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00:08Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas,
00:10brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
00:19The best way to experience the true flavor of a place
00:22is 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,
00:51exploring islands of white sands, turquoise seas
00:55and food that is as vibrant as its people.
00:59From hidden beach shacks and fish fries.
01:02Ooh, a little bit of sesame.
01:05To fine dining with a Caribbean twist.
01:08It's out in this world.
01:09Scoop it up.
01:10Mm.
01:11This is the last bottle known to man.
01:14Wow.
01:14Now, I'm diving head first into the flavors,
01:18the colors and the rhythms of island life.
01:23So come on, grab a plate, loosen that belt
01:26and join me in my quest as I search for a lick a bit of island zest.
01:31Welcome to the Taste of the Bahamas.
01:34Yeah.
01:42The Bahamas is a chain of hundreds of islands and coral shallows
01:46in the warm Atlantic Ocean.
01:48Just a short hop from Florida.
01:50And right at the heart of it all, our Nassau and Paradise Island,
01:54my Bahamian base.
01:56Today, I'll be cooking with a chef who's bringing an international
01:59influence to Bahamian cuisine.
02:02Look at that.
02:02Tell me, what do you call this again?
02:04Ah, crunchy.
02:05And I'll be shaking up some cocktails with a Nassau twist
02:09with help from a guy called Mr. Mintz.
02:13Yeah, boy.
02:14Yeah, boy.
02:15Welcome to Bahamas.
02:17And 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
02:28for a hit of something sweet.
02:32Chocolate might not be the first thing that comes to mind
02:34when you think of the Bahamas, but I'm about to meet
02:37a chocolate maker that's combined island flavors
02:40and classic chocolate to 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
02:55using cocoa beans from Costa Rica, Guyana, and Jamaica.
02:59And it's all done in small batches by expert chocolatiers
03:03like Crystal Forbes.
03:07Crystal, chocolate, you can't beat chocolate, can you?
03:09No, you cannot.
03:10Ah, tell me, what have you got going on here?
03:12This here is our seashell bar, we call it the seashell bar
03:15because it has the conch shell, the conch's the starfish,
03:18the conch's on it, and all the taste that deals with the sea.
03:21That's why we call it our seashell bar.
03:24Ah, wow.
03:25Any chance I could help make, construct one or two chocolates with you?
03:29All right, join me this way.
03:30OK, thank you very much.
03:37Oh, what's happening here?
03:38She's making one of our bonbons.
03:40We have 24 different flavor 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 flavor inside of it.
03:50So what she's doing now is putting the pink
03:51and we actually hand-paint our molds.
03:54Hand-paint-paint?
03:55It's everything's just done so delicately, isn't it?
03:57Everything is hand-painted.
03:58OK, and what's your name?
04:00La Cogna.
04:01La Cogna, you're doing a fantastic job.
04:03I love that.
04:05Come on, there you go, brilliant.
04:09And now it's my turn to impress Crystal
04:12with my chocolate dexterity, just 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, and dip it in here?
04:21Yes.
04:22OK, yeah.
04:23And what you're going to do, you're going to take it
04:24and you're going to polish around the mold.
04:27OK, I'll try to, it'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. You're doing a perfect job.
04:38Yeah, oh, I love you.
04:39I love you, too.
04:41Oh, I'm not going home, I'm staying in the Bahamas.
04:46Oh, all day.
04:47Yes, sister.
04:48All right.
04:49Next, a filling of what they call sky juice.
04:53Good.
04:55Oh, you've been doing this a long time.
04:56Well, I just want to impress you, you know.
04:59Oh, you've been doing this a long time.
05:00There you go.
05:05Finally, we seal the bonbons
05:07with 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,
05:16it chocks away.
05:18Turn them over.
05:19And voila!
05:23Oh, look at that, beautiful.
05:26Can I try one?
05:27Go ahead.
05:31That is unusual.
05:32What have we got in there?
05:33That's our sky juice.
05:34Sky juice is a native alcohol drink.
05:36We have here on Ireland.
05:37It's gin, coconut water, and our condensed milk.
05:39Simmer down with some coconut.
05:41Wow.
05:43What 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.
05:50That's pressure.
05:51That's pressure.
05:52Wow.
05:53All right, here we go.
05:59This is what you might call an extra-hot chocolate.
06:04Whoo!
06:06What do you taste?
06:08Good.
06:10Goat chili.
06:11That's goat chili in there, isn't it?
06:12It's actually goat pepper.
06:14Goat pepper.
06:14Wow.
06:16I didn't expect to find a spicy pepper and a chocolate.
06:19And I didn't expect to find a chocolate factory in the Bahamas.
06:23But as the saying goes, life is like a box of chocolates.
06:27You never know what you're going to get.
06:31Can I get a box of the peppery one to take home?
06:34Yeah, and I hope you give it to someone spicy.
06:35Whoo!
06:41I've got a taste for unexpected flavor fusions now.
06:45So I'm heading westward along the coast to a restaurant with a rather unusual name.
06:52the name aquifier conjured up all sorts of images I'm thinking sea sunshine and sizzling I don't
06:59even know what's on the menu but I've got a feeling something interesting is coming my way
07:06that's because I'm about to cook along with one of the islands rising culinary stars a chef who
07:11trained in Switzerland and New York and now mixes classic techniques with delicious local
07:16flavors back here in the Bahamas her name is Ariana Victoria and this is one of her signature
07:22dishes a nation-style salad with yellowfin tuna so tell me first we're gonna start off with the
07:30soy sauce yeah you pour that in there for me yeah good yeah then we're gonna add some honey
07:39and should I give this a little whisk yeah yeah give it a little whisk mm-hmm mix it up
07:44get the
07:46honey in there right yeah now we're gonna add some ginger and garlic mmm so why the name aqua fire
07:52where
07:52did that come from uh we were about to open up I still couldn't decide exactly what the name was
07:58gonna be um and the kitchen if there's a window and as you look out you can see the ocean
08:03and I
08:04just actually gotten the gas hooked up inside the kitchen and so I had the fire burning excited to
08:09finally have it burning and I looked out the window and I saw the aqua ocean so I was like
08:13aqua fire that's it
08:15that's it that's it just came to me and it just stuck such a good name and this is the
08:19little bit
08:20of a little bit of sesame oil okay happy with that dressing yeah we're good mmm and now to season
08:29up
08:29our tuna starting with a squeeze of lime what's the idea of that that little bit of citrusness a
08:34little bit of citrus yeah add to the little spice that we're gonna add to it okay so what's going
08:39on
08:39what is this you're putting on got some island flavors in here we have some goat pepper some
08:44Cajun some paprika a little bit of love you know different things I like the word good pepper
08:51that sounds really lovely okay I'm marinating that all right next we could get the salad started maybe
08:57we could cut up some onions first before we get started yes please some tomatoes next and then we
09:08bring it all together on a sea of green leaves beautiful and then we'll rest it over to the
09:15side while we say the tuna a little oil in the pan and in with our marinated tuna steaks and
09:23we say
09:24that for two minutes and you can actually see the so you want to keep it quite sort of pink
09:29so just a
09:29minute or two there a quick sear seals the outside and leaves the middle soft and succulent and ready
09:36for slicing I think that's really ready to go okay just a little bit there beautiful unbelievable in
10:00there that's fantastic okay beautiful chef there you go fantastic all right can you drizzle some of
10:12the dressing now now 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 to indulge myself in something quite
10:43fantastic look at that tell me what do you call this again I crunchy I grunge you I crunchy I
10:50got
10:50crunchy up so ruby rare in the middle crispy on the top a little crunch a lot of zing this
11:00is full
11:01flavor fusion on a plate just sets your taste buds alive really really lovely aqua fire I'll be coming back
11:16coming up next can we mix it yes we can I fuse up some flavors in a cocktail shaker with
11:23the island's
11:23mr. mix yeah boy yeah and I go bananas in the Bahamas with my seaside kitchen cake
11:34heaven
11:44Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island
12:05welcome back today I'm on a journey into Bahamian flavor fusions I've already tasted some fiery chocolates
12:14whoa what do you think good go chili and I've enjoyed a tuna salad with a crunchy Asian spin just
12:25sets your taste buds alive really really lovely but now I'm heading back to the Bahama where the Jazz
12:35Bar's cocktail mixologist is shaking things up in a big way his name is Marv Cunningham and I've been
12:42told to ask for Mr Mix so tell me is it Marv or is it Mr Mix it's Mr Mix
12:50but you can call me Marv yeah
12:52I was dubbed Mr Mix by my culinary teammates so you know it all started with me winning a competition
12:58tasted the Caribbean so they were like you know what you're Mr Mix and that's the end of it everybody
13:03else can call you Marv we're gonna call you Mr Mix you've got the label say Marv what are you
13:07gonna
13:07make for me today so first off we're gonna start with the spicy Gumby old-fashioned which happens
13:12to be a twist on the traditional old-fashioned but with the main ingredients of a Gumby smash
13:20okay which happens to be you know one of the top three national drinks in the Bahamas that's not
13:25ordinary bourbon is it no it's straight bourbon it's just being infused with coconut oil beautiful
13:30okay what's next next I shouldn't be surprised by this should I it's our spicy island friend the
13:37goat pepper which is the family of a scotch bonnet yeah and pineapple syrup yeah what's next so next
13:46we're going to use a trifecta of bitters we're going to use some orange bitters okay gonna use one
13:50two three mm-hmm of our orange bitters we're going to use three dashes of cocoa bitters would you
13:56like to try yeah put it in the same way yeah it's the same three one two three that's it
14:01beautiful
14:02lovely one two three so now that we have all of our ingredients what we're going to do is we're
14:06going to give this a really good stir okay so we top that with ice top it with ice so
14:15we're now
14:15gonna you know strain our spicy Gumby old-fashioned there we go now we're going to garnish with a
14:22dehydrated orange mm-hmm now I present to you the spicy Gumby old-fashioned Cheers oh wow oh wow
14:36you talked about that little sort of chili influence there very much there it's got a spice it's got a
14:41kick yeah man all right carry on carry on carry on carry on so Aisley what we're going to do
14:46next
14:46right I want you and I to make the classic Mahama Mama together yeah please all right love good I
14:51really
14:52would love that so what we're going to do now I want you to follow my lead so here we
14:56have a
14:57jigger okay this is uh this is the bartender's measuring apparatus so what we're going to do
15:01is we're going to add one ounce of a white rum goes right into the shaker tin we're going to
15:06do the
15:07same with a gold rum you're a pro you're good at this half ounce of coconut rum okay next we're
15:14going
15:14to be adding uh one ounce of orange juice followed by one ounce of pineapple juice wow this is this
15:23is
15:23busy a half ounce of grenadine we're going to add four dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters one two three
15:36four and we're just going to shake yeah so I'm gonna put a nice top hat on all right and
16:01you travel
16:01all over the world doing this this sort of stuff don't you yes I do and I love it I
16:05love it I love
16:07it I love being able to be in a position to represent my country to show what we have to
16:11offer because
16:12what we have is definitely beautiful and unique the Bahamas we're a luxury destination yeah and I want
16:16everyone to you know to understand and see that absolutely and last but not least some cherries
16:24why thank you thank you brilliant just the smell alone is kind of the kind of smell of sunshine the
16:33smell of freshness and fruitiness yes and fresh juices the aromatics coconut coconut yeah got that
16:40that's what really makes it a bahama mama yep really really lovely
16:47I must remember this isn't a holiday this is work so back to my seaside kitchen where I'm gonna bake
16:53a
16:53bahama banana bread and I'm gonna make a sky juice frosting to go under top why not we're in the
17:03Bahamas
17:03let's get cracking first of all my butter is going into my bowl followed by my lovely soft brown sugar
17:11yeah just pop that in there like that yeah that's the basis of everything and then let's just beat that
17:29up that's it lovely now once you've creamed that butter and that sugar together you can start adding
17:35your eggs one at a time one more egg
17:58okay now I think that's about perfect just scraping down the sides a little bit there
18:02and then we can start to add our dry now what I've got here is the cocoa powder and the
18:09flour
18:10and I'm going to add the addition of a little bit of baking powder that's it
18:18okay then we mix our flour and cocoa powder and baking powder together so that's well incorporated
18:27now a bit of fresh nutmeg yeah I'll beat it
18:33then we can start to fold our dry ingredients into our wet
18:42and just blending that together okay not finished yet of course we've got some bananas here
18:48I'm just opening these up you noticed hey look how wonderfully soft these bananas are it's a great
19:00way of using them up okay I've taken bananas pop them into the bowl and just start to mash those
19:07up a
19:08little bit just using the fork or anything really and then we've got some uh yogurt here greek yogurt
19:15that's going into and a car's a little bit uh it keep it around here why yeah man oh stop
19:31it
19:37blend that together
19:41and in that goes into our lovely chocolate mix
19:51blend that together okay that's it that's looking good isn't it lovely but I have the addition here of some
20:00chocolate
20:01nibs and a bit of coconut you know how I feel about the coconut yeah mum put in the coconut
20:07put in the chocolate
20:09yeah boy
20:13ah beautiful just bring that all together and now we're just going to transfer all that lovely stuff there
20:25into our cake tin
20:30oh dear I'm going to pop that into my oven that's a 170 gas mark five for about 40 50
20:38minutes then take it out put it on a rack let it rest and top it with my sky juice
20:45frosting it's going to taste so nice
20:52I'm not sure where sky juice cocktails got their name perhaps it's something to do with coconut water raining down
20:58or that floaty feeling you get when you drink too many but having tasted a sky juice chocolate earlier on
21:05I've decided to add a sky juice twist to my banana bread in the form of a frosting
21:11it's sweet it's sweet it's heavenly it's glorious a bit like my cure so I'm mixing the softened butter and
21:20sugar
21:20adding a little bit of coconut water some lime zest fresh nutmeg and just a little bit a little bit
21:31of rum
21:36heaven
21:37heaven
21:37heaven
21:40are you ready for this
21:47oh
21:48yeah
21:49that lovely look at that so inviting
21:52that's it just cover it
21:56beautiful
21:58and last but not least
22:00just 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 and fuse it with Bahamian frosting
22:22ah what a day I've had for my taste buds I'm having the time of my life
22:55ainsley's taste of the Bahamas brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Ice
23:00Island.
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