• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

/ . • ? Eth·nic American Food Today ~ I VOLUM E l:A - K I # .Edited by LUCY M. LONG Ethnic American Food Today A Cultural Encyclopedia Volume I: A-K EDITED BY Lucy M. LONG ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham• Boulder• New York• London Published by Rowman & Littlefield A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SEl 1 4AB Copyright© 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ethnic American food today : a cultural encyclopedia I edited by Lucy M. Long. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4422-2730-9 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN 978-1-4422-273 1-6 (electronic) 1. Cooking, American-Encyclopedias. 2. International cooking­ Encyclopedias. I. Long, Lucy M., 1956- TX349.E86 2015 641.59-dc23 2015000433 §'" The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO 239.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America B BAHAMAS city of Miami, Florida. The collapse of the Ba­ (Americas-Caribbean) Bahamian American hamian economy and the truck farming system Food that paid labor in commodities rather than cash See also: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago. led to an influx of black Bahamian migrants to In 1646, a company called Eleutheran Ad­ South Florida to work in these farms. By the ventures was founded in London, England, with time that Miami was officially incorporated as the intent of establishing a colony in what is a city, 40 percent of the area's black residents ·· now known as the Bahamas; shortly afterward, were Bahamians. Captain William Sayle landed there with a group In South Florida, Bahamians established en­ of English settlers. The colony became a haven claves in Lemon City, Cutler, Overtown, and for those seeking greater religious freedom than Coconut Grove. Coconut Grove now serves what was available in England, and it later at­ as the center of the Bahamian community in tracted revolutionaries and other English defec­ South Florida and hosts the popular Goombay tors. Many of the early English settlers to the Festival in June, a traditional Bahamian car­ Bahamas were Cockney and involved in the fish­ nival that has been celebrated there since the ing trade, making a livelihood from the capture late 1800s and features masked and costumed and sale of turtles and conch, the latter becom­ dancers and traditional junkanoo music. Today ing a nickname by which white Bahamians were it serves as a showcase of Bahamian and Carib­ · known. The colony also offered a safe haven for bean culture and has become an institution not runaway slaves from plantations in other parts only for the Bahamian community but for the of the West Indies, and when Britain abolished larger local black community as well. slavery in 1807, the human cargo of intercepted Immigration to the United States slowed slave ships was brought to the Bahamas, further around 1917 and then picked up again around ..••... adding to the colony's black population. 1943 when over five thousand Bahamians were In the 1800s, a few Conchs (white Baha­ employed as temporary workers on US farms mians) decided to establish pineapple planta- in the northern United States. Most came to ..tions in the Florida Keys, with the largest on the United States with the intent to save money Elliott Key and Key Largo, and they employed and move back to the Bahamas, which many large numbers of black Bahamians as labor­ did following improved economic conditions ers. By 1875, these Bahamian-owned planta­ in the colony and greater involvement of blacks tions shipped a million crates of fruit annually in Bahamian politics in the 1950s and 1960s. markets in the northeastern United States. Following full independence from British rule after, the crops died due to overuse of in 1973, emigration from the Bahamas greatly land, and the Conchs were put out of busi­ slowed, and by 1980 no more than nine thou­ Around that time, white American farm­ sand Bahamian nationals lived in the United were beginning to arrive in the area around States, and over five thousand of them had be­ Biscayne Bay, which would later become the come US citizens. 47 There are currently an estimated 48,043 peo­ garlic, onions, cilantro, and chilies in savory ple in the United States who claim Bahamian dishes and cinnamon, coconut, and rum in ancestry. While South Florida is host to the ma­ sweet dishes. Tropical fruits including mango, jority of Bahamians and Bahamian Americans, pineapple, guava, soursop, sapodilla, and pa­ many also immigrated to New York City and paya are also regularly consumed as is or in settled in Harlem, where they established the beverages or desserts. Nassau Bahamas Association of New York in Bahamian cuisine is perhaps most famous 1912, which was later rebranded in 2002 as the for its preparations of conch, a large mollusk Bahamian American Association Incorporated with a spiral shell. The variety consumed in (BAAI). New York is also home to a Bahamian the Bahamas is the queen conch, and it must consulate, and together with the BAAI, they be tenderized or "cracked" before consuming organize cultural programs for the community. by pounding it. The two favorite preparations are conch fritters, in which the meat is finely Foodways diced and mixed into a seasoned batter with In 1889, L. D. Poules wrote an account of the onions and herbs before being fried in small colony of the Bahamas and noted that meat, balls, and conch salad, in which it is chopped peaches, apples, and pears seemed to all be and mixed with citrus juice and chopped veg­ imported from the United States. However, ba­ etables. Conch also features in stews, soups, nanas, watermelon, potatoes, and onions were and a popular chowder. Grouper is the most abundant, and fish, grits, sugarcane, and or­ popular fish and can be served fried or grilled, anges appeared to play central roles in the local although it is most popular boiled and served diet. Not much has changed in that regard in with grits as a breakfast dish. Also popular for over one hundred years. The size of the Baha­ breakfast is johnnycake, consisting of wheat mian islands prohibits extensive agriculture or flour, butter, milk, sugar, and baking powder livestock production. As a result, many prod­ baked in a large, round pan and sliced. Pork ucts are still imported from the United States, chops, oxtails, and goat also make appearances and this has had an influence on the local cui­ on the Bahamian table. Popular side dishes in­ sine, with many American dishes becoming clude a mayonnaise-based potato salad, baked rooted in Bahamian foodways . macaroni and cheese, and fried sweet plantains. Nevertheless, Bahamian cuisine does retain Cornmeal pudding and bread pudding are its own character. There are similarities be­ popular desserts, but perhaps the most distinc­ tween it and other Anglo-Caribbean cuisines, tive Bahamian sweet dish is the guava duff, a although flavors can be subtler, and there is not type of dumpling made from wheat flour dough as much of an Indian culinary influence as is filled with guava pulp and served with a sweet seen in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago: Sea­ rum sauce. This dessert features prominently food features prominently in the cuisine and is during celebrations like Bahamian Indepen­ a staple, especially fish and conch, for which the dence Day. Jams are also made from a variety of Bahamas is famous, but also crab and a claw­ tropical fruit, including "goombay" marmalade less breed of spiny lobster native to the Carib­ made with papaya, pineapple, and green ginger. bean. Rice, as well as grits (ground corn), make Nonalcoholic beverages include tropical fruit up most of the starches in Bahamian meals. drinks, a sweetened malt beverage, and swit­ Potatoes also feature sporadically. Pigeon peas cha, a drink made from a local variety of limes, are the preferred legume and are often cooked sugar, and water. Favorite alcoholic drinks in­ together with rice. Seasonings include allspice, clude the national lager, Kalik, and sky water 48 Ethnic American Food Today (or sky juice), a combination of coconut water, hot cross buns, and baked ham is repeated on condensed milk, and gin. Easter Sunday. conch Salad Place in American Culture 1 pound chopped raw conch meat The significant role that conch plays in Ba­ 1 cup chopped white onion hamian cuisine has made the mollusk almost 1 cup chopped green bell pepper synonymous with the Bahamas in the minds 1h cup chopped celery of many Americans. Because of the Bahamas' 1h cup peeled and chopped tomato proximity to Florida, and the city of Miami hav­ 1h cup lime juice ing one of the largest commercial cruise ports 'l{i cup olive oil (optional) in the world, the Caribbean nation is a popular 1 tablespoon Worcestershire wauce cruise destination, and conch dishes are one of salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste the most sought-out culinary attractions when passengers arrive at port. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Let Conch dishes are also popular dishes marinade for at least 3 hours, but preferably throughout Florida, where Bahamian cuisine overnight. This keeps in the refrigerator for 4 has had the most influence in the United States to 5 days.

Load more

  13

Copy Link