DiningBuzz! - Things you've brought back from the Caribbean

I have travelled all over Europe and love bringing home food/cooking items, etc, but my next trip is different. We are flying to San Juan and cruising St Thomas, Barbados, St Kitts, St Maartin and St Lucia. I love experiencing local foods and my favorite souvenirs and food related items.

Any suggestions on what to look for at any of these stops? So far, I've heard about banana flavored catchup and of course.... Rum.

I found some locally grown coffee on Tobago.

Angustoura bitters (again, more Tobago) - perfect for long vodkas.

I have travelled all over Europe and love bringing home food/cooking items, etc, but my next trip is different. We are flying to San Juan and cruising St Thomas, Barbados, St Kitts, St Maartin and St Lucia. I love experiencing local foods and my favorite souvenirs and food related items.

Any suggestions on what to look for at any of these stops? So far, I've heard about banana flavored catchup and of course.... Rum.

Barbados Rum, Pineapple Rum and Coffee Rum are well worth the effort.

We brought back English Harbor rum and Sister Glo's jams and preserves from Antigua.

Cane sugar was also ridiculously inexpensive as well which we brought home a lot of.

Aged rum and occasionally a spice or a sauce...

i have enjoyed our vanilla rum alot. it is especially refreshing with a cold coke. seems many restraunts in st barths seem to make there own and we got bottles from a few to bring home

i have enjoyed our vanilla rum alot. it is especially refreshing with a cold coke. seems many restraunts in st barths seem to make there own and we got bottles from a few to bring home

Can definitely support enjoyment of vanilla rum. Great taste mixed with coke. Once tried it makes plain rum and coke seem very ordinary.

Definitely RUM. There are many more flavours easily available in the Caribbean. The other is overproofed rum 120-160 - Warning: handle with care around open flame. This is the stuff that bartenders use for the fire dragon effect by spraying them from their mouth onto a match.

Saint Lucia makes these little cocoa logs, sometimes called sticks of pure cocoa cake or cocoa sticks. They cost like nothing, and have the most incredible flavor if you use cocoa.

Here's one blog entry about them

Cocoa Sticks - Rolled Bars of Cocoa for Heavenly Cocoa Tea

Makes incredible hot chocolate, like nothing you have ever tasted

These cocoa sticks are available locally at markets, tourist areas and even the airport in Vieux Fort, St Lucia. They can be found online at the Hotel Chocolat amongst other places.

The cocoa sticks are made from crushed fermented cocoa beans. The cacao sticks are rolled into a fairly hard 1" thick cylindrical roll. The cocoa sticks are usually grated when used as they are quite hard.

This hot chocolate tea drink is so rich, you will feel the moisturizing cocoa butter on your lips. The cocoa tea has a superb spicy taste that is wonderful and the tropical spices blend and complement the chocolate flavor. It is a surpring mix, but usually things that grow together go together.



Read more: http://www.infobarrel.com/A_Guide_to_St_Lucia_for_Chocoholics_-_a_Chocolate_Lovers_Dream#ixzz1lHhUQi2I

i have enjoyed our vanilla rum alot. it is especially refreshing with a cold coke. seems many restraunts in st barths seem to make there own and we got bottles from a few to bring home

That sounds like a great idea, vanilla rum!

Thanks Mike, those were exactly the recommendations I was looking for. I never would have known about the chocolate logs otherwise.

Sorrel.

I bring back loose cocoa, fantastic for baking with, rum cake (terribly bad for me, but delicious), and coffee.

1. Hand-carved bowls from Belize.

2. Hepatitis A from Cozumel.

3. Blue Agave tequila from Mexico.

4. So many insect bites I had an allergic reaction Guanaja, Honduras.

5. Silver jewelry from Cozumel.

6. Norovirus from Roatan Honduras.

7. Close-up video of a manta ray from Bloody Bay Wall, Cayman.

8. Coral and jellyfish stings from all over.

9. Memories.

1. Hand-carved bowls from Belize.

2. Hepatitis A from Cozumel.

3. Blue Agave tequila from Mexico.

4. So many insect bites I had an allergic reaction Guanaja, Honduras.

5. Silver jewelry from Cozumel.

6. Norovirus from Roatan Honduras.

7. Close-up video of a manta ray from Bloody Bay Wall, Cayman.

8. Coral and jellyfish stings from all over.

9. Memories.

Too funny!!

I bring back loose cocoa, fantastic for baking with, rum cake (terribly bad for me, but delicious), and coffee.

Is the cocoa different from what you get here, or just much cheaper?

Is the cocoa different from what you get here, or just much cheaper?

Tastes much better to me - hard to describe, but very dark and rich, gives a much better flavour to cakes etc than the stuff I buy in the grocery stores here.

We have some bowls from Belize and cutting boards too, they are beautiful.

The cocoa is not processed. We can't get anything like it easily here.

If you are someplace they are selling it, ask if they will let you taste it. Keeping in mind that it's probably unsweetened, so it may be a bit bitter, you will understand as soon as you smell and taste it. It's got so much more cocoa flavor, very strong.

It's pure cocoa, very hard to describe, but it's very inexpensive (I want to say they were a buck a log when we got them) so it's totally worth it.

1. Hand-carved bowls from Belize.

2. Hepatitis A from Cozumel.

3. Blue Agave tequila from Mexico.

4. So many insect bites I had an allergic reaction Guanaja, Honduras.

5. Silver jewelry from Cozumel.

6. Norovirus from Roatan Honduras.

7. Close-up video of a manta ray from Bloody Bay Wall, Cayman.

8. Coral and jellyfish stings from all over.

9. Memories.
2 4 and 6 sound like you have close contact with the local culture.

We have some bowls from Belize and cutting boards too, they are beautiful.

The cocoa is not processed. We can't get anything like it easily here.

If you are someplace they are selling it, ask if they will let you taste it. Keeping in mind that it's probably unsweetened, so it may be a bit bitter, you will understand as soon as you smell and taste it. It's got so much more cocoa flavor, very strong.

It's pure cocoa, very hard to describe, but it's very inexpensive (I want to say they were a buck a log when we got them) so it's totally worth it.

Cooking is my passion so I can't wait to find some of this!

We brought back a rum cake and some extra rum to spike it. Next time, I'll look for vanilla rum, that sound excellent.

Save space for some products made from Guavaberry in St Martin. It's unique to the island and is really rather nice. Go to the Guavaberry store in Marigold and see what tickles your fancy. Both the liquer and the chocolate are lovely.

In terms of rum, I'd say Barbados rum is the pick of the locations you're going to. Try to find some Mount Gilboa - a rum by the whiskey-loving owner of the distillery who does all the Mount Gay premium rums.

This thread really wasn't about what I thought it would be about.

Mike

Does Guyana count? They have some amazing rum. My favorite is XM Royal Gold.

Jerk Seasoning....incredible.

Jerk Seasoning....incredible.

I've never cooked with it, only ordered jerked chicken in a restaurant, any suggestions?

A bag full of fresh cloves from Granada. Made my tiny cruise ship cabin smell great for the rest of the trip!

Definitely try to get some fresh spices, though you might want to check on import regulations.

In Barbados, get some of the local hot sauce - I like the yellow kind with little red pepper chunks. My favorite is "Aunt May's" Picture on this page (http://auntmaysfoodproducts.com/aunt-mays-sauces.html)), and it is ridiculously cheap in the local grocery stores (about $2), and delicious on flying fish sandwiches. If you are in Barbados, go to the Oistins Fish Fry (http://www.barbados.org/oistins-fish-fry.htm) for dinner.

I've never cooked with it, only ordered jerked chicken in a restaurant, any suggestions?

A store in Chicago/Milwaukee area sells Jamaican Jerk seasoning and it's awesome in a marinade before grilling! Chicken, pork chops, shrimp...mmmmm...so good!

http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipes/jamaican-jerk-marinade-recipe