(The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica)
The tropical lands of the English Caribbean were settled later than the Spanish is- lands, their native Amerindian populations were more quickly relocated and deci- mated, their economies early on became dependent on sugarcane, molasses, and rum·and hence on West African slaves, for the most part·and their colonial cul- ture was dominated by the English. As the Amerindian populations in the English New World island colonies were decimated early and quickly in the 16th century, sweet treats of the colonial West Indies took on the flavors of the settlers, the West Africans of the early slave trade, later immigrants to the islands, and the cuisines of their respective mother countries. Several island localities were part of the early „British West Indies‰ region of the eastern Caribbean area, including The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Bermuda, and a number of other small inhabited landmasses.
Although Columbus made note of honey and its use on his first voyages, honey as a sweet treat ingredient was immediately eclipsed with the arrival of sugarcane in the mid-17th century. Outside of Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica, most Caribbean honey was obtained by hunting stingless beesÊ nests rather than hive beekeeping, although that practice has begun to change in recent years. From this background sprang todayÊs sweet treats, primarily incorporating sugarcane, refined and unrefined brown sugar, molasses, rum, and native and introduced tropical fruits made into cakes and sweets of various kinds·especially rum-soaked cakes.
The regional signature „black cake‰ popular throughout the English-speaking Caribbean is obligatory during Christmastide and at weddings. Made from a variety
of ingredients·but primarily including brown sugar, molasses, dark rum, and rum- soaked fruits·the dense, sticky, sweet, moist fruitcake-like holiday and wedding classic is descended from English Christmas plum pudding, with recipes and meth- ods of assembly varying throughout the Caribbean and from family to family. Some say, as is a common theme with sweat treats almost everywhere, that the best black cake is the one you grew up with.
Plenty of rum and rum-soaked fruits, molasses, and a „browning of the sugar‰ give black cake its famous character and distinctive „intensely dark color.‰ Tradi- tionally for a year·three months if one is impatient·dark raisins, golden raisins, pitted prunes, and currants, dried cherries, and mixed candied citrus peel, are soaked in liters of dark rum and port wine, with brown sugar and ground cinnamon. The black cakeÊs character and comes, traditionally, from the crushing up of the macer- ated fruits into a sweet fruit paste just before combining with other ingredients, hence creating a texture quite different from North American Christmas fruitcakes. Other ingredients include dark sugar, molasses, eggs, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cin- namon, butter, almonds (optional), the zest of limes, cloves, ginger, mixed spice, almond or vanilla extracts, and Angostura Bitters from neighboring formerly British Trinidad and Tobago. The customary „browning of the sugar‰ produces a close-to- burnt „sugar essence‰·a caramelized paste, referred to by one resident as „viscous black goo‰·that along with the mashed alcohol-stewed fruits and molasses adds to the cakeÊs signature dark color. This heavy sludge is baked in round cake pans with a long and „very relaxed‰ cooking time well before Christmas or the wedding, to allow frequent brushing with dark rum·to further darken the cake, of course. Eaten in thin slices, black cake is enjoyed in moderation with a glass of rum. Black cake is sometimes known during the yuletide holidays as „Christmas cake‰ but during other times of the year it is also called „rum cake,‰ „wedding cake,‰ or sim- ply „great cake.‰
As is usual in tropical and semitropical countries, fruits play an important part in local sweet treats. Islanders enjoy fruits by themselves, in jams and sweet snacks, in fruit cocktail, as juices or in sweetened drinks, in sorbets and ice creams, or as sweetened syrups poured over shaved ice. In the English Caribbean, fruits that es- cape the black cake occasionally also end up candied and soaked in rum. But most often tropical fruits are enjoyed fresh, especially bananas, pineapple, mango, pa- paya, and soursop; coconut and citrus are also essential to island sweet treats. Guava often appears as a frequent flavoring in desserts and candies, with taste varying from species to species. Guava duff·a popular rich Bahamian dessert consisting of dough-encased guava pulp, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and butter·is traditionally boiled much like English Christmas plum pudding. Guava duff is served with a warm sugared egg, butter, vanilla, and sometimes rum sauce. Guava is common throughout the region, from whence it was quickly spread early on by the 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese colonizers.
Jamaicans also enjoy a native fruit literally in a class by itself·tangelos, an orange-grapefruit-tangerine hybrid known to the scientific world as Cit-
rus X tangelo and to North American
shoppers as ugli fruit, the trademarked name of a Jamaican tangelo. Tamarind is another fruit typically enjoyed by the Jamaican islanders, commonly in small marble-sized sweet-sour peppery- tasting tambran balls first coated with sugar and then again with more sugar and spices·including garlic and na- tive hot pepper. Tambran balls are also popular in Trinidad and Tobago and in Barbados.
The Jamaicans especially love akee, another notable important fruit of the region and the national fruit and sometimes symbol of their country. Canned akee fruit is a major export of Jamaica. A mild pear-shaped apple- sized fruit, it was most likely imported with West African slaves and is popu- larly called by its West African Akan language term. Scientifically akee is known as Blighia sapida after Captain William Bligh who in 1793, four years after the famed mutiny on his ship the HMS
Bounty , took the fruit from Jamaica to England. On the Bounty , Bligh was origi-
nally on a mission to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the English Caribbean Islands to see if it could be a cheap food for slaves. His second attempt was successful, and breadfruit has remained important in the Caribbean to this day. Breadfruit is normally eaten as a vegetable, but ripe and overripe breadfruit shows up in sweet treats such as breadfruit cake, roasted ripe breadfruit with sugar, and breadfruit custard, where it is treated much as a sweet plantain. Akee and saltfish with breadfruit is the best-known Jamaican dish, and one of the worldÊs most fa- mous, but today akee has also made its way into akee cheesecake, akee mousse cake, an innovative pudding made with a cornmeal base and served with a white rum sauce, and even into akee gizzardas ·small sweet baked pastry-shell snacks enjoyed in Jamaica, usually filled with coconut, brown sugar, butter, and ground nutmeg. Akee is also known for its poisonous effects if its edible portions are eaten before they are ripe.
Jamaicans commonly enjoy tamarind fruits in small marble-sized sweet-sour peppery- tasting tambran balls, a treat also popular in Trinidad and Tobago and in Barbados. (Lemonpink/Dreamstime.com)
Egg custards are always popular on the islands, especially coconut versions. Ja- maicans favor coconut custard topped with whipped cream flavored with rum. Bar- badians like coconut custard pie. Classic rum-flavored custards, of course, remain perennial favorites throughout the region.
Islanders also enjoy a cornmeal cake, made with wheat flour and cornmeal, rai- sins, cherries, and rum. Bahamians enjoy cornmeal pudding, with or without the rum. For Christmas holidays, Jamaicans serve cornmeal duckunoos , also known as tie-a-leaf or blue drawers, a traditional green banana and coconut treat made with cornmeal, dark brown sugar, molasses, raisins, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, allspice, and coconut milk·all wrapped up in a banana leaf and gently simmered in water·thought to be of West African origin.
Allspice·a key ingredient in Caribbean cuisine·is a single spice native to the region but named by the English settlers who thought it combined the aro- mas of several of the then common spices: cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Co- lumbus brought allspice back with him to Spain on his first voyage, baptizing it „Jamaica pepper,‰ and soon thereafter the English took to adding it in their spice cakes, bread puddings, gingerbreads, and the like, to the point where it later became known in England as „English spice.‰ Both the most and the best allspice is still produced in Jamaica. One often finds allspice in old-style Ja- maican cake classics, like their well-known toto, a traditional, heavy, delicious coconut spice cake.
Like everywhere else, times have changed in the English Caribbean. But unlike almost anywhere else, people reminisce nostalgically about special sweet treat fa- vorites of their youth. In Jamaica, old timers fondly remember the jackass corn, asham , Bustamante backbone, and police buttons of yesteryear.
Asham is a brown, powdered snack made by crushing roasted corn and adding sugar and other spices. Jackass corn is made from a dough of flour, water and spices. It is rolled flat and then cut into the desired shape with a patterned cut- ter. Most are rectangular, and are crisp and hard. This consistency is achieved by eliminating baking powder and soda from the dough. Busta or „stagga back‰ is a candy made from caramelised sugar and coconut. This is cooked until soft, mixed with ginger and other spices, flattened and left to cool. It is then cut into squares and wrapped in paper. Police buttons are round, yellow cookies made from a soft dough. (Gaynor 2006)
Busta, a hard but chewy dark brown grated coconut and molasses candy, named after the national hero and first prime minister of Jamaica Alexander Bustamante, is said to embody the heroÊs tough firm character. Old timers fondly remember the Jamaican favorite also as „bus-mi-jaw.‰ And as Jonique Gaynor, staff reporter for The Jamaica Star , laments, with the erosion and loss of traditional Jamaican sweet
treats made with easily accessible local ingredients, so too is lost a part of their cultural identity.
What has not changed is the tropical islandersÊ love of ice creams and ices, es- pecially ice desserts made from coconut. Coconut, mango, and soursop ice creams are especially popular in Jamaica, while Barbadian favor coconut-milk sherbet. Bahamians and Bermudians love them all.
Further Reading
„Caribbean Community Secretariat.‰ Accessed December 27, 2012. http://www.caricom .org/index.jsp.
Forbes, Keith Archibald. „BermudaÊs History from 1500 to 1699.‰ Accessed January 10, 2013. http://www.bermuda-online.org/history.htm.
Gaynor, Jonique. „Jamaican Snacks Lose Bite·Jackass Corn, Asham, Police Button No Longer Popular among Kids.‰ The Jamaican Star , May 11, 2006. Accessed January 10, 2013. http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20060511/news/news1.html.
Goldson, Andrea. „The Ackee Fruit ( Blighia sapida ) and Its Associated Toxic Effects.‰ The Science Creative Quarterly (November 16, 2005). Accessed January 9, 2013. http:// www.scq.ubc.ca/the-ackee-fruit-blighia-sapida-and-its-associated-toxic-effects/. Moskin, Julia. „A Fruitcake Soaked in Tropical Sun.‰ New York Times , December 19, 2007.
Accessed January 08, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/dining/19cake.html? ex=1355720400&en=e9a3461236f2f621&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Shakespeare, Keisha. „Get Sweet on Ackee.‰ March 10, 2005. Jamaica Gleaner. Accessed
January 9, 2013. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050310/cook/cook3.html. Smith, Renaee. JamaicaÊs Forgotten Treats. Self-published, 2011.
Watson, Karl. „Slavery and Economy in Barbados.‰ February 17, 2011. BBCHistory. Accessed January 5, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/ barbados_01.shtml.
127
F
Finland
The Finns create their cuisine, like those of other Nordic countries, with fresh, natural, and locally grown ingredients, served up and varied according to the sea- sons. Their food, like the landscape of their country (Finland), is clean, pure, and uncluttered. Their sweet treats usually involve fruits, especially berries, and dairy, simply prepared in such a manner that the richness and the purity of its fresh fla- vors stand out, demonstrating both true modern European haute cuisine and tradi- tional cooking.
Finland was a province of, and then a grand duchy under, its neighbor to the west, Sweden, from the 1100s to the 1800s. After 1809, it became a self-governing grand duchy of Russia, its neighbor to the east. Finland became an independent country in 1917 and developed into a forward-thinking, visionary, nation whose per capita income is among the highest in Western Europe, quite a feat for a small Northern European republic. It is not surprising, then, that Finnish sweets suggest amalgamations of its neighboring cuisines.
Finland, the northernmost crop-producing country in the world, claims a cold climate that bears heavily on what ingredients are readily available. In earlier times, its rugged residents harvested fresh fruits and honey but only during the summer months. Root crops, fermented dairy products (e.g., cheese, buttermilk, and yo- ghurt), dried fish, fruits, and nuts provided sustenance during the winter. There were few seasonings other than salt. Then, as now, dairy products were abundant. Current crops continue to be those capable of growing in a very northern climate with a short growing season; snowy cold winters, rich pure soil, and long summer days allow for the plentiful production of root crops, fruits, and grains. Barley, oats, and rye flourish in the Finnish climate because they ripen quickly. They are used in a variety of breads and desserts. Ohrapiparit , Finnish barley cookies, are delicious examples of how Finnish bakers use barley flour in sweets. Its slightly nutty flavor combines well with butter, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon to produce a light, crunchy, shortbread-type cookie, which also is very low in gluten (a characteristic of barley). Berries include lingonberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cloud- berries, and are used fresh in the summer and stored, dried, or frozen for use in the winter. Finnish cuisine uses berries in cold puddings, parfaits, and ice creams, frequently embellished with a native berry-flavored liqueur. Strawberries often accompany raparperikiisseli , a lovely rhubarb soup, to balance the tart flavor of
the rhubarb. Rhubarb thrives in the Finnish climate, as do apples, which are both pop- ular dessert ingredients. Finland produces an abundance of apples; Finnish people much prefer their apples as they grow them organically, without chemicals, and consider them healthier options than imported apples.
Finland also produces sugar beets, which, besides providing sugar, are used in the production of molasses, a popular sweetener used in breads and desserts and in the classic Easter dessert mämmi· a centuries-old pudding made with rye flour, malt, molasses, and bitter orange peel, served cold with cream and sugar.
Finns also enjoy fresh berries with cream or piima , a drinkable yoghurt. Kiisseli is a berry pudding made with one type or many types of berries and is sometimes thick and sometimes soupy, sometimes topped or combined with cream or some- times not. Vatkattu marjapuuro is a very popular, traditional whipped lingonberry pudding. Then, of course, there are pies and tarts containing berries, pancakes sprinkled with sugar and berry jam, and cakes with berry fillings.
Naturally, in a country with a large dairy industry, ice cream has been a vener- able favorite dessert for centuries. In the early 20th century, ice cream flavored with imported fruits and nuts was a favorite dessert. Nowadays, flavors such as wild strawberry ice cream, served with a drizzle of puréed berries, are common and popular. Frequently, a berry liqueur complements the puréed berries. Berries also complement many other dairy desserts. Chocolate flan , for example, is served with black-currant ice cream and a black-currant puréed drizzle. And, of course, pastries are made from a variety of native flours and served with local fruit (usually berry) fillings and ice cream or whipped cream.
In addition to ice cream, a unique dairy dessert enjoyed by the Finns is leipäjuusto , or Finnish squeaky cheese, or bread cheese. Leipäjuusto is a fresh cheese that origi- nated in northern Finland but now is common throughout the country. It is „fresh‰ because it is made from the beestings of a cow (or reindeer or goat); beestings is the rich milk produced just after an animal gives birth. Usually dense and round, and about one inch thick, leipäjuusto wedges are cut, warmed (sometimes with coffee poured on or sometimes with pieces dipped into hot coffee), and served with cloud- berry jam and ice cream or whipped cream. Cloudberries are an appropriate topping because they, too, are abundant in northern Finland, the birthplace of leipäjuusto. FinlandÊs traditions of organic production of dairy products and fruits provide the foundations for a marvelously fresh and healthy diet of sweets, treats, and des- serts. Innovative recipes and uncomplicated, pure preparation of its culinary treats warm the hearts and homes of the inhabitants of this cold, beautiful, uncomplicated, and pure land.
Further Reading
„Finnish Sweets and Treats.‰ Merlin and Rebecca. Accessed March 3, 2012. http://mer linandrebecca.blogspot.com/2012/10/finnish-sweets-and-treats.html.
Grönholm, Kristi. „ Finnish Cuisine · East Meets West in Scandinavian Style.‰ September 2008. Accessed February 22, 2013. http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=160 135&nodeid=41801&culture=en-US/.
Notaker, Henry. Food Culture in Scandinavia. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2009.
Ojakangas, Beatrice. The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. Boston: Little, Brown, 1988.
France
France borders the English Channel on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the Mediterranean Sea on the south, with mountainous regions defining much of its land-based boundaries in the east (the Alps) and the southwest (the Pyrenees). Most of the non-mountainous countryside is flat and fertile and home to bountiful vineyards, farms, and orchards. Because of its location, France claims an unusu- ally varied climate and, combined with the other geographical features, it produces the famed and abundant high-quality fresh ingredients used in French kitchens.
Known the world over for a cuisine unto its own as well as for its influence on other cuisines, one rarely, if ever, hears much discussion of any other coun- tryÊs influence on French cuisine, probably because, with one notable exception, there is not much. That exception occurred in the 16th century, when Catherine deÊ Medici, at the age of 14, brought her Italian cooks from Florence when she moved to France to marry Henry II in 1533 (the Italians learned to cook from the Romans). It was Catherine who, among many other things, brought to France new table protocol, including the separation of salty and sweet dishes, at a time when sweets were still consumed together with meat and fish in the medieval style prevalent throughout Europe. The French took what they learned from CatherineÊs chefs·and especially her pastry makers·perfected it, and, they say, surpassed the Italian masters at every level in giving birth to the modern-day French culi- nary tradition.
What makes French cuisine the standard to which chefs aspire? How did they earn this lofty reputation?