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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.
01:02Ooh, a little bit of sesame.
01:04To fine dining with a Caribbean twist.
01:08It's out in this world.
01:09Scoop it up.
01:10Mmm.
01:11Mmm.
01:12This is the last bottle known to man.
01:14Wow.
01:15I'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
01:29a bit of island zest.
01:31Welcome to the Taste of the Bahamas.
01:42The Bahamas is a chain of hundreds of islands and coral shallows in the warm Atlantic Ocean.
01:48Just a short hop from Florida.
01:50And right at the heart of it all are Nassau and Paradise Island, my Bahamian base.
01:56Today, I'll be cooking with a chef who's bringing an international influence to Bahamian cuisine.
02:01Look at that.
02:02Tell me, what do you call this again?
02:03Ah, crunchy.
02:04And I'll be shaking up some cocktails with a Nassau twist, with help from a guy called Mr Mix.
02:11And I'll be bringing a Bahamian take to baking a cake.
02:21Put in the coconut, put in the chocolate.
02:25But first, I've come to a colorful street for a hit of something sweet.
02:32Chocolate might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Bahamas,
02:36but I'm about to meet a chocolate maker that's combined island flavors and classic chocolate
02:42to create a match made in paradise.
02:45Wow!
02:48This is the only chocolate factory on the island of Nassau.
02:52They make around 3,000 chocolates here every week using cocoa beans from Costa Rica, Guyana and Jamaica.
03:00And it's all done in small batches by expert chocolataires like Crystal Forbes.
03:06Crystal chocolate.
03:07You can't beat chocolate, can you?
03:09No, you cannot.
03:10Ah, tell me, what have you got going on here?
03:12So this here is our seashell bar.
03:13We call it the seashell bar because it has the conch shell, the conchs, the starfish, the conchs on it,
03:19and all the taste that deals with the sea.
03:21That's why we call it our seashell bar.
03:23Ah, wow.
03:24Any chance I could help make, construct one or two chocolates with you?
03:28All right, join me this way.
03:29OK, thank you very much.
03:31Oh, what's happening here?
03:38She's making one of our bonbons.
03:40We have 24 different flavour bonbons.
03:42This one she's making.
03:43This here is our princess bubblegum.
03:46It is the white chocolate.
03:47Yeah.
03:48And we put the bubblegum flavour inside of it.
03:49Oh, wow.
03:50So what she's doing now is putting the pink and we actually hand paint our moulds.
03:53Hand-ving...
03:54Everything's just done so delicately, isn't it?
03:57Yes, everything is hand painted.
03:58OK.
03:59And what's your name?
04:00Laconia.
04:01Laconia?
04:02You're doing a fantastic job.
04:03I love that.
04:04Come on.
04:05There you go.
04:06Brilliant.
04:07And now it's my turn to impress Crystal with my chocolate dexterity.
04:13Just as soon as I get these gloves on.
04:16So what I need you to do is tip your hands inside of that blue paint.
04:19Uh-huh.
04:20And dip it in here?
04:21Yes.
04:22OK.
04:23Yeah.
04:24And what you're going to do, you're going to take it and you're going to polish it around
04:25the mould.
04:26OK.
04:27I'll try to.
04:28It's a bit...
04:31Is that, uh...
04:32That's good enough.
04:33Yeah, is that good enough?
04:34That's good enough.
04:35You wouldn't sack me for that, would you?
04:36No, I'm not.
04:37You're doing a perfect job.
04:38Oh, I love you.
04:39I love you too.
04:40Oh!
04:41I'm not going home.
04:43I'm staying in the Bahamas.
04:45Oh, are they?
04:46Yes, sister.
04:47All right.
04:48Next, a filling of what they call sky juice.
04:52Good.
04:53Oh, you've been doing this a long time.
04:56Well, I just want to impress you, you know.
05:01There you go.
05:02Finally, we seal the bonbons with a delicate white chocolate coating.
05:09So, just a little bit of chocolate on the top?
05:11Yes, you can.
05:12OK.
05:13Then after a scrape and a chill in the cooling tunnel, it chocks away.
05:18Turn them over.
05:19And voila!
05:23Oh, look at that.
05:24Beautiful.
05:25Can I try one?
05:27Go ahead.
05:28That is unusual.
05:31What have we got in there?
05:32That's our sky juice.
05:33Sky juice is a native alcohol drink.
05:35We have here on Ireland.
05:36It's gin, coconut water, and our condensed milk.
05:39Simmer down with some coconut.
05:41Wow!
05:42What about this one here, Crystal?
05:44What you're going to do, you're going to taste that for me.
05:46That's a surprise I have for you.
05:47And I'm going to let you tell me what's inside of that.
05:49That's pressure.
05:50That's pressure.
05:51Wow.
05:52All right, here we go.
05:54This is what you might call an extra hot chocolate.
06:01Woo!
06:02What do you taste?
06:03Good.
06:04Goat chilli.
06:05That's goat chilli in there, isn't it?
06:06It's actually goat pepper.
06:07Goat pepper.
06:08Wow.
06:09I didn't expect to find a spicy pepper in a chocolate.
06:11And I didn't expect to find a chocolate factory in the Bahamas.
06:14But, as the saying goes, life is like a box of chocolates.
06:15You never know what you're going to get.
06:16Can I get a box of the peppery one to take home?
06:17Yeah, and I hope you give it to someone spicy.
06:18Woo!
06:19Woo!
06:20I've got a taste for unexpected flavour fusions now, so I'm heading westward along the coast
06:24to a restaurant with a rather unusual taste.
06:26And I didn't expect to find a chocolate factory in the Bahamas.
06:28And I didn't expect to find a chocolate factory in the Bahamas.
06:29But, as the saying goes, life is like a box of chocolates.
06:30You never know what you're going to get.
06:31Can I get a box of the peppery one to take home?
06:32Yeah, and I hope you give it to someone spicy.
06:33Woo!
06:34I've got a taste for unexpected flavour fusions now, so I'm heading westward along the coast to
06:47a restaurant with a rather unusual name.
06:52The name Aquifier conjures up all sorts of images.
06:56I'm thinking sea, sunshine and sizzling.
06:58I don't even know what's on the menu.
07:00But I've got a feeling something interesting is coming my way.
07:05And that's because I'm about to cook along with one of the island's rising culinary stars.
07:10A chef who trained in Switzerland and New York, and now mixes classic techniques
07:15with delicious local flavours back here in the Bahamas.
07:18Her name is Ariana Victoria, and this is one of her signature dishes,
07:22an Asian-style salad with yellowfin tuna.
07:26So tell me, what about you?
07:28So first we're going to start off with the soy sauce.
07:30Yeah, you pour that in there for me.
07:31Put this in here.
07:32Mm-hmm.
07:33Should be good, yeah.
07:34Then we're going to add some honey.
07:36And shall I give this a little whisk?
07:41Yeah.
07:42Give it a little whisk.
07:43Mm-hmm.
07:44Mix it up.
07:45Get the honey in there.
07:46Right.
07:47Yeah.
07:48Now we're going to add some ginger and garlic.
07:50Mm.
07:51So why the name Aquifier?
07:52Where did that come from?
07:53We were about to open up.
07:55I still couldn't decide exactly what the name was going to be.
07:59In the kitchen, there's a window.
08:01And as you look out, you can see the ocean.
08:03And I had just actually gotten the gas hooked up inside the kitchen.
08:06And so I had the fire burning, excited to finally have it burning.
08:10And I looked out the window and I saw the aqua ocean.
08:12So I was like, aqua fire.
08:14That's it.
08:15It just came to you.
08:16That's it.
08:17It just came to me and it just stuck.
08:18Such a good name.
08:19And this is the little bit of...
08:20A little bit of sesame oil.
08:22Sesame oil.
08:23Okay.
08:26Happy with that dressing?
08:27Yeah, we're good.
08:28And now to season up our tuna, starting with a squeeze of lime.
08:32What's the idea of that, that little bit of citrusness?
08:34A little bit of citrus.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Add to the little spice that we're going to add to it.
08:38Okay.
08:39So what's going on?
08:40What is this you're putting on?
08:41We've got some island flavours in here.
08:42We have some goat pepper, some Cajun, some paprika.
08:45Mm.
08:46A little bit of love, you know, different things.
08:49I like the word goat pepper.
08:51That sounds really lovely.
08:52Okay, I'm marinating that.
08:54All right, next, we could get the salad started.
08:56Maybe we could cut up some onions first before we get started.
08:58Shall I do that for you, Chef?
08:59Yes, please.
09:00Okay, beautiful.
09:01Thinly sliced.
09:02Mm.
09:03There you go.
09:05Some tomatoes next, and then we bring it all together on a sea of green leaves.
09:11Okay, beautiful.
09:13And then we'll rest that over to the side while we sare the tuna.
09:17A little oil in the pan, and in with our marinated tuna steaks.
09:22And we sare that for two minutes.
09:24And you can actually see the colour there, can't you?
09:26Yeah, same thing.
09:27So you want to keep it quite sort of pink, so just a minute or two there.
09:31A quick sare seals the outside and leaves the middle soft and succulent and ready for slicing.
09:38I think that's really ready to go, isn't it?
09:40Yeah, it's ready.
09:41We got it.
09:42That's rare and lovely.
09:43All right, then.
09:44Take that off, Chef.
09:45Yeah.
09:46Put it on the cutting board.
09:47You want to thinly slice it?
09:48Okay.
09:49Just a little bit there?
09:50Yeah, just a little slice.
09:51Okay.
09:52Look at that.
09:53There you go.
09:54Perfect.
09:55Beautiful.
09:56Unbelievable in there.
10:01That's fantastic.
10:03Shoot.
10:04Okay.
10:05There you go.
10:06Oh, beautiful, Chef.
10:07There you go.
10:08That's that on top.
10:09Look at that.
10:10Fantastic.
10:11All right, can you drizzle some of the dressing now on top?
10:13Yeah, certainly, Chef.
10:14First.
10:15There you go.
10:20Now we top it with some seaweed, and then it's time to add the all-important crunch.
10:27Now we're going to finish it off with some sesame seeds.
10:30Ooh, a little bit of sesame.
10:33And there you have it.
10:34Our eye crunchy.
10:35I'm hot.
10:36I'm sweaty.
10:37I don't care because I'm about to indulge myself in something quite fantastic.
10:44Look at that.
10:45Tell me, what do you call this again?
10:46Eye crunchy.
10:47Eye crunchy.
10:48Eye crunchy.
10:49Eye crunchy.
10:50I got crunchy up so long.
10:52Ruby rare in the middle, crispy on the top, a little crunch and a lot of zing.
11:00This is full flavour fusion on a plate.
11:03Just sets your taste buds alive.
11:05Really, really lovely.
11:07Aqua fire.
11:10I'll be coming back.
11:16Coming up next, can we mix it?
11:18Yes, we can.
11:19I fuse up some flavours in a cocktail shaker with the island's Mr Mix.
11:24Yeah, boy.
11:25Yeah, boy.
11:26Yeah, boy.
11:27Yeah, you see.
11:28And I go bananas in the Bahamas with my seaside kitchen cake.
11:33Heaven.
11:43Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas, brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
11:54Welcome back.
11:55Today, I'm on a journey into Bahamian flavour fusions.
11:59I've already tasted some fiery chocolates.
12:01Woo!
12:02What do you taste?
12:03Good.
12:04Go chili.
12:05What?
12:06Go chili.
12:07And I've enjoyed a tuna salad with a crunchy Asian spin.
12:13Just sets your taste buds alive.
12:14Really, really lovely.
12:29But now, I'm heading back to the Bahama, where the jazz bar's cocktail mixologist is shaking
12:38things up in a big way.
12:40His name is Marv Cunningham, and I've been told to ask for Mr. Mix.
12:46So tell me, is it Marv or is it Mr. Mix, tell me.
12:50It's Mr. Mix, but you can call me Marv.
12:52I was dubbed Mr. Mix by my culinary teammates, so you know, it all started with me winning
12:58a competition, tasted the Caribbean, so they were like, you know what, you're Mr. Mix,
13:02and that's the end of it.
13:03Everybody else can call you Marv, we're going to call you Mr. Mix.
13:05You've got the label.
13:06You say, Marv, what are you going to make for me today?
13:08So first off, we're going to start with the spicy Gumby Old Fashioned, which happens to
13:13be a twist on the traditional Old Fashioned, but with the main ingredients of a Gumby smash,
13:21which happens to be one of the top three national drinks in the Bahamas.
13:24That's not ordinary bourbon, is it?
13:26No, it's straight bourbon, but it's just being infused with coconut oil.
13:29Beautiful.
13:30OK, what's next then?
13:31Next, I shouldn't be surprised by this, should I?
13:35It's our spicy island friend, the goat pepper.
13:38Which is the family of a Scotch bonnet, yeah, and pineapple syrup.
13:43Yeah.
13:45What's next?
13:46So next, we're going to use a trifecta of bitters, we're going to use some orange bitters.
13:49OK.
13:50We're going to use one, two, three of our orange bitters.
13:53We're going to use three dashes of cocoa bitters.
13:56Would you like to try, please?
13:57Yeah, do I put it in the same way?
13:59Yeah, the same three.
14:00One, two, three.
14:01That's it, beautiful.
14:02Lovely.
14:03One, two, three.
14:04So now that we have all of our ingredients, what we're going to do is we're going to give
14:07this a really good stir.
14:08OK.
14:09So we top that with ice.
14:10Top it with ice.
14:11So we're now going to, you know, strain our spicy gumby old-fashioned.
14:19There we go.
14:20Wow.
14:21Now we're going to garnish with a dehydrated orange.
14:24Mm-hmm.
14:25Now, I present to you the spicy gumby old-fashioned.
14:30Cheers.
14:31Oh, wow.
14:36Oh, wow.
14:37Wow.
14:38You talked about that little sort of chili influence there.
14:40Very much there.
14:41It's got a spice.
14:42It's got a kick.
14:43Yeah, man.
14:44All right, carry on.
14:45Carry on, carry on, carry on.
14:46So, Aisley, what we're going to do next, right?
14:47I want you and I to make the classic Bahama Mama together.
14:50Yeah, please.
14:51All right.
14:52I'd love that.
14:53I really would love that.
14:54So what we're going to do now, I want you to follow my lead.
14:56Mm-hmm.
14:57A little jigger.
14:58Okay.
14:59This is the bartender's measuring apparatus.
15:00So what we're going to do is we're going to add one ounce of a white rum.
15:05Goes right into the shaker tin.
15:06We're going to do the same with the gold rum.
15:08You're a pro.
15:09You're good at this.
15:10Half ounce of coconut rum.
15:12Oh, wow.
15:13Okay.
15:14Next, we're going to be adding one ounce of orange juice, followed by one ounce of pineapple
15:21juice.
15:22Wow.
15:23This is busy.
15:24Half ounce of grenadine.
15:29We're going to add four dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters.
15:34One, two, three, four.
15:36And we're just going to shake.
15:38Yeah, boy.
15:39Yeah, boy.
15:40Welcome to Bahamas.
15:41Yeah, man.
15:42Amazing.
15:43Yeah, boy.
15:44Yeah, man.
15:45Yeah, man.
15:46Yeah, man.
15:47Yeah, man.
15:48Yeah, man.
15:49Yeah, you see.
15:50Yeah, you see.
15:51Yeah, you see.
15:52Yeah, you see.
15:53Yeah, you see.
15:54And I see how that thing look wicked.
15:56Yeah.
15:57So I'm going to put a nice top hat on.
16:00All right.
16:01And you travel all over the world doing this, this sort of stuff, don't you?
16:04Yes, I do.
16:05You love it?
16:06I love it.
16:07I love it.
16:08I love being able to be in a position to represent my country, to show what we have to offer,
16:11because what we have is definitely beautiful and unique.
16:14The Bahamas, we are a luxury destination.
16:16Yeah, absolutely.
16:17And I want everyone to understand and see that.
16:18Absolutely.
16:19And last but not least, some cherries.
16:24Why, thank you.
16:25You're very welcome.
16:26Oh, man.
16:27Cheers.
16:28This is brilliant.
16:29Just the smell alone is kind of the smell of sunshine, the smell of freshness and fruitiness.
16:35Yes.
16:36And fresh juices, the aromatics.
16:38Coconut.
16:39Coconut.
16:40Yep.
16:41Got that.
16:42That's what really makes it a Bahama Mama.
16:43Yep.
16:44Really, really lovely.
16:45I must remember this isn't a holiday.
16:49This is work.
16:50So, back to my seaside kitchen, where I'm going to bake a Bahama banana bread.
16:56And I'm going to make a sky juice frosting to go under top.
17:02Why not?
17:03We're in the Bahamas.
17:04Let's get cracking.
17:05First of all, my butter is going into my bowl, followed by my lovely soft brown sugar.
17:11There you go.
17:12Just pop that in there like that.
17:14Mmm.
17:16That's the basis of everything.
17:18And then let's just beat that up.
17:30That's it.
17:31Lovely.
17:32Once you've creamed that butter and that sugar together, you can start adding your eggs, one at a time.
17:37One more egg.
17:38Okay.
17:39Now I think that's about perfect.
17:44You're scraping down the sides a little bit there.
17:45And then we can start to add our dry.
17:46Now what I've got here is the cocoa powder and the flour.
17:59And I'm going to add the addition of a little bit of baking powder.
18:00And I'm going to add the addition of a little bit of baking powder.
18:14That's it.
18:15That's it.
18:16Okay.
18:17Then we mix our flour and cocoa powder and baking powder together.
18:21So that's well incorporated.
18:22Now, a bit of fresh nutmeg.
18:23Yeah, I'll beat it.
18:24Then we can start to fold our dry ingredients into our wet.
18:39And just blending that together.
18:40And just blending that together.
18:45Okay.
18:46Not finished yet, of course.
18:47We've got some bananas here.
18:49So I'm just opening these up.
18:51You noticed, hey, look how wonderfully soft these bananas are.
18:59It's a great way of using them up.
19:02Okay.
19:03I've taken the bananas, popped them into the bowl.
19:05And just start to mash those up a little bit.
19:08Just using the fork or anything really.
19:12And then we've got some yogurt here.
19:15Greek yogurt.
19:16That's going into.
19:18And a little bit of rum.
19:25Yeah, boy.
19:27Yeah, man.
19:28Ooh.
19:29Stop it.
19:38Blend that together.
19:39And in that goes into our lovely chocolate.
19:47Mix.
19:48Blend that together.
19:49Okay.
19:50That's it.
19:51That's looking good, isn't it?
19:52Lovely.
19:53But I have the addition here of some chocolate nibs and a bit of coconut.
19:54You know how I feel about the coconut.
19:55Yeah, man.
19:56Put in the coconut.
19:57Put in the chocolate.
19:58Yeah, boy.
19:59Beautiful.
20:00Just bring that all together.
20:01And now we're just going to transfer all that lovely stuff there into our cake tin.
20:06Oh, dear.
20:07I'm going to pop that into my oven.
20:08That's a 170 gas mark five for about.
20:09That's a 170 gas mark five for about.
20:10Yeah.
20:11I'm going to put in the chocolate.
20:12Yeah, boy.
20:13Ah, beautiful.
20:15Just bring that all together.
20:17And now we're just going to transfer all that lovely stuff there into our cake tin.
20:27Oh, dear.
20:28I'm going to pop that into my oven.
20:34That's a 170 gas mark five for about 40, 50 minutes.
20:39Then take it out.
20:40Put it on a rack.
20:41Let it rest and top it with my sky juice frosting.
20:46It's going to taste so nice.
20:48I'm not sure where sky juice cocktails got their name.
20:55Perhaps it's something to do with coconut water raining down or that floaty feeling you get
21:00when you drink too many.
21:02But having tasted a sky juice chocolate earlier on, I've decided to add a sky juice twist to
21:07my banana bread in the form of a frosting.
21:11It's sweet.
21:12It's heavenly.
21:13It's glorious.
21:14A bit like my cake.
21:18So I'm mixing the softened butter and sugar, adding a little bit of coconut water,
21:23some lime zest, fresh nutmeg, and just a little bit, a little bit of rum.
21:36Heaven.
21:37Are you ready for this?
21:41Oh, yeah.
21:42Isn't that lovely?
21:43Look at that.
21:44So inviting.
21:45That's it.
21:46Just cover it.
21:47Beautiful.
21:48And last but not least, just a little bit of toasted coconut.
21:51I've hope you've put the kettle on.
21:52One slice will never be enough.
21:53But that's what you get when you take a classic banana bread and fuse it with Bahamian frosting.
21:56Ah, what a day I've had for my taste buds.
21:57Beautiful.
21:58And last but not least, just a little bit of toasted coconut.
22:09I hope you put the kettle on.
22:12One slice will never be enough,
22:15but that's what you get when you take a classic banana bread
22:18and fuse it with Bahamian frosting.
22:22Ah, what a day I've had for my taste buds.
22:25I'm having the time of my life.
22:55Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas,
22:57brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
23:00.
23:06.
23:06.
23:15.
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