locally. It has a sweet, fragrant, woody aroma. Its roots can be traced back to biblical days. It was brought to the Caribbean by the English East India Company.
•Ginger root, introduced to the West Indies by the Spaniards, is a must-have in every Caribbean kitchen. The fresh root is grated to release its sweet rich undertones to flavor several savory dishes with a slightly biting heat.
•Cloves are used in both savory and sweet preparations. One of the top uses of cloves is as an aromatic component in a curry sauce. The Dutch, by the way, held the monopoly on this spice from the 1600s. Cloves can be used whole or ground and have a tasty assertive dark aroma.
•Nutmeg is a pantry staple that is used for beverages such as Caribbean rum punch and other alcoholic drinks. The English planted nutmeg heavily in Grenada toward the end of the eighteenth century. Nutmeg is best when freshly grated. Its rich, fresh, and warm aroma is used to flavor sauces and bitter greens.
•Allspice is a spice that comes from the dried fruit of the allspice evergreen tree or pimento tree. This is the Caribbean’s native spice. It is not a combination of spices as is commonly thought. It is called allspice because when ground, the spice berries taste like a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves. It was this spice that Columbus brought back to Spain, thinking he had found the source of pepper.
Colorful, juicy, crunchy, sweet, bitter, herby, spicy… One of the great things about the Caribbean is that there are so many flavors and textures to put together, making it exciting to cook. The kitchen is freedom.
Caribbean Spice Box
Creole Spice
•1 teaspoon ginger
•2 teaspoons coriander
•1 teaspoon allspice
•½ teaspoon cinnamon
•2 teaspoons cumin
•½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
•1 teaspoon kosher salt
Jerk Spice
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•2 teaspoons allspice
•1 teaspoon clove
•1 teaspoon nutmeg
•2 teaspoons black pepper
•1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
•1 teaspoon kosher salt
West Indian Spice
•1 teaspoon ginger
•1 teaspoon coriander
•½ teaspoon cardamom
•1 teaspoon black pepper
•½ teaspoon cinnamon
•1 teaspoon star anise
•1 teaspoon turmeric
•1 teaspoon kosher salt
For us at Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet, sustainability is not a lofty idea but a fundamental and necessary endeavor. Our concept is centered on the food and drink, of course, but it’s also about our team, our facilities, our practices, and the hundreds of decisions we make each day that affect the world around us. We believe it’s about finding a balance that allows us to sustain our quest of making quality, accessible food while also giving back to our community and the environment.
Throughout coastal Florida as well as the Caribbean, coral reefs are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Some of these reefs date back over fifty million years. Many of the small reef fish feed on the plants and tiny creatures that make up the reef. In the natural course of the food chain, little fish are nourishment for bigger fish. Larger fish become prey for larger sea creatures, and so on, up to the apex predators of the deep.
Not only are the reefs at risk due to overfishing, pollution, and climate change, but lionfish are devastating many of the reefs in the Caribbean. They are eating many times their fair share of the nourishment present in the habitat. They have no predators in these waters as they are an invasive species. Therefore, we need to step in and eat lionfish.
Sustainability Recommendations
For Red lionfish (Pterois volitans) and Devil firefish (Pterois miles)
These two species are caught by spear and as incidental bycatch in the Florida Caribbean spiny lobster pot and lobster trap fishery. The lionfish fishery is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. There is low conservation concern, as lionfish are an invasive species outside of the Indo-Pacific and are detrimentally affecting native species through predation and resource competition. As a result, managers are focusing on ways to reduce and prevent further spread of the lionfish population. There are no bycatch species for the spearfish fishery since lionfish are targeted.
There is currently no fishery management plan for lionfish aimed at conserving stock size, but multiple control plans are in the process of being developed among local, state, federal, and international partners and are available. There are no regulations in place for the lionfish fishery in Atlantic or Gulf state waters, but it is illegal to transport and release live lionfish.
Lionfish are fished with spears and traps. These gear types tend to cause moderate to no impact on benthic habitats. Spiny lobster traps are deployed in a variety of habitats where they will not harm the rocky reefs and coral, but often in sand and seagrass areas, so gear impact will vary with habitat. Finally, lionfish are both competitors with and apex predators on ecologically, commercially, and recreationally important species; hence, their reduction or removal from the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico will greatly benefit the native species.
Excerpt from Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Report
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program evaluates the ecological sustainability of both wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the United States marketplace. Seafood Watch defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether wild-caught or farmed, which can maintain or increase production in the long term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Seafood Watch makes its science-based recommendations available to the public in the form of regional pocket guides that can be downloaded from www.seafoodwatch.org. The program’s goals are to raise awareness of important ocean conservation issues and empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans.
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