Ackee ans Saltfish is the national dish of Jamaica. I was fed so much of this pungent breakfast during training that I swore off it afterwards. That didn't last very long. Ackee is an odd ... fruit? The wikipedia article on ackee can fill you in better than I can, but in short, the scientific name comes from a pirate, it's originally an African plant, and it's very poisonous if harvested incorrectly. It's related to lychees, but is better described as being similar to avocado.

This is a great fresh chutney that could go with most carribean or indian dishes. Vary the size of the mango chunks to taste.

Take equal parts yogurt and fresh diced mango, and puree. Add honey to taste and a few cubes of ice (~2 per cup of yogurt), and blend until ice is mixed up and the mixture is a bit fluffy.

Pour 4/5 of the mixture into a separate container, add green food coloring to the remaining 1/5, blend until green.

Pour the green-color mango lassi into the bottoms of the cups. Pour half of the plain (yellow) mango lassi over the back of a spoon into the cups. Some will add to the height of the green, so it should end up roughly equal.

Classic Caribbean "rundown" stew - best served on rice with fried johnnycakes or "festival"

2 T olive oil
1lb mussels or mixed seafood
vegetables? (asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.
1 can coconut milk
4 tbs butter
1/2 cup powdered milk (or heavy cream)
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup diced onion
4 cloves crushed garlic
salt, pepper, lemmon pepper or zest, and thyme to taste (lots of thyme)

Inspired by a soup served at Mockingbird Hill, Jamaica

Serves 2

2 cups Garlic+Onion or vegetable broth
100g powdered coconut milk
~4 cloves Ggarlic, minced and sauteed in butter
4 leaves chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp salt
4 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c grated cheese
2 tbsp butter
Sautee garlic until almost carmelized.

Warm broth, add powdered coconut and stir Add other ingredients (excepting half the garlic and basil) and bring to simmer. Blend on high to make creamy, add rest of garlic and the basil on top when served.