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Celebrating Bajan Food during November!

by Christina
11/11/2020

I feel like I end up saying this phrase quite often to people, “In Barbados…”, and some random Barbadian fact comes out. Either about our customs, cuisine or just how everyday life is. I’m sure you can put two and two together to figure out I’m from Barbados. Yes, yes, that’s the island in the Caribbean where Rihanna is from. And NO, we are not all on the same landmass as Jamaica, but rather very far away in our little Caribbean Sea. November is the month of our independence from English rule, which ended in 1966.

As we celebrate our 54th year of independence, I’ve decided to share some Bajan delicacies with you all. Barbadian cuisine has evolved from African, Indian, European (English, Irish, Portuguese) and even South American influences. It’s delicious food and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Hopefully, you can either try to make them at home or come to Barbados to experience them.

To Eat or Not to eat the Chocolate

by Christina
10/02/202008/07/2022

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching and the US$43 billion Cocoa and Chocolate industry promoting their products as gifts for your loved ones, it’s hard not to get drawn in. Let’s be honest, we’re bound to get at least one box, even if we bought it for ourselves. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, but I do enjoy it occasionally, especially a good-quality dark chocolate bar. So, should we be wary of our chocolate cravings during Valentines?

Hand drawn cacao sticker design elementHand darwn cacao sticker design element — The origins of chocolate, the beautiful and exotic cacao pod.

Chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids, cocoa butter fat, milk, sugar and stabilisers like lecithin which help the main ingredients to form a solid mass. As if that didn’t sound like a bit of science, the cocoa solids give the chocolate its antioxidant properties, as they contain flavanols which are psychoactive organic compounds. And so, the higher the cocoa contents, the more of these antioxidants you’ll get. Typically, dark chocolate will contain 45 – 90% cocoa solids and trace amounts of milk, while milk chocolate will have mostly milk and sugar, and between 10 – 32% cocoa solids (at least in the States).

You may see vanilla included in the ingredient list, and that tends to round out the flavor and may lead to less sugar being added too. But some manufacturers use cheaper alternatives to cocoa butter such as vegetable oils and palm oil, and other additives to stabilize the product. Now although I like my KitKats, Cadbury, Agapey and Lindt, when it comes to quality chocolate, you want to see a very minimal ingredient list. That’s the standard of chocolate, I’m talking about in this article.