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| Ackee Ackee - The fruit of a West African tree, named in honor of Captain Bligh who introduced it to |
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| Dasheen |
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| Calalloo Callaloo - The other is Chinese spinach, a leafy vegetable typically prepared as one would prepare turnip or collard greens. |
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| Thyme |
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| Passion Fruit |
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| June Plum |
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| Plantain (Ripe) |
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| Susumber |
Susumber or Gully Bean is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affecting the root system, thus allowing the crop to continue for a second year. They have a bitter taste and are disliked by many for this reason. They are usually cooked with Saltfish and coconut milk to make a mild stew.
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| Limes |
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| Otaheite Apple |
| Cherimoya - Pale-green fruit with white sweet flesh that has the texture of flan. Used for mousse and fruit sauces, the fruit is best when fully ripe, well chilled and eaten with a spoon. |
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| Avocado (Jamaican Pear) |
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Allspice, Pimienta -
Dark-brown berry, similar to peppercorns, that combines the flavors of
cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.
Annatto - This
slightly musky-flavored reddish yellow spice, ground from the seeds of a
flowering tree, is native to the West Indies
and the Latin tropics. Islanders store their annatto seeds in oil—giving the
oil a beautiful color. Saffron or turmeric can be substituted. The Spanish name
achiote is sometimes referred to as achote.
Beans, Peas -
Interchangeable terms for beans. Kidney beans in Jamaica are called peas. Often combined with rice, used in soups and stews or pulped and made into
fritters.
Bitter, or Seville
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| Breadfruit |
Breadfruit - Large
green fruits, usually about 10 inches in diameter, with a potato-like flesh. It
was also introduced to Jamaica
from its native Tahiti in 1793 by Captain
Bligh. Breadfruit are not edible until they are cooked; they can be used in
place of any starchy vegetable, rice, or pasta. When cooked the flesh is yellowish-white,
like a dense potato. Breadfruit is picked and eaten before it ripens and is
typically served like squash—baked, grilled, fried, boiled, or roasted after
being stuffed with meat or in place of any starch vegetable, rice, or pasta. It
makes and excellent soup.
Calabaza - A squash,
also called West Indian or Green pumpkin. It comes in a variety of sizes and
shapes. The best substitutes are Hubbard or butternut squash.
Carambola, Star Fruit
- Tart or acidy-sweet star-shaped fruit used in desserts, as a garnish for
drinks, tossed into salads, or cooked together with seafood.
Cassava - This tuber
is also known as manioc and yuca. A rather large root vegetable with a 6- to
12-inch length and 2- to 3-inch diameter, cassava has a tough brown skin with a
very firm white flesh. Tapioca and cassareep are both made from cassava. There
are two varieties of the plant: sweet and bitter. Sweet cassava is boiled and
eaten as a starch vegetable. Bitter cassava contains a poisonous acid that can
be deadly and must be processed before it can be eaten. This is done by boiling
the root in water for at least 45 minutes; discard the water. Alternatively,
grate the cassava and place it in a muslin cloth, then squeeze out as much of
the acid as possible before cooking. Bitter cassava is used commercially but is
not sold unprocessed in some countries.
Chayote/Cho-cho - A small pear-shaped vegetable, light green or cream
colored, and often covered with a prickly skin. Bland, similar in texture to
squash, and used primarily as a side dish or in gratins and soufflés. Like
pawpaw (papaya), it is also a meat tenderizer.
Cherimoya -
Pale-green fruit with white sweet flesh that has the texture of flan. Used for
mousse and fruit sauces, the fruit is best when fully ripe, well chilled and
eaten with a spoon.
Conch - Also known
as lambi or concha. These large mollusks from the gastropod family
are up to a foot long, with a heavy spiral shell with yellow that shades to
pink inside. When preparing conch soup, conch salad or conch fritters, the
tough conch flesh mush be tenderized by pounding.
Dhal - Hindu name
for legumes; in the Caribbean , it refers only
to split peas or lentils.
Escovitch/Escabeche - The
Spanish word for "pickled." It usually refers to fresh fish (and
sometimes poultry) that is cooked in oil and vinegar, or cooked and then
pickled in an oil and vinegar marinade.
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| Guava (Unripe) |
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| Guava (Ripe) |
Guava, Guayaba -
Tropical fruit that has over one hundred species. It is pear-shaped, yellow to
green skinned, with creamy yellow, pink, or red granular flesh with rows of
small hard seeds. Ripe guava have a perfume like scent. Guava is used green or
ripe in punches, syrups, jams, chutneys, and ice creams.
Hibiscus - Also
known as sorrel, rosell, or flor de Jamaica . This tropical flower is
used for drinks, jams, and sauces. The flower blooms in December, after which
it's dried and used to make a bright red drink that has a slightly tart taste
and is the color of cranberry juice. It should not be confused with the
American hibiscus found in the garden.
Jack - A fish family
of over two hundred species, these colorful saltwater fish are also known as
yellowtail, greenback, burnfin, black, and amber jack. These delicately
flavored fish tend to be large, weighing a much as 150 pounds, and readily
available in waters around the world. Tuna and swordfish may be substituted.
Lobster - Caribbean rock lobster. Unlike the Maine variety, this lobster has no claws.
Malanga, Coco- A
relative of dasheen or taro, this tuber is prevalent throughout the Caribbean.
Mamey Apple - The
large tropical fruit, native to the New World ,
yields edible pulp that's tangerine in color. The flavor is similar to a peach.
Mango - A native of India ,
this fruit is known as "the fruit of the tropics.” Green mangoes are used
in hot sauces and condiments, while ripe mangoes appear in desserts, candies,
and drinks.
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| Naseberry |
Name - This giant
tuber could be called by any of a variety of different names. The Spanish
translation of the word ñame is yam. The outer skin is brown and
coarsely textured, while the inside is porous and very moist. The ñame grows to
enormous size and is considered to be the "king" of tubers.
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| Otaheite Apple |
Otaheite Apple -
This pear-shaped apple ranges from pink to ruby red in color. This fruit is
usually eaten fresh, but also poached in wine, or juiced and served as a
beverage.
Papaya - Also known
as "pawpaw" in Jamaica .
Green papaya is often used as an ingredient in chutney or relishes and as a
main dish when stuffed. When ripe, it is yellow or orange and eaten as a melon,
or served in fruit salad.
Passion Fruit,
Maracudja, Granadilla - Oval-shaped fruit that has a tough shell and a
color range from yellow-purple to eggplant to deep chocolate. The golden-yellow
pulp is sweet and it must be strained to remove the seeds. Used in juices,
desserts, drinks, and sauces.
Pickapeppa Sauce -
This sauce is manufactured at Shooters Hill near Mandeville and is a secret
combination of tamarind, onions, tomatoes, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes,
raisins, and spices. Since 1921 the company has produced this savory sauce
which has won many awards and is distributed throughout North
America . The sauce is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of one
year.
Saltfish - Saltfish
is any fried, salted fish, but most often cod. With the increasing availability
of fresh fish all over Jamaica ,
some cooks are moving away from this preserved fish, which originated in the
days before refrigeration. Still, Jamaicans have a soft place in their hearts
for the taste of this salted cod (sold around the world in Italian, Spanish, or
Portuguese markets under some variant on the name bacalao). Ackee and Saltfish
is the preferred breakfast of Jamaicans. When imported saltfish has been
unavailable, Jamaicans have been known to make their own from fresh fish.
Soursop, Corossol,
Guanabana - Elongated, spike-covered fruit, slightly tart and delicately
flavored. It is used mainly in drinks, punches, sherbets, and ice cream.
Stamp and Go -
Spicy-hot fritters popular throughout the Caribbean. Methods, ingredients and
names vary from island to island.
Star Apple - The
local fruit is the main ingredient in a popular holiday dish called matrimony,
a mix of star apple and oranges. In is similar to an orange but is made up of
clear segments. The eight pointed star that gives the fruit its name can be
seen when sliced.
Stinking Toe - A pod
that resembles a human toe, this fruit possesses a foul smelling rough
exterior. The sugary power inside is eaten, or used in custards or beverages.
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| Custard Apple |
Sugar Apple, Sweetsop
- The flesh of the sweetsop is actually of black seeds surrounded by sweet
white pulp. The sweetsop is native to the tropical Americas .
Tamarind - A large,
decorative tree that produces brown pods containing a sweet and tangy pulp
that's used for flavoring curries, sauces, and even beverages.
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| Yellow Yam |
Yam - Similar in
size and color to the potato, but nuttier in flavor, it is not be confused with
the Southern sweet yam or sweet potato. Caribbean
yams are served boiled, mashed, or baked.
Yautia - A member of
the taro root family, the yautía is the size of a potato, but more pear-shaped.
It has a brown fuzzy outer skin. The flesh is white and slimy and is
custard-like when cooked. It is one of the most natural thickeners, used to
thicken soups, stews, and bean dishes. There is also a purple yautía which is
also called mora.
Yucca /Cassava -
Root vegetable similar in length and shape to a turnip, with scaly yam-like
skin. Universally made into flour for breads and cakes, and used as a base for
tapioca.
