LITR 5731 Colonial-Postcolonial Literature                                      1st Research Posts 2009

Melissa Hollman 

The Effects of Colonialism on Caribbean Cuisine

            We use food primarily as a source of nourishment for our bodies to provide us with energy to help us to work and learn.  As students we often find ourselves in line at a drive thru as we try to catch a bite on our way to or from class.  With a fast food restaurant on every corner it is easy to forget where our food comes from.  Seldom do we think about all the people who had a hand in getting the food we eat from a farm or factory to our dinner table or more realistically our car.  I think because I like to cook I often find myself thinking about food.  As we have been discussing people of different countries and cultural backgrounds I began to think about the cuisine of the Caribbean.  I started to wonder what the food is like.  I became curious about what ingredients are used and how the food is prepared.  I also wondered how colonialism has changed Caribbean food, specifically, how the introduction of other cultures has influenced the native cuisine.

            As I began my search for information on Caribbean cuisine I found a book by Cristine Mackie titled Life and Food of the Caribbean.  I found this book to have an enormous amount of historical information tracing the food of the Caribbean back to the Carib, Arawak, and Taino Indians who are the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.  The book also has numerous recipes and on the first page of each chapter there is a quote from Derek Walcott.  From this book I learned how the Indians acquired their food which was often by hunting with a bow and arrow.  The animals native to the islands were cattle, goats, and wild pigs.  Seafood was also a large part of the Caribbean diet.  When the Indians would fish they would often use the poisonous liquid from plants and rub it on their arrowheads before they speared the fish.  The natives would also pour the plant juice directly into the water to stun the fish so they were easier to catch.  Aside from hunting, the Indians also practiced agriculture by planting their crops in the woods among other trees and plants.  They planted an assortment of foods to include sugar-cane, maze, sweet potatoes, and plantains.  The most laborious plant to grow was the cassava which after it was planted took ten months to produce fruit (Mackie 33).  I also learned about different cooking methods to include brabacot which was the early form of barbequing where meat was put on wooden planks and smoked over a fire.  The native people of the Caribbean would also use large clay pots to boil and steam food (Mackie 30).  When the English came to the islands to create sugar-cane plantations Caribbean food soon began to change.  The Europeans brought many foods to the islands such as squash, tomatoes, and potatoes.  The English began to change the agricultural methods of the islands from sporadic planting to clearing land and planting vast amounts of crops.  The English also employed their bigger is better method in food preparation by replacing the Indian’s clay pots with ovens made of stone which were described as being “the shape and size of an igloo (Mackie 31).”  Along with the fruits and vegetables brought by the Europeans they also introduced many spices to Caribbean food such as garlic, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and tarragon.  With the introduction of spices from Europe the popular Jamaican spice blend of jerk seasoning was created which has become a popular seasoning throughout the Caribbean and is also used today in American cooking.  

The influence of colonialism on Caribbean cuisine can easily be seen from the new foods that were introduced to the changes made to food preparation. These two distinct cultures began to merge and create a new flavorful cuisine but there were other cultures that contributed to this melting pot as well.

Another source that I used in my research was a book by Michelle Harrison titled King Sugar.  This book describes the reason for the colonization of the Caribbean which was primarily to produce and export sugar.  Sugar was introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus and once the Europeans saw how lucrative sugar was for Spain they decided that they wanted a part in it.  By the mid 1600’s Europe had taken control of sugar production in the Caribbean which was focused mostly in Jamaica.  As slaves were brought to the Caribbean from Africa, India, and China to work on the sugar plantations Caribbean cuisine continued to evolve as it was influenced by these other cultures (Harrison 91). Africans introduced beans and peas to Caribbean food and they began to be added to meat and fish dishes.  Africans also introduced the use of peppers in cooking and often made a dish called Metagee which was meat cooked with hot peppers (Mackie 74).   The Caribbean natives took this recipe and made it their own by adding coconut milk to it.  I found this fact from the previous source by Cristine Mackie.  I then found additional information about the influences from India and China online in an article by Linda Thompson entitled “Caribbean Food-A Little History.”  According to Thompkins, the immigrants from India introduced more spices to Caribbean cuisine to include kari podi or curry powder which was often used to season meats.  China’s main influence on Caribbean food was the introduction of rice which was served with meat and fish.  Rice has become a staple in Caribbean cooking and is now found in many Caribbean dishes.  With the addition of other cultures coming to the islands Caribbean food continued to develop as new ingredients and ideas about preparing food were shared.

            Through my research I discovered that the Caribbean cuisine is a wonderful blend of foods and spices influenced by many different cultures.  It was interesting to see how the methods for growing, catching, and preparing food changed with the introduction of each new group of people.  Due to the amount of information on this topic it was difficult to try to summarize or highlight the history and transformation of Caribbean food but I tried to include some of the basic staples and show how colonialism has changed how these foods are made.  Today we get to enjoy Caribbean food for what it has become but I can not help but think how difficult it must have been for the Indians to have their home invaded and have the cultures of strangers forced upon them.  I think by learning how colonialism has changed Caribbean cuisine it offers another way to explore Caribbean culture allowing for a better understanding and appreciation of how the cuisine and culture has become what it is today.  I believe that food is an important part of cultural identity and learning about the food of another culture can teach us something about ourselves.  I think that if we spend some time thinking about the foods that we eat we will discover how other cultures have helped to influence the dishes that we enjoy.

Works Cited

“Diet of Caribbean Islanders” Nutrition and Well-being A to Z.

            21 Sep. 2009. http://faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Caribbean-Islanders-Diet-of.html.

Harrison, Michelle. King Sugar. Washington Square: New York University Press, 2001.

Mackie, Cristine. Life and Food in the Caribbean.

            Kingston: Jamaica Randell, 1995.

Thompkins, Linda. “Caribbean Food-A Little History” Ezine Articles.

23 June.2005. travel 2 the Caribbean 20 Sep. 2009 http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Thompkins.