Belly Full: Exploring Caribbean Cuisine through 11 Fundamental Ingredients and over 100 Recipes: [A Cookbook]

(Hardback)

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Across the English-speaking Caribbean, "me belly full" can mean more than just a satisfied stomach, but a heart and soul that's full too. In Belly Full, food writer of Trinidadian descent Lesley Enston brings us into the overlapping histories of the Caribbean islands through their rich cultures and cuisines. Eleven staple ingredients-beans, calabaza, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod, and scotch bonnet peppers-hold echoes of familiarity from one island to the next, and their widespread use comes in part from the harrowing impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. As Lesley delves into how history shaped each country and territory's cuisine, she shows us what we can learn from each island (such as Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Cuba) and encourages us to celebrate the delicious differences. Belly Full provides basic knowledge on choosing, storing, and preparing these ingredients as well as a mix of traditional and creative adaptations to dishes. Recipes are mostly gluten-free and plant-based and include- Cornmeal- Pen Mayi from Haiti and Conkies from Barbados Okra- Callaloo from Trinidad and Tobago and Fungee from Antigua Plantains- Mofongo from Puerto Rico and Tortilla de Platano Maduro from Cuba Salted Cod- Ackee and Saltfish from Jamaica and Accras de Morue from Martinique Belly Full, with its breadth of stories, recipes, and stunning photography, will leave your stomach and heart more than satisfied. A delectable exploration of Caribbean cuisine through 105 recipes based on eleven staple ingredients, featuring powerful insights into the shared history of the diaspora and gorgeous photography. Across the English-speaking Caribbean, "me belly full" can mean more than just a satisfied stomach, but a heart and soul that's full too. In Belly Full, food writer of Trinidadian descent Lesley Enston brings us into the overlapping histories of the Caribbean islands through their rich cultures and cuisines. Eleven staple ingredients-beans, calabaza, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod, and scotch bonnet peppers-hold echoes of familiarity from one island to the next, and their widespread use comes in part from the harrowing impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. As Lesley delves into how history shaped each country and territory's cuisine, she shows us what we can learn from each island (such as Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Cuba) and encourages us to celebrate the delicious differences. Belly Full provides basic knowledge on choosing, storing, and preparing these ingredients as well as a mix of traditional and creative adaptations to dishes. Recipes are mostly gluten-free and plant-based and include- Cornmeal- Pen Mayi from Haiti and Conkies from Barbados Okra- Callaloo from Trinidad and Tobago and Fungee from Antigua Plantains- Mofongo from Puerto Rico and Tortilla de Platano Maduro from Cuba Salted Cod- Ackee and Saltfish from Jamaica and Accras de Morue from Martinique Belly Full, with its breadth of stories, recipes, and stunning photography, will leave your stomach and heart more than satisfied.

Reviews

Reading this book makes mestand up and clap for the marvel, history, and joy these dishesrepresent to the Caribbean diaspora and lovers of its cuisine. With Belly Full, Lesley educates us on the painful history that producedthe best food in the world.Gregory Gourdet, James Beard Awardwinning chef/founder of Kann and Sousl and author of Everyones Table

With Belly Full, Lesley Enstonwhisks you around the Caribbean, a region of shared ingredients and differing ways of using them. I grew up in Saint. Lucia and have enjoyed a lifetime of learning the ways other nations treated the same ingredients of my youth. Lesley highlights eleven important staples of the regions cuisine andinvites you to island-hop in your own kitchen with wonderfully selected dishes. Bon app!Nina Compton, James Beard awardwinning chef

In this rich and inviting text, Lesley Enston shows the world that the Caribbeana region fractured by colonialism and for too long defined by its economic role as a tourist paradiseisa place of abundance and unique culinary cultures. There isso much love and deep researchin how Enston presents the commonalities and differences.Alicia Kennedy, author of No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating

In Belly Fully, Lesley Enston shares the stories and flavors that have shaped her lifelong love affair with Caribbean food. From her mothers effortless cooking style, infused with love and tradition, to her fathers culinary experiments with Trinidadian staples like curried chicken and souse,Lesleys recipes inspire in the ways they approach, transcend, and unify cultural boundarieson page after delicious page.Hawa Hassan, author of In Bibis Kitchen

Author Bio

For Lesley Enston, cooking has always been a way to connect to her Caribbean roots. After growing up in Toronto, moving to Brooklyn, and spending a few years in London, she ultimately settled in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Along the way she's consistently found herself over a stovetop, preparing the dishes her Trini mother first introduced her to, along with all her favorite foods from around the islands-and putting Scotch bonnet in just about everything. Lesley is a seasoned home cook and takes great pleasure in spreading the joy (and heat) of these flavors to her friends and loved ones by way of her famed backyard dinner parties. Better yet, Lesley's young daughter, Desalin, now plays the role of sous-chef, enjoying the flavors her mother and grandmother cherish so deeply. You can find Lesley's recipes in Bon Appetit, Food52, and the New York Times.