Island Origins: 6 Best Caribbean Food and Cocktail Recipes for Summer According to These Chefs
“What is your favorite summer food?” For the Caribbean chef, remembering warm days in the sun and mouth-watering treats evokes the euphoria of street-side fare, ripe fruits picked straight from the tree and “having a lime” with friends.
Four culinary experts from across the diaspora share details on their favorite Caribbean food and cocktail recipes for summer and how they adapted these memorable flavors for a more sophisticated palette.
Chef Troy Levy | Ital Cooking
cheftroystable.com | IG: @cheftroys_table
Ital cuisine may have its origins in the Rastafari faith, but the style of food prep emphasizing natural, unprocessed ingredients proves equally healthful for all who try it.
In addition to running a successful catering service in New York City, Jamaican chef Troy Levy is spreading the delicious gospel of ital cooking, working on his own cookbook to bring these authentic recipes to the world.
For Levy, summer couldn’t come fast enough in his youth. He spent many at his family’s large farm in Glengoffe, Jamaica. Run by his Rastafarian uncles, this was where he first fell in love with the unadulterated flavors of the land, from bananas to breadfruit. He particularly reminisces about the spicy pumpkin soup he would enjoy after days by the river. Since becoming a chef, he has adapted the original recipe into an elegant bisque while still paying homage to the natural approach to cooking he learned from his family. He named his version of the dish “His Majesty Bowl” after Haile Selassie, late Emperor of Ethiopia.
“His Majesty Bowl”
What you need
1 ½ cups pumpkin
1 cup sweet potato
1 cup coco
1 cup dasheen
½ teaspoon cumin
Sea salt or Himalayan salt to taste
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
¼ cup scallion
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups fresh coconut milk
1 cup veggie stock (optional)
½ corn on the cob
For garnish
½ tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
2 or 3 button mushrooms, sliced
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, seeded and sliced
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a large metal spoon, scoop out the seeds of the pumpkin. Use a sharp knife to cut slices of pumpkin, sweet potato, coco and dasheen to 1-inch thick.
Place pumpkin and sweet potato slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and rub on both sides. Sprinkle with cumin and Himalayan salt to taste. Add one clove of garlic to the pan. Roast for 18-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of pumpkin slices. (Check doneness after 15 minutes.)
Grill fresh corn cobs on the open flame of a stove top or grill. Cool for 10 minutes. With a sharp chef’s knife, cut off the corn kernels.
In a medium bowl, combine cilantro, lemon or lime juice, sliced pepper and a pinch of Himalayan salt (optional). Toss very well and set aside for garnish.
In a blender, add roasted pumpkin and sweet potato slices, coconut milk, the unroasted clove of garlic, scallion and thyme. Puree until creamy. Add vegetable stock or more coconut milk as needed for consistency.
Serve with a tablespoon of garnish.
