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Economy, el "batey" or "sugar factory". Spanish and French sugar factories were very similar, the same organization, the same machinery, the same markets. In the batey, slaves were fed with imported and local food, and had professional cooks capable of feeding hundreds of people in no time.
"The menú" was designed by the owner or administrator himself, that regulated the amount of protein, dried beef, dried cod, dead cows...starch..local roots such as cassaba, yucca, malanga and rice, that was imported from Asia in large quantities. The most economical food capable of providing calories.
Generations later, freed slaves and cimarrones could have their "conucos" or very small piece on land in which to grow local food, but here the influence is Taino, as the word himself. I guess that after generations eating "chow", slaves lost all the culinary habits...just like modern day Cuba and rationing cards, most did not even know what beef was in 1990.
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The cooks feeding slaves were professional cooks brought from Spain..
Oh yes the planters would spare no expense but to prepare gourmet meals for the slaves.
So where did the various root vegetables commonly used in West Africa and the non Hispanic Caribbean come from? How come fried plantain/platanos is prepared the same way in Nigeria as it is in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, DR, Martinique, Trinidad and Guyana?
Gourmet cooks from Spain went to Nigeria as well?
Stew Chicken with rice and peas/beans, fried plantain, root vegetables is a meal that is served every where in the Caribbean. Those gourmet Spanish cooks must have been very busy people.
Cassava was in Cuba, so was Malanga, and other were brought from elsewhere, as most of the foodstocks in America and Europe.
No, African don't prepare plantains the same way at all.
Slaves were expensive, and they were cared so they could work more.
If you spend 1000 pesos in a slave (a fortune), you are going to feed him properly.
There are many books about the subject, even accounting books about purchased food.
Slave food was very regulated since it was as important as oil today in Slave Factories.
Good question Irene there's a lot of overlap between the various ''cultural blocks'' of the Caribbean.
The meals seem similar; Rice, beans, Plantains, Stewed Meats, Barbequed meats and Salads. But the meals ay be spiced differently, called different names or use slightly different vegetable.
In the Anglo islands the main foodstuff that separates those islands from the rest may be the Indian influence. Like Curries in Jamaica, Grenada, Trinidad and the general use of Curry powder or masala. But in Martinique and Guadeloupe I hear they also have that Indian influence.
Also there's a soup called ''Bouyon'' which is cooked on the French islands but also on the English speaking islands like Dominica and St Lucia. But this soup is related to Sancocho which is cooked on the Spanish islands.
^^ That soup is Salted meat and pigeon peas with root vegetables which is similar to English-Caribbean soups. Possibly exactly the same
^^ From Jamaica
There's a lot of overlap some islands may have foodstuffs that are unique like ''Doubles'' roti in Trinidad or Cou-Cou and flying fish in Barbados..
It also seems like anglo islands also have a greater usage of vegetables and vegetable dishes. I wonder if the Spanish Caribbean islands really use stuff like ackee, okra, dasheen, collard greens (those two for callaloo), etc. all that much? I've eaten at a lot of neighborhood PR and DR places and I don't really see them. Then there's the interesting whole Ital foods in Jamaica.
And yea, there are certainly many similarities among the cuisines since they're a region as a whole, but I think there are generally larger similarities in the Caribbean countries within the same language sphere than those in different ones.
No, African don't prepare plantains the same way at all.
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Yes the finest cooks from the finest restaurants Spain were brought in to cook for the slaves. Amazing the craziness that people will concoct just to convey the impression that Africa has impact.
Any way I have seen Cubans and other Caribbean people prepare fried plantain and I have seen Nigerians. No difference.
I assume that you are another Cuban who wishes to pretend that Afro Cubans play a minor role in the culture of the island, which after all is a little piece of Spain floating off the coast of Florida.
It also seems like anglo islands also have a greater usage of vegetables and vegetable dishes. I wonder if the Spanish Caribbean islands really use stuff like ackee, okra, dasheen, collard greens (those two for callaloo), etc. all that much? I've eaten at a lot of neighborhood PR and DR places and I don't really see them. Then there's the interesting whole Ital foods in Jamaica.
And yea, there are certainly many similarities among the cuisines since they're a region as a whole, but I think there are generally larger similarities in the Caribbean countries within the same language sphere than those in different ones.
From what I have seen there is less use of vegetables in the Spanish Caribbean cuisine, and more use of salt in their cooking.
No, they don't prepare fried plantain in Nigeria as the do in Cuban, both Nigerians and black Cubans might be black but don't have any relation with you. Don't invent things you ignore and don't try to identify with people you don't have any relation whatsoever.
Cooks that prepared food for slaves were the same ones that prepared food for armies, ships, galleys, institutional cooks. If you don't know history, shut up.
At that time, blacks were machinery that cost a lot of money, they were valuable and taken care of. Please, don't insult them, don't identify with them because they did not have any relationship with you.
Not that I really want to join this debate...but Nigerians do eat fried plantain and prepare it multiple ways. You seem angry. Why?
If African influence is just a myth then why don't Blacks in other Caribbean countries cook British or French cuisine? Why does rice play such a prominent role in Caribbean food across the board if it's originally "Spanish"? Why is there such a massive Rice industry in the Carolinas? The only commonality these regions have is the large scale settlement of these areas by African slaves. Rice plays a FAR greater role in Latin American cuisine than in Spanish or Portuguese cuisine, and was brought to the Iberian Peninsula via interactions with Arabs and Africans.
Spot on. Food cultures are always influenced from the ground up. Meaning "poor people food" often becomes staple dishes of a given culture. That's because its more commonly eaten. Techniques and ingredients used by the poor are always more accessible.
Plus, when you look at the way these societies functioned it makes sense that the African and Native influence on the food is very strong. Some islands were numerically dominated by African slaves. For example, prior to the revolution, Haiti continually received new waves of African slaves. At any given time there was a significant portion of their population who were born in Africa. They didn't just forget how to cook when they got to the West. The constant arrival of new slaves was common throughout the Caribbean. So it makes sense a good deal of their indigenous culture stuck.
No, they don't prepare fried plantain in Nigeria as the do in Cuban, both Nigerians and black Cubans might be black but don't have any relation with you. Don't invent things you ignore and don't try to identify with people you don't have any relation whatsoever.
Cooks that prepared food for slaves were the same ones that prepared food for armies, ships, galleys, institutional cooks. If you don't know history, shut up.
At that time, blacks were machinery that cost a lot of money, they were valuable and taken care of. Please, don't insult them, don't identify with them because they did not have any relationship with you.
What the heck are you angry about? Slavery was not practiced the same in every corner of the Western hemisphere. In most places slaves cooked their own food. They were given what was left over and had to fend for themselves. If there was an "institutional cook" that cook was most likely as slave him or herself. And where do you think their cooking techniques came from? Le Cordon Bleu? No, they came from their slave parents.
And for the record the connection between Cuba and Nigeria is pretty strong. Santeria is basically a Yoruba (Nigerian) religion. Nigeria is a main ingredient in Cuba's religion, food, and music. Its not the only ingredient. But its pretty dominant.
We are talking about the Caribbean, in the Caribbean, slaves were not let loose to fend for themselves. In the Caribbean, more so in Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba that produced 99 percent of sugar of the entire world, a merchandise that was sold at incredible prices, slaves were in sugar factories, "bateys", their lifes were thoroughly regulated from dawn to dusk. They were fed, sometimes force fed, by the white cooks preparing their gruel, many of them came from the army or prison systems. The food was purchased by the administrator, and even though they used local foods such as yucca and malanga and other roots, a large part of the food was imported. Dried beef, dried cod, rice, etc. They could import about anything as protein because they were very rich, in the Caribbean.
Cuban official religion is Catholicism, although "officialy" the country is marxist and atheists. The other beliefs are syncretic to Catholicism. There are no separate Santeria churches as some Caribbean islands or Brazil.
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