives the dishes a unique and exotic taste.
Popular Caribbean dishes from Haiti
- Akra – This is a 100% vegetarian dish that is boiled and fried from a malanga root vegetable.
- Bouyon-Beef Stew – This is a rich and fragrant stew that is filled with root vegetables, flour dumplings and many pieces of beef.
- Diri Kolé – This simple rice and red beans is one of the most popular Haitian dishes available. The modest dish, coupled with the many fragrant Creole spices used makes it no wonder why it’s so well-loved.
- Marinad – This fluffy, yet crispy seasoned dumpling is a warm and comforting soul food. A must have staple for any Fritay nights.
- Poul Ian Sos – This is a Haitian chicken in sauce dish, tenderized and seasoned with rich spices, accompanied with Haitian red sauce.
Caribbean Culinary
To learn how to cook the food of any ethnic cuisine, it is important to study under someone who is highly knowledgeable about the country and gastronomy. Caribbean cuisine is no different. Caribbean culture is highly ingrained in its cooking and omitting that from the classes would be doing great disservice to the culture.
Cuisine Lakay Lola cooking classes and experiences
If you’re looking to deep dive into learning more about the intricacies of Caribbean cooking, Cuisine Lakay Lola is your best bet. Each class is taught by chef Lola, a Haitian born chef who wants to spread her love of Caribbean dishes and culture to the rest of the world. Like the motto to Cuisine Lakay Lola, chef Lola aims to cook, create, and educate everyone on the beauty of Caribbean food.
We offer virtual, in person, and group classes. These classes are perfect for:
- Team building events
- Bachelorette parties
- Weddings
- Baby showers
- Couple’s night in
- Any Haitian-born or non-Haitian who wants to learn more about Caribbean cuisine
Some popular recipes taught at Cuisine Lakay Lola classes include:
- Akra
- Banann Pezé
- Bouyon-Beef Stew
- Diri Kolé
- Djon Djon
- Marinad
- Poul Ian Sos
Book your classes with Lola here !
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