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00:00Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas, brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
00:19The best way to experience the true flavor of a place is through its food.
00:24So, I'm off on my culinary travels again.
00:30I'm looking for dishes with a story to tell.
00:33It's an aphrodisiac.
00:38Traditions passed down through generations.
00:44And the freshest and ziniest of ingredients, from land and sea.
00:49So, here I am in the Bahamas, exploring islands of white sands, turquoise seas, and food that is as vibrant as its people.
00:58From hidden beach shacks and fish fries...
01:01Ooh, a little bit of sesame...
01:03To fine dining with a Caribbean twist.
01:07It's out in this world!
01:08Scoop it up!
01:09Mmm!
01:10Mmm!
01:11This is the last bottle known to man.
01:13Wow!
01:14I'm diving headfirst into the flavors, the colors, and the rhythms of island life.
01:22So, come on, grab a plate, loosen that belt, and join me in my quest as I search for a lick of bit of island zest.
01:30Welcome to the taste of the Bahamas.
01:33Yeah!
01:34The Bahamas is a chain of hundreds of islands and coral shallows in the warm Atlantic Ocean.
01:49Just a short hop from Florida, and right at the heart of it are Nassau and Paradise Island, my Bahamian base.
01:56Today, I'm enjoying the sweet island life, and I'll be finding out if you can improve on a classic pudding.
02:04Have you ever looked at a dessert and say, naughty?
02:06Ha ha ha!
02:07I'll be visiting a family-run sweet shop that's keeping up age-old traditions.
02:13Why do they like the wax paper?
02:15They say it's a church candy.
02:17You can open it in church without making noise.
02:19Wonderful.
02:20And making a dreamy island dessert in my seaside kitchen.
02:24This is absolutely perfect.
02:26Look.
02:27Ha ha ha ha!
02:30But first, I'm heading into the countryside for a taste of liquid sunshine and some sweet inspiration.
02:38I'm on my way to meet a remarkable woman who has a passion for beekeeping.
02:42I've been told that nothing gives her more pleasure than to pass on her expertise and knowledge to others.
02:48So, I'm buzzing to find out why.
02:55Make sure your smoker is lit properly.
02:58Put your gloves.
03:02This is Shakara Lightbourne.
03:04Let's try to make sure you're covered.
03:06Helping her 19-year-old son get ready for work.
03:09I know your mama's short.
03:10Let's do that.
03:12He's just one of Shakara's many students, learning not just how to keep bees and look after hives.
03:18Good.
03:20But also learning about patience, self-confidence and the importance of connecting with nature.
03:27Try to take out a full frame.
03:29Start, take out one from the middle.
03:31Kind of hook it and pull it up.
03:32Shakara, almost nervous approaching you.
03:38How are you?
03:38I'm good.
03:39How are you?
03:39I'm really brilliant.
03:40What is he looking for now?
03:42Oh, he's looking at the configuration, seeing that we have enough baby bees and so the queen
03:47is laying and we want to make sure she's laying in a way that is easy for the workers to be able to
03:54maintain and clean the hive. And a lot of babies is always a sign of a good, healthy colony.
04:01Shakara is a kind of Bahamian bee queen caring for hives in different corners of the islands.
04:07She calls her bees her girls because most of the bees in her hive are female and every colony
04:14produces a honey with its own unique island flavour.
04:18I like to call it bush honey because we have so many different flowers and trees,
04:24some multi-floral honey. You really don't know what you're going to get.
04:27It's small but powerful.
04:28Yeah, small but powerful, definitely.
04:30Yeah, any chance I could try some of that?
04:32Yeah, definitely. Let's go.
04:34OK, great. Shakara has brought me a Bahamian honey selection.
04:40We have the advantage here in the Bahamas that we don't have winter,
04:43so we have honey all year round, different types of honey, spring honey and summer honey
04:49and kind of a fall honey and sometimes you don't really know what you're going to get from time to
04:54time. All right, what should I taste first? This, this, this or what?
04:57So let's start from dark and go to light.
05:00Just dip that in there?
05:00Yeah, you can just dip it in there.
05:01OK.
05:04The sweetness, not over sweet at all, slightly caramelly.
05:09Yes, I would turn it into like a coastal barbecue sauce, kind of like on meat and
05:16even sometimes I like my tea with a little bit of flavour.
05:20Next, the amber one.
05:23Much lighter.
05:24Mm-hm.
05:24I like that.
05:25So this one is more of a summery honey. You know, in the summertime we have a lot of mangoes and
05:32passion fruit and it's just a lot of fruity flavours and so the bees have a lot to forage on.
05:39I've got a feeling that I might get a little bit of heat coming out this last one.
05:44This last one.
05:44Yes.
05:45Yeah.
05:45Yeah.
05:46That looked like a bad boy honey.
05:47Yes, boy.
05:48Yes, boy.
05:49This is one of Shakara's most mischievous creations. Honey with a kick of good pepper.
05:56I mean, it's not very hot, but you know.
05:58Yeah.
06:01It takes a bit of time, but then...
06:03Yeah, yeah, it's like an after.
06:05It really does rip.
06:07I think I'm turning into Barry Watt. Why?
06:09Baby was a little hot.
06:13Oh, wonderful.
06:14Oh, what a treat.
06:15Yeah, yeah.
06:16What a treat.
06:17I'm so happy that you want me to taste it.
06:19I'm so happy.
06:20I'm absolutely delighted and I've called you the Bahamian bee queen for a reason,
06:27because your knowledge and just the way you share everything, it's been great.
06:32Thank you so much.
06:33Thank you so much.
06:33Yeah, I love you.
06:38Honey is without doubt one of Mother Nature's great flavour creations.
06:43Something you could never improve.
06:45It's a bit like a brilliant recipe, really.
06:48I mean, you can't improve a classic, can you?
06:53How can you take a dessert that everyone loves and make it even better?
06:57How can you improve on pudding perfection?
07:00Well, I'm about to find out. It's time for a duff.
07:06Duff is a classic dessert that every Bahamian grows up with.
07:11But chef Kenrick Delaney has come up with a brand new version that's become a favourite
07:16with younger generations and upset a few of the old duffers.
07:21So I've come to find out what all the fuss is about. But first, I need to know one thing.
07:26What on earth is a duff?
07:28This is actually a remnant of British thyme in the Caribbean, actually.
07:33Wow. Tell me more.
07:35It's actually an old Scottish dessert called duff. It was made with apricots and prunes,
07:39spices, things that we didn't have here in the Bahamas.
07:42And our matriarchs, my grandmother's grandmother, her grandmother, they figured out how to swap in
07:48local fruits. So guava became the most popular one.
07:52The traditional duff requires patience. It takes three hours to steam,
07:56leaving you plenty of time to make the all-important rum sauce to go with it.
08:01And we're about to try this? Absolutely. We're going to slice it.
08:04So this is the traditional duff. And you're going to see right inside here.
08:09So how the guava is swirled into a pattern. This is a dessert that's always served hot.
08:14Mm-hmm. Have you tried that? Ah, wow.
08:18This is the taste everyone here knows, the flavour of childhood for so many Bahamians.
08:24It's like a sweet pudding, isn't it? But that rum sauce just takes it off.
08:29But, Kendrick, you've taken this to a new level now, haven't you?
08:32I did. So I actually lived in Singapore as a chef for a while.
08:36And they have these Chinese baoban. And being a chef myself, I wanted to experiment with that.
08:40I moved back to the Bahamas. And I decided, hey, I'm not going to spend three hours making this.
08:45So I used one of these. And it cooked in seven minutes, actually.
08:48So I went from three hours to seven minutes. It's the perfect thing for the TikTok generation.
08:55But what was the older generation like? Because tradition is tradition.
08:59They don't like changing. Yeah. Was that a bit of a battle to start with?
09:01It was tough. I had so many people. Negative.
09:04A lot of, basically, they wanted to know who do I think I was, you know.
09:08The next day, I went to the farmer's market. Yeah.
09:10Thought, you know, maybe nobody would show up. And I sold out in the first ten minutes.
09:13Wow. Kendrick took a slow and heavy dessert and created a quick and light alternative.
09:21So how's it done? And how does the new duff compare to the classic?
09:25First, we're going to dump this out. Yeah. And then we're going to mix in our dry ingredients.
09:30I like to leave a little well here. So you're going to add in your cinnamon, your nutmeg,
09:34and your spices. Just a touch of sugar to make it sweet. And now you're going to mix this together.
09:41So I can start getting in there? Why not? Okay, beautiful. This takes me back to, you know,
09:46when I used to sort of bake with my mum. The coolness of the flour run between your fingers.
09:51There's something special about that. Whilst you're doing that, I'm just going to crack these eggs into
09:54the liquids. And then you want to go ahead and just make a well in the center for us to pour this
10:01liquid in. And now to burn some calories before I put them back on again. Now we're getting somewhere.
10:10All the muscles are coming out, right? You can see it's coming together. Beautiful.
10:13Next, we leave the dough to rest for a few minutes. And then it's time for the fruity guava filling.
10:22So you're going to, I'm just going to give you one ball there. Yeah. And I'll have one too. Okay.
10:27Now this is quite easy to do. I know. Yeah. So just take your palm. Mm-hmm.
10:31Going to push it down a little bit. And then I like to just make the edges a little bit thinner. Yeah.
10:37All right. Mm-hmm. And then we're going to put some guava on it. Now this is a tough part,
10:43because you don't want any of the guava to spill out. So I'm just going to put some right here for
10:46you. So we're going to stretch it a little bit. Okay. And just pinch it up together. Crimp it really
10:50tightly so that your filling doesn't pop out in the steamer. Okay. There you go. At the end,
10:56I like to just kind of twist it a bit. Yeah, make sure it's tight end. Then into the steamer they go,
11:03and seven minutes later, voila, you can get duffed. Ooh-wee. Should I fish one out? Yeah,
11:10absolutely. Go for it. Yeah, there you go, my man. There we are. Perfect. Okay. I'm going to pour
11:15this sauce right on top. So this sauce actually has butter, guava in it as well, and a touch of rum.
11:21Have you ever looked at a dessert and say naughty? Look at that. I've just cut in there. Look inside there,
11:28guys. Look how beautiful that is.
11:37Is it familiar to the old-fashioned? Doffy-dop, man. Doffy-dop. Thank you. Grandma wouldn't know.
11:45We really wouldn't know. I think what it is, is that the old-fashioned one, because it's been cooked like
11:50that, maybe a little bit stodgier, but this, because it's in that bower bum form, it's softer,
11:57and you know, it's just, it's, it's just, it doesn't need that amount of time. It really doesn't,
12:02and the rum sauce just absolutely takes it to another level. Kendrick's given an old island
12:09favourite a brand new beat, and it's lost none of its Bahamian soul. Thanks, man. Kendrick,
12:15well done to you two, man. That's really good. Fantastic.
12:22After the break, a story of sweet success. You loving it? I'm loving it. 25 years.
12:2725 years. Life gone sweet. And a tropical treat in my seaside kitchen.
12:35It's a lovely, lovely, creamy dessert that's perfect with all these amazing ingredients.
12:40Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas. Brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
12:57Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas. Brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
13:02Welcome back to the Bahamas and my dessert island. I've been exploring a taste or two of honey.
13:14Yeah, my favourite. That looked like a bad boy, honey. Yes, boy, yes, boy.
13:19An ingenious twist on an old Bahamian favourite. Have you ever looked at a dessert and say naughty?
13:26But now I'm going to step back in time for a sugary hit of nostalgia.
13:32I've got to say, I love a sweet shop, didn't you?
13:36All that lovely sweetness kind of brings out the kid in you.
13:39For the Bahamians, when they want that experience, they come here to Mortimer's Candies.
13:49Mortimer's Candies has been a colourful part of Nassau life for almost a century.
13:54It all began in 1928, when Ulrich Mortimer Senior went to New York to learn candy craft.
14:01And he came back with a dream of opening his own sweet shop.
14:05Four generations later, great-grandson Kel Mortimer is still mixing, stretching,
14:11and rolling out the family legacy here.
14:14So what are your customers looking for when they come in here?
14:18Sweets have changed, haven't they, over the years?
14:20They have. But the main thing is Bahamians tend to eat more mints.
14:24The kids steal the sweet candies, not so much the adults. The adults prefer the peppermint candy.
14:30All those peppermints are still made by hand, the traditional way, in copper kettles, then
14:37stretched and pulled and cooled on marble tables. A single batch takes about an hour and a half and
14:44produces about 1500 sweets. And the star of the shop is the bright green mint that put this place on the map.
14:51It's our signature candy. It's our most popular candy.
14:56OK, and what makes it so special?
14:59The strain of the mint is a smooth, strong peppermint rather than the dry peppermint.
15:02When you see the green mint, you know that's modern candies.
15:04Yeah.
15:06Today, Kel supplies hotels and supermarkets with his mints, as well as the regulars who pop in every day.
15:12This is probably why the staff here still wrap some of their sweets into traditional wax paper,
15:18to keep customers of a certain age happy.
15:21Those are pretty well the senior, the senior brigade.
15:25Yes.
15:25Why do they like it? Why do they like the wax paper?
15:28They say it's a church candy. You can open it in church without making noise.
15:32How brilliant is that?
15:33The preacher noticing, put down your bag of candy or something like that.
15:37Wonderful.
15:39But there's loads more than mints on the shelves here.
15:42Generations of Bahamians have grown up on these peanut cakes, coconut cakes,
15:46rich homemade fudge and something called a benny cake.
15:51This is a benny cake.
15:53Benny cake?
15:54Yes. Tell me what that is.
15:55It's similar to a sesame seed.
15:57We cook it first.
15:59We add the sugar to water, corn syrup, a little vanilla flavouring to give it a little extra.
16:05And that's all made on the premises?
16:08All candy is made right here.
16:09Like try peas?
16:10Yeah, I'll try peas. Why not?
16:13I feel like I'm tasting local history here, surrounded by the old photos and all of the
16:18generations looking down on me.
16:21Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I love that.
16:25That is sweet, isn't it?
16:26Yes.
16:28That's why you come to a candy shop.
16:29There you go.
16:31Absolutely lovely.
16:32Ah, how lovely to see the old-fashioned family business thriving and Kel keeping the traditions
16:39alive as his great-grandfather would have wanted.
16:42Yeah, you're loving it?
16:43I'm loving it.
16:4425 years and still enjoying it.
16:4625 years?
16:47Yes.
16:47Every morning you wake up, life gone sweet.
16:50And now it's time to get cooking in my seaside kitchen.
16:58And after all that sugar, there's only one thing for it.
17:01Dessert.
17:03You know what?
17:03I've had the sweetest of days and I'm going to make it even sweeter now with my beautiful coconut
17:10lime creams, followed by a little bit of tropical salsa and some Benny Brittle shards.
17:16It's a lovely, lovely creamy dessert that's perfect with all these amazing ingredients.
17:22Let's get started.
17:24First of all, I'm going to make the creams and what I need for that is some double cream,
17:28which I'm going to pop into a saucepan.
17:31So I'll just put that on there, just warming ever so slightly.
17:35And then I've got some creamed coconut here.
17:39And then in with the coconut cream.
17:44I'm going to sweeten it up a touch.
17:46And of course, that requires some sugar.
17:48So the sugar's going in there too.
17:51Just simmer and stir for a few minutes until all the sugar dissolves and then set aside to cool.
17:58Okay, let's get on with our Brittle, shall we?
18:02Pan on the stove.
18:04I've got some sesame seeds here.
18:06I'm going to take those.
18:07They're going into my pan.
18:11And I've also got some beautiful desiccated coconut.
18:15That's great.
18:15I'm just going to toast those up a little bit.
18:19Now, you know we live in this world now where every 10 seconds your phones go beep, beep, beep,
18:25beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
18:27Well, you don't go off and beep, beep, beep, beep when you're doing this, all right?
18:31Otherwise, this will burn.
18:35And our lovely sesame and coconut is beginning to toast up.
18:41And it's going to take a few minutes, all right?
18:43I'm using the same pan here.
18:48Now for the caramel.
18:50In with the sugar.
18:51The water.
18:52I've got my nutmeg going into that caramel.
18:59And a pinch of salt in there too.
19:03And a bit of Shakara honey.
19:10Ah.
19:11How passionate was that lady.
19:13And the fact that she's passing on all that knowledge onto her son.
19:16And it was just soaking it up like a sponge.
19:19Yes, mum.
19:19Yes, mum.
19:20Yes, mum.
19:21Lovely.
19:24A little bit of a stir.
19:25No more than that.
19:26And then leave it alone.
19:27And while my caramel bubbles away, it's time to zest up my cream and add plenty of lime juice too.
19:35It's about 80 or 90 mils of lime juice going into this.
19:40So it really is quite citrusy.
19:43Look at the amount of juice coming.
19:45I think at home I probably need about four or five of these.
19:47Maybe even six.
19:49But out here they're really big and juicy.
19:52Stir that lime juice into the cream.
19:54That's going to help thicken it up.
19:56And more importantly, that will set beautifully inside our fridge.
20:02Now back to the caramel, which is looking just right.
20:05That's what I want.
20:06That's great.
20:07And I'm going to take some of my coconut and sprinkle that in there.
20:14And this is for my Benny brittle.
20:17Which is a bit of a take actually on what I experienced down at Mortimer's.
20:22You know by the old Benny kirk there with the coconut kirk.
20:26I thought that was fantastic.
20:28And we've got to work quite quickly here.
20:34With another bit of greaseproof paper on top.
20:37Just spreading that out like that.
20:43That's what we're looking for.
20:44Now, I can allow that to cool down for a while.
20:47Then we can snap that into shards.
20:50Make up my little salsa and we're ready to serve up.
20:53Why?
20:54Yeah, lovely.
20:57Pour the cool cream into glasses.
21:00And after three hours in the fridge.
21:02Here they are.
21:04Perfectly chilled.
21:04Look at those.
21:06Aren't they lovely?
21:07Let's hit that with a little bit of a tropical salsa, shall we?
21:10And I've got a lovely dragon fruit there.
21:13And I'm chopping up a bit of star fruit too.
21:19And of course, some pineapple.
21:26Hey, look at that.
21:27So, so nice.
21:29And then we can finish it off with our lovely shard.
21:33Look at that.
21:34This is absolutely perfect.
21:36Look.
21:38Isn't that lovely?
21:39Let's just snap that away like that.
21:41Time to finish my dish with some chopped fruit pieces and a little petal for colour.
21:48And then, of course, we've got our shards.
21:50Now, when I went down to Mortimer's and I saw Kel, and I picked up these benny cakes and coconut cakes,
21:55I thought, what could I do with it?
21:57Well, I wasn't really sure.
22:00But then I thought about doing my beautiful benny brittle shards just to say thank you to Mortimer's.
22:08If that's not a sweet tropical treat, I don't know what is.
22:17Island honey, guava duff, and family candy.
22:21Life is better with a little bit of sugar and a lot of heart.
22:25See you next time on Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas.
22:47Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas, brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
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