Barbados

The 11th country in our Eating Around the World Adventure is Barbados.

When we started this little Eating Around the World Adventure, it was just something we thought would be fun, we could never have imagined that we would be so surprised by the food we are eating. But you follow a recipe, as you have to, as you have no idea what the food is supposed to taste like, so you go by trust and instinct and you get to taste for the first time, something new, something different and it's exciting.

So far, I have picked well, after looking at a recipe, I read it and think would my family like it, and mostly I have been right. Sometimes I'm limited with the availability of ingredients, but mostly you can find recipes that you are excited to try.

Barbados surprised me, I found their food quite American like, I really wasn't expecting that. But what I made was delicious and we enjoyed this little adventure.
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Here is the Bajan food I made this month:

Bajan Roast Pork 
​Barbados Fish Fry
Barbados Corn Pie
Bajan Mac and Cheese
Jam Puffs 
Barbados Punch
Barbados Surprise 
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Bajan Roast Pork: This one is for a lazy Sunday. You put the roast in the oven in the morning and allow it to bake all day, while you laze about enjoying the aromas that are wafting through your house. The meat is fork tender and the crackling simply amazing.

Barbados Fish Fry: Okay, so I have been eating meat made this way my entire life, who doesn't love a schnitzel. But when I saw this I realised, I'd never crumbed fish, I've prawns and calamari, but never fish. We loved this, it was delicious. The crispy panko crumbs make this a favourite with both adults and children. My only tip, don't choose fillets that are too thin as they will get lost in the crumbs. 

Here is how you make it:

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 - 2 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno or habanero chilli
1 teaspoon finely chopped or grated garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
4 skinless snapper fillets
Salt
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
Lemon wedges, for serving

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, parsley, onion, thyme, chilli, garlic and paprika to form a coarse paste. Pat the fish dry, season with salt, then rub the seasoning over the fillets.
Pour the breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl and beat the eggs in another shallow bowl. Working with 1 fillet at a time, coat the fish in the breadcrumbs, then in the egg, letting the excess drip off. Dip the fish back in the breadcrumbs.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches, fry the fish, turning once, until golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and serve with the lemon wedges.

Barbados Corn Pie: This I served as a side dish and we really liked it. It was simple, it tasted great, leftovers were lovely cold the next day. This is something I would definitely make again.

Here is how I made it:

1 x 400g can corn kernels, drained
1 x 400g can cream style corn
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
¼ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup grated cheese
2 heaped tablespoons flour

Preheat the oven to 175C/155C fan forced.
In a bowl, mix all ingredients together, other than the beaten eggs, fold those in last.
Place the mixture into a greased pie plate or a 22cm square pan, or a 20cm x 30cm rectangle pan. I used baking paper so it was easier to remove from the pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the mixture is set.

Bajan Mac and Cheese: This one surprised me as mac and cheese I always have associated with the US. But I found the recipe so I thought why not try it. My kids really liked this, again it was a side dish, the flavours were lovely. In Barbados they usually use a tubular macaroni rather than the typical elbow macaroni. They also add yellow mustard to their mac and cheese. This mac and cheese can be served as a side with fish, chicken, pork or eaten on its own

Here is how I made this:

226g tubed macaroni
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 small onion, grated
1 egg, beaten
Fresh thyme leaves, optional
1/4 cup fine breadcrumbs

Bring salted water to a boil in medium saucepan. Add the macaroni tubes to the boiling water. Cook uncovered until macaroni is tender but still firm.
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.
Drain the macaroni and return to the saucepan.
Add cheese, milk, ketchup, mustard, onion and egg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add thyme, if using.
Pour into a greased 22cm x 33cm baking dish and top with more grated cheese. Top with breadcrumbs.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
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Jam Puffs: Although I found this recipe while looking up food from Barbados, I think this is something that is eaten worldwide. This is simple, this is tasty and this is perfect when you are craving something sweet. Use whatever Jam you love, I even made a few with nutella. They are actually great for breakfast, afternoon tea or as a sweet treat after dinner. I have made these a few times and they go very quickly. And the real beauty, you can make as many or as little as you need.

Here is how you make them:

9 teaspoons of strawberry jam
1 sheet Butter Puff Pastry
Whisked egg, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 190C or follow instructions on the packet of puff pastry. Cut the puff pastry into 9 equal-sized pieces (you want little squares). Put a teaspoon full of jam in the middle of each pastry rectangle. Fold squares over the filling to form triangles. Crimp edges to seal, I use a fork to do this.
Place on a baking paper lined baking tray, and brush tops with the beaten egg.
Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Cool for a few minutes before serving (because the jam gets HOT).
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Barbados Punch: I do like to try a drink from every country we visit on this adventure, and this is one I chose from Barbados. Now I just poured all the ingredients in a glass and added ice cubes, but you could also add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. This was lovely, I really enjoyed the tropical flavour combination.

Here is how I made it: 

30ml Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
7.5ml triple sec
30ml lime juice
60ml pineapple juice
Crushed Ice
1 slice lime
1 slice pineapple

Add rum, triple sec, lime juice, and pineapple juice to a blender with crushed ice.
Blend until smooth and pour into glass.
Garnish with lime slice and pineapple slice.

Barbados Surprise: This one is just plain fun, but it also tastes really good. Definitely worth making and I will play with different glass shapes to get different colour levels.

Here is how I made it:

15ml Grenadine
60ml Orange Juice
60ml rum
15ml Blue Curacao

Drizzle grenadine in the base of your glass and carefully drop in ice cubes, fill your glass with ice.
Pour in the orange juice over the back of a spoon so it sits on top of the grenadine.
In a small jug combine the rum and blue curacao, then gently pour it over the orange juice over the back of a spoon.
Garnish with an orange wheel.
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So Barbados turned out to be a country that surprised me, I thought the food would be different. But what we tried, we loved. I will definitely be making these dishes again. 

​​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop: Italy