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00:00I'm Levi Roots and I have a passion for food. Ever since I was a little boy growing up in
00:14Jamaica I've always loved to cook. Now I want to take you on a mouth-watering journey through
00:19my favorite flavors. In this series I'll be sharing classic Caribbean dishes as I travel
00:25around Jamaica and the UK giving your taste buds the tropical treatment. I'll show
00:31you how sunshine ingredients can spice up anyone's cooking and bring the taste of
00:35the Caribbean to your kitchen. Now I'm coming to London to explore the best
00:41flavors the capital has to offer and head into the UK South Coast to fill some
00:46clubbers' bellies with a fabulous late night treat. I'm hoping that some of you guys are quite hungry.
01:16As a little boy I lived with my grandparents on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Then at
01:24the age of 11 my world turned upside down when I was sent to join my parents in London.
01:30I had no idea what to expect or what I would eat what I needed of one. My family were living in
01:43Brixton the heart of the growing Caribbean community where I still live today. My eyes popped out when
01:51my big sister Jean took me to the local market that was bursting with Caribbean food. Nice to see you.
01:58Nice to see you too. Well this is where it all began for me. You did. Do you remember? Yes. The best thing was actually seeing the
02:05food in its abundance. When you came here though you were pleasantly surprised to see the food that we
02:11grow back home. That you've lovingly cooked all those years. That we can still get. Yes. You were a fantastic guide.
02:17Yeah. I love food. Brilliant.
02:23Coming here was a revelation. I'd learned to cook in Jamaica and now I could carry on with the same ingredients here.
02:31But if you don't live around the corner from a place like this, don't panic. Today these ingredients are easier to find in supermarkets.
02:40But if you want to cook Caribbean regularly at home, there are a few essentials you might want to stock up on.
02:47First we have thyme. Beautiful, delicious thyme. Then we have nutmeg. A bit of ginger always goes down well.
02:55Pimento. Old spice. My old friend, the good old scotch bonnet pepper. And of course lovely bay leaves.
03:04They are all essential flavours in what I'm calling the Caribbean sunshine kit. And today I'm using them to spice up a family favourite with beef at its heart.
03:15I learned to make this for my grandmother but I'm going to be cooking it for someone else who taught me so much. My mother. This has to be good.
03:23Hello mom. How are you doing? Hello darling.
03:26Mama, I'm going to be cooking you something wonderful and delicious with my beef pepper pot stew with Spiller's dumplings. Fantastic.
03:36Pepper pot is a classic Caribbean stew and every family has its own version. Grandma's uses stewing beef, butternut squash and sweet potato with fresh dumplings served up in a hot chilli soup.
03:51There are three stages for this one. I'm starting with my beef and the base for the stew.
03:57Would you mind cutting some garlic, mom, while I dissect this wonderful beef here? Because I think this is going to be fabulicious.
04:04What I've got here is 600 grams of stewing beef. The key thing is to cut it into small pieces so that it will cook quicker for you.
04:13Now, I'm ready in the sunshine kit for thyme, pimento seeds, oral spice, bay leaves, mom's garlic and some golden ginger.
04:25Brilliant.
04:26To these sunshine ingredients, add some chopped onions and stock, then stick on the stove to tenderize your beef.
04:36While that's cooking away nicely, I'm going to prepare the rest of the ingredients and I'm going to now do what we call the hard food, the provisions.
04:44That's the Jamaican term for the stuff that gives your food body. For my pepper pot, that's yam, sweet potato and butternut squash.
04:55Yams increasingly available in supermarkets, but if you have any difficulty, just had a waxy potato.
05:03You know I learned from an early age how to cook healthy nourishing food like this for mom and dad to come home to after work.
05:11All right, mama, I remember when I was 12, coming home from school in the evening, my friends used to go out playing, but I had to come home to cook real big meals and when I'm talking about big meals, I'm talking like rice and peas and curry goat and things like that.
05:25Dad used to be a rat catcher, you worked on the buses, so when he wanted to go work, he wanted some real proper food to eat.
05:32My friends at school thought it was hilarious that, you know, I was so passionate about food and about the flavors and about the textures and the feel of the food.
05:40and everything.
05:44Okay, now we've got all that in there, let's add this to our stew.
05:50The last two ingredients are butter beans, creamy coconut milk and some callaloo.
05:56Callaloo is from the spinach family and well worth searching for at your green grocers.
06:01But if you can't get hold of it, then just use spinach.
06:05And then of course, the dynamite.
06:09These are the key thing to my Caribbean sunshine kit, my favorite scotch bonnet pepper.
06:15Now, if you like it mild, it's best to use one scotch bonnet pepper without the seeds.
06:21If you like it hot, then you can use two scotch bonnet pepper without the seeds.
06:25But me and my mom here, we like it really hot, so we're going to use two scotch bonnet pepper with the seeds.
06:31Yeah, I think that should be nice.
06:37In you go.
06:39Finally, beat a couple of spring onions to release the flavor and pop in the pot.
06:45Mom, can you smell that?
06:46I can smell it.
06:47Does it smell delicious?
06:48Does it smell fabulous?
06:49It is, it is.
06:50Yeah.
06:51Now, that's bubbling away nicely, but nobody would make pepper pot stew without some spiller's dumpling.
06:57You taught me how to make these, mom.
06:59Nobody makes dumplings like you.
07:03This is the final stage.
07:06Unlike traditional British dumplings, these don't use any fat.
07:10They are just flour, salt and water, closer to the texture of pasta.
07:14I'm not really sure how they got their name.
07:17Probably because they spill over the pot.
07:22There's an old saying that if you can knead flour, your hands are rubber.
07:27This is lovely.
07:28How am I doing, mom?
07:29Is it okay?
07:30Yes, it's okay.
07:31Yeah, lovely.
07:32It's very important once you've kneaded your flour to just pop them straight in.
07:35And spillers are not big dumplings.
07:37They're small.
07:38Just pinch them off.
07:39Here you go.
07:40That's the spinner's dumpling.
07:41Give it a roll.
07:42Fabulous.
07:43It's easy.
07:44Do you want to help me, mom?
07:45Yes, I want to help.
07:46Okay.
07:47Mom, I've got to say, your spillers' dumplings, they are beautiful.
07:52They look fantastic.
07:53Nothing like mine's.
07:54Which don't look anything like yours.
07:57There's a pinch of salt to it.
07:58A bit of black pepper.
07:59Not a lot.
08:00Not too much.
08:01Yeah.
08:02And the ultimate pepper pot taste test.
08:03My mom, of course.
08:04How's that?
08:05Blow your head off.
08:06Blow your head off.
08:07Yeah.
08:08What is pepper pot shit, mom?
08:10And those flavours are only going to get better.
08:12Let your pot simmer till the dumplings are cooked and tuck in.
08:13Let's have a look.
08:14Ah, canned beef, succulent vegetables and dumplings in a creamy spicy stew.
08:19Isn't that exactly what you want to come home from work to?
08:23Yeah.
08:24It's delicious.
08:25Yeah.
08:26Hot, but delicious.
08:27It is.
08:28Now, mom, you know, I could sit here and eat this all day, but I've got a special friend
08:36that I've got to save some for, so let's put some in a bowl, shall we?
08:41Yeah. It's delicious. Yeah. Hot, but delicious, yes. It is. Now, Mum, you know, I could sit here and eat this all day, but I've got a special friend that I've got to save some for, so let's put some in a bowl, friends, shall we? Okay.
08:54That's another trick I picked up from Gran. Cook more than you need. The delicious aromas always drag in guests.
09:31I went to the UK, and it's a very exciting job and very interesting and very demanding, but I enjoy it.
09:37Well, it's fantastic that we're both from the same little village of content in Clarendon. I've got a present for you.
09:43What's that?
09:44Well, it's just a memory of four days back in Clarendon.
09:47Pepper pot.
09:48Pepper pot.
09:50Well, it was inspired by my grandmother, you know. This was the type of meal that she would make. Ingredients from the garden in the pot.
09:57This is good.
09:58Yes.
09:59But it could be hotter. It could be hotter.
10:00Well, coming from you.
10:03Now, if I'm going to be an ambassador for Caribbean food, what should I actually make people fall in love with?
10:10There are a lot of wonderful fruits that we have, but they're not really exposed over here.
10:15But I think, too, that our mangoes are different from the mangoes that you find in the supermarkets here.
10:20There are so many different names.
10:21Okay, I'm going to put you to the test here to see how many different mangoes that you can tell me right now. Come on, Bert.
10:27Number 11, Bombay, St. Julian, Beefy, Hayden, Fine Skin, Black Mango.
10:35It's one of the areas I think that we should be looking at some more and trying to find a way to bring those flavors here in the juices as well as in the food.
10:43Yes.
10:43Well, let me tell you. I'm having a dinner party soon. And I'd like to invite you.
10:49Wow. Thank you very much.
10:50I'm having some very special people. One thing, though, you're my friend, but you have to come and cook.
10:55I knew there was a cat somewhere. I'm not in there.
10:58So here's the invitation.
11:00Thank you very much.
11:01Good.
11:09Wow. That's a challenge. I don't even know who's going to be there.
11:14But it is a chance to show off how to use some of the great fresh fruit of the Caribbean in an unusual way.
11:25First, though, I've got another appointment on the south coast.
11:28Since my teens, I've enjoyed making music almost as much as making food.
11:46And tonight, I'm laying on both for my fans.
11:51Now, my audience may have impeccable tastes, but sometimes I worry about how they fill their bellies.
11:58So for an encore, I want to show them something so delicious and easy, they'll soon be cooking it for themselves.
12:08This is for them. Fast food with an healthy tropical twist.
12:12It's my lamb and pineapple kebab with lime, chili, and coriander mayo.
12:18This recipe is bursting with sunshine fruit.
12:21But I think the real star of the show is my lamb, marinated in pineapple juice, molasses, and vinegar.
12:28Together, they create a sweet and sour tang.
12:32So let's go. You want lamb neck fillets cut into chunks.
12:36The golden rule is, longer the marinade, sweeter the meat.
12:41Even if you're in a hurry, try to leave it to marinate for at least an hour to soak up the flavor.
12:47Now let's compose our kebab.
12:49I'm going to start with the meat.
12:51I'm adding pineapple, banana, onions, and peppers.
12:56Not a lot of people would actually barbecue pineapple, but it's a Caribbean thing here.
13:00We would put anything in the barbecue.
13:03Yeah, no fuss.
13:06What's difficult about that?
13:08All I do is bung it on your barbecue.
13:10Brush with oil and keep turning.
13:15For maximum juiciness, base with the marining.
13:20While they're cooking, mix your dressing.
13:23Mayo, giving a tropical twist with chopped garlic, coriander, chili, and lime juice.
13:29And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it.
13:32Shall we get one together?
13:33Yes!
13:34Let's go.
13:35Now, I'm using flatbread here, yes?
13:37Okay, we're just going to put a little bit of lettuce in there, first of all.
13:41On the other corner, put a dab off your tin here.
13:44A nice, lovely, lime barbecue.
13:48The trick is just to close.
13:51And try and grab everything and pull it.
13:55See it there?
13:57Here you go, sir.
13:58First one.
14:00Yes.
14:00Let me get another one together while it's going up here.
14:03It's that easy.
14:05Lettuce.
14:06Mayo.
14:06Kebab.
14:09Magic.
14:11Look at this lovely rasta woman here.
14:13Respect.
14:17You can have this with anything.
14:20You can eat it with some crackers.
14:22Steam down with two fat snappers.
14:25Some okra and some spinners.
14:28Swimming in some coconut juice.
14:31That was fantastic.
14:32That was fantastic.
14:34Fabulous.
14:35Gargantuan.
14:36Sensational.
14:37I don't know what I enjoyed most of all, whether it was the music or the food.
14:41But I tell you what.
14:42These guys.
14:43Yeah.
14:44Out of this world.
14:45Brilliant.
14:45The Caribbean has always had a culture of eating outdoors.
15:02And it's no surprise, classics like jerk chicken have become popular fast food in the UK.
15:08When I've come back to London to check out something a little more formal, you'll find all kinds of food available on Britain's ice street.
15:19But it's quite a rare thing to find a Caribbean restaurant.
15:22Someone who's making a real difference is Anthony Cumberbatch with what he calls Nouvelle Caribbean cuisine.
15:30And he's promised me a hands-on lesson in exactly what he means.
15:33Good afternoon.
15:34How are you doing?
15:35Nouvelle Caribbean cuisine literally is taking Caribbean food to a different level.
15:39It's putting pretty food on a plate.
15:40I remember my grandmother saying to me that if the food not look good on a plate, it now will taste good.
15:46Absolutely.
15:46What are you going to cook for us today?
15:49Today I'm going to cook pan-fried sea bass for the natural dish of Barbados, Cuckoo.
15:55This should be pure Bajan bliss.
15:57Cuckoo is a national favourite.
15:59A dish that combines cornmeal and okra, traditionally served with flying fish.
16:05But Anthony's using a British favourite sea bass, marinated in lime and thyme.
16:11He's topped his tower with a tomato and lime salsa.
16:14First a marinade, and it looks like Anthony has been at that sunshine kit.
16:20To an onion, a lime and some spring onion, he's adding some thyme, some scotch bonnet chilli, and I'm crushing some allspice.
16:30Splash in a dash of Worcester sauce, some seasoning and oil.
16:34That's looking good, Levi.
16:35Yeah, fantastic.
16:40I'm going to add the coriander.
16:42Covering that set.
16:44That's it.
16:48Smell it.
16:49It's got that fresh smell of the thyme and the coriander.
16:54Fantastic.
16:55This is brilliant.
16:55Can we marinate the fish now?
16:57Let's go.
16:57Let's do it.
17:00Marinate the sea bass for 20 minutes.
17:02No longer, or the acid from the lime will start to cook the flesh.
17:06And a bit of the pimento that you've crushed.
17:09Yep.
17:09Wrap it into the fish.
17:13Especially the fleshy side.
17:15Now for the side dish, cuckoo.
17:18In Barbados, you'd make this with cornmeal.
17:20But for speed, Anthony's using a substitute, ready-made polenta, which you can pick up easily.
17:27You need to put the flour on, otherwise it will stick.
17:32And this is where it all takes off with a very hot pan.
17:37Add a little seasoning and thyme.
17:40But that's literally cooked now.
17:45So what I'm going to do now, I'm going to cook the okra.
17:48Hot pan.
17:50Okra, or ladies' fingers, to use the Caribbean name, is the other half of cuckoo.
17:55My memory of okra is that no children loved okra.
17:58But now when you get older, you love okra.
18:00Yeah, but the trick is not to cook it when it's slimy-slimy.
18:03That's literally the trick in there.
18:04Fry with a little seasoning, add onions, chopped garlic, and more thyme.
18:15I just need to sweat down a tiny bit more and that's it.
18:18Now I'm going to do the fish now, yeah?
18:23Fry your sea bass for two minutes on each side.
18:26Simple.
18:28And for a final touch of colour and drama, the salsa.
18:31Tomato and lime, with spring onion, chopped onion, and chilli.
18:36That's literally everything's cooked.
18:38Which means it's time for me to roll up my sleeves.
18:41I want you to show me how to actually dress up a nice-up plate.
18:45Ok.
18:46I'm going to literally use the red wine reduction.
18:48Yes.
18:49Strain to the plate, do it any way you want, but I'll go say that way down, yeah?
18:53Right, ok, I'll go on this side.
18:55Yeah.
18:57That's it.
18:58Just like if you're painting.
18:59Come, we go.
19:00We've got the barbecue sauce here.
19:01Yes.
19:02Just make...
19:04there.
19:05A little swell.
19:07Woo!
19:08Well, ok, alright.
19:10That's alright, isn't it?
19:11Well, for the first time it can...
19:12Well, you know, that's a Jamaican one there, man.
19:14You can see it's got some dreadlocks on it there going on there.
19:16I can see the locks, trust me.
19:18The next thing, let's use some herb oil.
19:20That's herb and oil, just blend it up.
19:23Just put it in the middle right there.
19:25Let's go with it, yeah.
19:26Yes.
19:27Perfect.
19:28Perfect.
19:29And just some mango salsa.
19:31One sec.
19:32There.
19:33Just the colour on the plate.
19:35That's it.
19:37Yeah?
19:38Respect you.
19:39Are we ready to plate your food?
19:40Yeah, man, we're ready.
19:41Bring it on.
19:42Bring it on.
19:43Ok.
19:44Carry it come.
19:45Bring it come.
19:46I'll try and show you what I mean by Nouvelle.
19:47I'm going to leave this to the master.
19:50Cuckoo, sea bass, salsa, and a tiny bit of bling.
19:56Mmm.
19:57Voila.
19:58Looks gargantual, sir.
19:59Would you like to try some?
20:00Pass it here, give me.
20:01Give it to me.
20:09Lord of mercy.
20:11So that is Caribbean Nouvelle Cuisine.
20:24You can get it if you really want.
20:27It's fantastic that Anthony is finding new ways with the fabulous ingredients the Caribbean has to offer.
20:33And now, the pressure is on me.
20:35I've got to unleash my finest flavours for the Jamaican High Commissioner and his mystery guests.
20:41You succeed at last.
20:44For this special occasion, I've chosen a dish that will really showcase Caribbean food.
20:49It's my Martinique Coconut Chicken Curry.
20:52I need a treat and this is it.
20:56Chicken pieces, juicy mangoes, papaya and tamarind in a spicy curry sauce.
21:02I'm using a famous mix of spices which has its own name, Colombo.
21:07And it's one of my favourite flavours from the beautiful island of Martinique.
21:13Let's just get a bit of seasoning on our chicken.
21:17Now we're going to just brown the chicken just to kind of lock all that wonderful flavours inside.
21:32Okay.
21:33While that's frying away nicely, locking in all that lovely flavours of your chicken there.
21:37I'm going to make my spice mix.
21:40Caribbean food is real fusion food.
21:42And this dish really makes use of the spices from India.
21:47For your mix, you'll need mustard seed, ground coriander and turmeric.
21:52Then add three roughly chopped garlic cloves and half a red chilli, ideally scotch bonnet of course.
21:59Right, the final thing I'm going to add in here is a bit of sea salt.
22:03Now this is my secret tip because it's the grittiness that helps to actually grind everything together.
22:10You just got to rely upon your muscles really to grind it together.
22:15I can hear the chicken boiling out for me.
22:21Levi, I'm ready.
22:22Let's have a look at it.
22:25When your chicken is brown, fry off your hard food.
22:29This time, onion, potatoes, aubergines and butternut squash.
22:35Bring the whole lot to life with your Colombo spice mix.
22:38Now these are the aromas that brought the neighbours round.
22:42Another thing about in the Caribbean when friends would come round to eat.
22:47You never eat and leave straight away.
22:50No.
22:52You have to sit, have conversation.
22:55Otherwise they'll call you nyam and goe.
22:58Nyam meaning eat, to eat something.
23:01And goe meaning to get the heck out of there once you fill your belly.
23:05The chicken is going back in and it's time to add your liquids.
23:13Creamy coconut milk and chicken stock.
23:17Splash it all over.
23:19Then my favourite flavour in this mix, tamarind.
23:23You may be able to get all of this sour fruit dried and pressed into a bar or as a paste.
23:29And it has a nice fruity sour taste to your dish.
23:33Delicious.
23:36Our final ingredients should go down well with his excellency.
23:44Mangoes and papaya.
23:46And I've got a nifty trick for removing the stone.
23:50OK, we're going to edge up the mango.
23:53Press your knife in the top of the mango.
23:56Feel along the seed and keep pressing downwards.
23:58So you know you've got most of the flesh at the top.
24:02And just sort of cut around it, still it's pressing down.
24:05There you go. Perfect.
24:07Cut lengthways without piercing the skin.
24:11Then across.
24:13And now for the magic bit.
24:16You pick it up and you press from the bottom of your mango.
24:20Here you go.
24:22A rasta hedhog.
24:24With large dreadlocks.
24:26And then get your knife and just cut away.
24:29There you go.
24:30This juicy mango.
24:31I know his excellency is going to love this dish.
24:37We're going to bring Martinique to him.
24:41Finish off with your papaya, a splash of rum and lime juice.
24:45Once the fruit is eaten through, it's time for a party.
24:48I'm really looking forward to it.
24:51Looking forward to the food and the conversation, of course.
24:58So, dinner at seven for the Jamaican High Commissioner's mystery guests.
25:02Seated around the table are eight expectant diners, including professional party planner Liz Brewer.
25:27EastEnders star, Rudolph Walker, who was born in Trinidad.
25:31And actor Brett Fancy, who's also appeared in EastEnders.
25:36And whose only taste of Caribbean food to date is jerk chicken.
25:40There is a secret ingredient in there.
25:42There's one secret ingredient in there.
25:44Yes.
25:46And something, maybe a clue.
25:48It's probably one of the sour things that you would eat as a young child.
25:52Not lime.
25:53Not lime, no.
25:54Tamarind.
25:55Tamarind.
25:56Tamarind.
25:57Tamarind.
25:58Because as a child, you know, it's just so sour, but it's sour but sweet as well.
26:01Yes.
26:02It's the sweet and sour.
26:03It's delicious.
26:04It's absolutely.
26:05In the Caribbean and Jamaica, we cook today and we eat today.
26:08Eat today.
26:09And it's all fresh.
26:10That's kind of sweet and delicious.
26:12As much for the sweet tooth as it was for something new like the spice.
26:16Well, Caribbean food is quite easy.
26:17And I think, if you're not familiar with Caribbean food, get used to the fruits first.
26:21Eating the natural fruits and then move on to actually cooking.
26:26That seems to be going well.
26:28No naman goers here.
26:30But aren't we missing a trick?
26:32I know you probably think that I've forgotten something, but I haven't.
26:35For dessert, I'm going to be using a traditional British favourite and give it an easy peasy Caribbean twist.
26:41I'm going to be doing my boozy strawberry with coconut.
26:46I'm sure enough now, this couldn't be simpler.
26:49Summer strawberries with lime, orange liqueur and freshly shaved coconut.
26:54You need one juicy lime, a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a slug of orange liqueur.
27:04Once you've had your liqueur, it's best to start giving it a stir straight away.
27:09While the lime juice does its work, crack on with the flesh of one coconut.
27:14Grate it finely and then drop it into the lime juice mix.
27:17And that will definitely soak up the flavours.
27:20You've never had coconut like this.
27:23Now for the crucial bit, my strawberries.
27:26All you need to do is nip the ends off, cut them in half and simply layer with the coconut.
27:33Anthony should be proud of my stacking.
27:36And to decorate that, a nice bit of mint.
27:41Beautiful.
27:42But what will my guests think?
27:47It's strawberries, traditional British strawberries, and I've given it a sort of Caribbean makeover.
27:53There's a whole heap of Caribbean love in there.
27:56So this will be something for you, Mr. Bert, that you can actually try at home.
28:01Taste the love.
28:02Usually you'd have ice cream or fresh cream with strawberries, but this is really fresh.
28:07I feel guiltless.
28:09Well, Your Excellency, thank you for having me.
28:11Well, we had a great evening, thanks to you.
28:13I mean, the food was wonderful.
28:14And I think that what the evening did to us was to get people to understand that it's more than just the food.
28:20It's the getting together.
28:21It's the sharing over, you know, a meal that makes a difference to the enjoyment of the food.
28:26It's been wonderful.
28:27Good.
28:28And enjoy.
28:29Next week, I'll be in the West Country serving some Anglers Caribbean breakfast on the beach.
28:34Definitely hot.
28:35That's hot.
28:36There's a tropical take on steak and chips.
28:39And my Eitel soup gets everyone dancing with delight.
28:48Discover how you can create amazing dishes.
28:51The food made easy collection is available on BBC iPlayer.
28:55Press red now.
28:56gems to show you what to do into computers and Net nets親 got to.
29:01Then I'll be glad to see our steps on more.
29:03They love menggement in practice on Friday and an opportunity outside the scenic Games.
29:08We're happy to see our last summer summer of biology.
29:11We'll be happy to see some progress now for us in one video.
29:13Then we'll be successful next week in three weeks, then in the West Country,
29:14we'll be having a regular afternoon on going and fut dengan be foreclared.
29:16We'll be busy.
29:17Thanks for having na 재밌.
29:18Thanks for having us.
29:19But at the dinner table will be Progress and a Largeinarwirtschaft.
29:21Sometimes with your Diffic ediyorumifter and días for siguiente guests.
29:23The sanity changes to get ready to makeutable,
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