- 4 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.
01:10Mmm.
01:11This is the last bottle known to man.
01:14Wow, I'm diving head first into the flavors, the colors
01:19and 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 of bit of island zest.
01:31Welcome to the Taste of the Bahamas.
01:41The Bahamas is a chain of hundreds of islands and coral shallows
01:45in the warm Atlantic Ocean.
01:47Just a short hop from Florida.
01:50And right at the heart of it all are Nassau and Paradise Island,
01:54my Bahamian base.
01:55Today, I've got a taste for the flavors of Nassau.
01:59So I'll be learning a classic Nassau fish recipe.
02:03Right?
02:03Special.
02:04Special.
02:05Special.
02:06And I'll be finding out why conservation is a big deal here.
02:10If you want to keep up the population account,
02:13there's rules and regulations you have to go by.
02:15And I'll be preparing Bahamian rum punch chicken wings
02:19in my seaside kitchen.
02:21Look a bit of Nassau-ting going on in there.
02:24Ha-ha.
02:32But first, I'm on a mission to uncover a local tradition
02:36that's been part of island life here for hundreds of years.
02:40In Nassau, long before gift shops and postcards,
02:44there was straw weaving.
02:45For generations, skilled hands turned palm leaves
02:49into baskets, hats and bags,
02:51things people could use in their daily lives.
02:57Do you want to try?
02:59Uh-uh.
03:01I'd love to have a go, but I think I'm going to mess it up.
03:04What do I have to do?
03:05Hold it.
03:06Yeah.
03:07And bend the string.
03:08This one?
03:09Bend it over.
03:10Yeah.
03:11Go on top of two.
03:12Go on top of two.
03:13Go on.
03:14Bend it.
03:15Yeah.
03:15Go on top of two.
03:17Today, those skills are being kept alive here at Craft Cottage,
03:21a place where dressmakers, artists and straw weavers
03:25can sell their creations and make a living from their island craft.
03:29The woman helping to bring it all together is Nadine Rampal.
03:34Nadine, if I ever wanted to open up a craft shop,
03:38it would be something like this, full of colour, full of tradition,
03:41involving everybody in the community.
03:43Tell me, is there a market for this type of thing?
03:47We have to create a market for it.
03:49Mm-hm.
03:50People tend to think, oh, I've got a straw bag already.
03:53So what you want to do is to give them something they don't have.
03:57What are the trends?
03:58Give them something that's trending now.
04:00Or give them something that reminds them of grandma and the island life
04:05that they lived before they came to Nassau and they're working in a big building.
04:09How important is that?
04:10Yeah.
04:10That is lovely.
04:11Really, really lovely.
04:13That nostalgia is important.
04:14Yeah, and is the tradition continuing?
04:16Rosemary, who, she does the straw plaiting and she has taught classes
04:21and she does amazing plaiting.
04:25And it's wonderful for her to be able to continue this kind of traditional work
04:30where she can support her family but still be at home to take care of somebody who needs it.
04:35But there's an appreciation, a growing appreciation for handmade, for sustainability.
04:42And the time is now.
04:44People are coming, becoming aware of the importance of these things again.
04:51Bend, bend.
04:51You have to bend the string.
04:53Okay.
04:54To your right.
04:55Okay.
04:56Go down on one.
04:57This is more complicated than using an iPhone.
05:01Yes.
05:01Yes.
05:03I think we've gone so far away from tradition.
05:08I think everybody has been elevated so high that they've forgotten.
05:12But also right now, it's important that we go back to our roots.
05:16People are recognising that they've gone so far, but this is what is important.
05:20There's a feeling and a nostalgia and an importance to the very basic things that we grew up on.
05:26So I think now is the time.
05:28I totally agree with you.
05:29And I think that, you know, it's such a speed of life now.
05:33Everything's so instant.
05:34And to go through a process like that, to make something like that, just takes a little bit of time.
05:40Time.
05:40Got to find that time and a bit of love.
05:42Yeah.
05:43You've given me plenty of that today.
05:47Thank you very much.
05:51Now it's time for lunch and to meet Marcus Samuelson, an extremely well-travelled chef who loves life here in
05:59the Bahamas.
06:00Born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, trained across Europe, Marcus draws inspiration from food cultures all over the world.
06:08Today, I'm going to be cooking along with him at his fish and chop house restaurant at the Bahama, where
06:14local ingredients will take centre stage.
06:18This is going to be all about Bahamian flavours.
06:20So coconut rice and a quick pineapple salsa.
06:23Okay.
06:24Beautiful.
06:24So I got a hot pan here.
06:26Okay.
06:26You know, just adding in a little bit of rice.
06:28Okay.
06:29Just adding in the rice.
06:30All right.
06:31You've already got a bit of butter in there melting away, haven't you?
06:33Yes, absolutely.
06:34Okay.
06:35Lovely.
06:36And then I'm just going to add a little stock, fish stock, and coconut milk.
06:41Yes, look at that.
06:44Right?
06:44Beautiful.
06:45Then with that, I'm just going to add in some fresh herbs.
06:48Yeah.
06:48Right?
06:49And then squeeze in lots of lemon juice in this.
06:52Now, the way you put that kind of rice in there, is that like in the Caribbean or in Jamaica,
06:56I should say, it's rice and peas, but here it's peas and rice.
06:59Peas and rice.
06:59Get it right.
07:00Get it right.
07:02Peas and rice.
07:02Peas and rice.
07:02Peas and rice.
07:03And you use pigeon pea here, right?
07:05Yes, absolutely.
07:05Instead of the kidney beans.
07:06Absolutely.
07:07Beautiful.
07:07And it's going to have to be like almost, look at this how we cook it, really nice and creamy.
07:11It's like a risotto.
07:12It is like a risotto.
07:13It's a lighter dish, right?
07:15Yeah.
07:15Should I get on with this salsa?
07:16Yes, get on with the salsa.
07:17We've got pineapple.
07:18Okay.
07:19And then roasted tomatoes, just to coat it.
07:21Okay.
07:22We've got fresh herb oil.
07:23Mm-hmm.
07:24So all we're doing is we're layering it on flavors, right?
07:27Yeah, I can get what you mean.
07:28This food has to be layered with flavor.
07:30And so we've got that.
07:31And then what about this?
07:33All the end bits of fresh herbs, right?
07:35So cilantro, basil, a little bit of oil in there.
07:38Mm-hmm.
07:38Look at that.
07:40And Marcus, what about this beautiful piece of fish?
07:43Look at this, man.
07:44So we are grilling that.
07:45And first of all, the grouper comes straight fresh from the ocean, right?
07:50Then we dry-age it for six, seven days.
07:52And then we grill it, slow grill it.
07:55And that's how you get that beautiful flavor, right?
07:58So it's really nice and beautiful in texture.
08:00Smoky, but quite intense too, isn't it?
08:01Absolutely.
08:02And the longer it sits on that grill, because it's not really high heat here.
08:05It gets that smokiness.
08:07It's really delicious.
08:08Beautiful.
08:09And here's an example, right?
08:11We're just going to plate that up here.
08:12Mm-hmm.
08:13We call it golden milk, right?
08:14What is it?
08:14It's a little bit of curry with coconut milk.
08:18Think about it as a French butter sauce.
08:19Beautiful.
08:19But having that beautiful texture, lightness to it, all the food has to be flavorful.
08:27It doesn't have to be spicy, but flavorful, right?
08:30Put the fish on the top.
08:31Yes, put the fish.
08:33And then we just got that kind of like beautiful little puddle of rice right next to it, right there.
08:44Simplicity, but beautiful.
08:45It looks amazing, the color, isn't it?
08:47It's just fantastic.
08:49And then the salsa on top.
08:51And I think we got ourselves a Marcus Bahamas fish dish, right?
08:59Special.
09:00Special.
09:02Look at that, right?
09:03Yeah.
09:04I'm going to finish just with the last piece of, just for texture, right?
09:07You're going to get a little bit of those plantain chips.
09:10Look at that.
09:12Look at that.
09:13Doesn't that look beautiful?
09:14Absolutely fantastic.
09:15Look at that.
09:16What can we say?
09:17Yeah, boy.
09:18Are you ready?
09:19You're ready, man.
09:20You're ready, man.
09:21Let's scoop it up.
09:22Mmm.
09:25I love that.
09:26With the cooking done, it's time to sit back and find out more about the interesting
09:31inspiration behind Marcus's cooking.
09:34The food and the audience that are here is so international, right?
09:38So for me, the foundation is the incredible seafood ingredients that you have here.
09:43Whether that's conch, grouper, snapper, right, that's the base.
09:46Mmm.
09:47Coconut, milk, pizza and rice, right?
09:51So we stick into this traditional Caribbean flavor.
09:54Mmm.
09:54But then, really also spice it up a little bit.
09:57Like, here you have this coconut sauce.
10:00I call it golden milk.
10:01Yeah.
10:01Turmeric, a little bit of curry.
10:03Because it's a very international audience here.
10:05People come from all over the world.
10:07It's a fabulous dish and tastes as good as it looks.
10:11And the view isn't bad either, is it?
10:14I've got to say, you know, I've been inspired by cooking with you, by eating with you.
10:19And just what you're bringing to the table, time after time after time.
10:23And it's been a pleasure.
10:26My pleasure.
10:26All my pleasure.
10:30Coming up, I enjoy the ultimate Nassau dish.
10:3490% of tourists come to the Bahamas.
10:36They want to try to come.
10:38Mm-hmm.
10:38And I add some rom-ponch to my carnival chicken wings.
10:43The smell of that is just fantastic.
10:57Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas, brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
11:07Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas, brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
11:19Welcome back.
11:20Today, I'm getting to know more about life in Nassau.
11:24I've already had a lesson in straw weaving.
11:26This is more complicated than using an iPhone.
11:30Oh, my fun.
11:31Yes.
11:33I've enjoyed a classic dish prepared by an award-winning chef.
11:38Scoop it up.
11:39Mmm.
11:44But now, it's about time I had a taste of the dish that everyone keeps talking about.
11:52Here in the Bahamas, there's plenty of fish and seafood, but there's one shellfish that is the star of the
11:58show.
11:59Everywhere I go, people keep telling me, you must tray this dish, man. You must tray this dish, because you
12:04are in the Bahamas.
12:05So, I've come to Arawak Key to find out what all the fuss is all about.
12:15It turns out, it could all be summed up in one simple word.
12:19Kunk.
12:20A sea snail that lives on the seabed.
12:26I'm going to push this butter knife right under here to release it from the shell.
12:30Let's make sure I turn your wrist.
12:31Wow.
12:33One shot.
12:33Yeah, one shot like that.
12:35Yeah, man.
12:36Wow, and here he comes. This is the bad boy.
12:38Look at this.
12:39I see.
12:41Kunk grows slowly in shallow, sandy waters, so size really does matter.
12:47Take them too young and you risk losing the kunk population.
12:51But look after them properly and there's enough for everyone.
12:54And this is what goes into the salad.
12:57Oh, yes, sir.
12:57And the fritter.
12:59Fritting in Bahamas.
13:01Fritting in Bahamas, full of kunk.
13:03Kunk has been part of island cooking for generations.
13:07This bad boy's ready to eat.
13:13Today, I'm going to taste it in a salad, prepared by a bit of a legend in these parts, Goldie
13:19Smith, the king of the kunk.
13:21He's been serving kunk here for 36 years and what started as a small stand has grown into a huge
13:28restaurant, literally built on kunk shell foundations.
13:36Hey, Goldie, my man, how you doing?
13:38I'm doing good, man.
13:39Yeah, you're preparing the famous kunk salad.
13:41Well, the best.
13:43Yeah.
13:43How do you say it's the best? Who tells you it's the best?
13:45I mean, I sure most of my customers come every day when you're running through a couple hundred kunk a
13:51day.
13:52Wow.
13:52I must be doing something good.
13:54Yeah.
13:55Kunk salad is always in demand here, but the kunk is protected.
13:58The phrase you keep hearing is kunk-servation.
14:02Well, they have a law here in the Bahamas where you can't catch undersized kunk.
14:05If you caught, you'll be fine.
14:07You know, and I agree with that 100% because if you want to keep up the population of kunk,
14:12you have to...
14:14There's rules and regulations you have to go by.
14:16You understand?
14:17The big kunk we collect, the smaller we live, and when we go back after a few months or one
14:22or two years, they're ready to harvest.
14:25Yeah.
14:25And it looks like this kunk salad is ready to eat.
14:30So let's go outside and eat.
14:31Come on, then, man.
14:32Let's get a kunk salad.
14:33Yeah, go on, show me the way.
14:34Let's go.
14:35Yeah, wow.
14:39Ah, and what better way to enjoy it than outside on the deck?
14:44You know what? This is as Bahamian as it gets. Sunsea and citrusy kunk salad.
14:52You know, in Britain, we have things like roast beef or fish and chips, and in the Bahamas, it's all
14:57about the kunk, isn't it?
14:59Well, you know, because in the Bahamas, kunk everybody knows it's a national dish for the Bahamian people and tourists,
15:03and it's also an aphrodisiac.
15:06So 90% of tourists come to the Bahamas, they want to try kunk, especially when they're here, it's an
15:13aphrodisiac.
15:14I don't know about its aphrodisiac qualities, but I can certainly vouch for how delicious it is.
15:20It's wonderful, it's fresh, it's vibrant, it's got a lovely kick to it.
15:24I love the little bit of pepperiness that you get from the goat pepper.
15:28It's just lovely, really, really lovely.
15:30It's no surprise that people keep coming back to Goldie's, yeah man, come down to Arawakee.
15:36Well, I glad you enjoyed it.
15:40Thank you very much. God bless you. Cheers.
15:47Sadly, a few weeks after we filmed here, Goldie's kunk house was badly damaged by fire,
15:52but Goldie and his team are determined to rebuild and reopen in 2026.
16:04Having finally tasted a classic kunk salad, I'm feeling inspired to come up with a Nassau-style dish of my
16:11own.
16:11And I thought, what could I do to catch that wonderful Bahamian flavour?
16:16Ha ha! Carnival rompun's chicken wings with some nice zesty corn and a Nassau potato salad.
16:25It's the chicken wings here, and I'm just going to pop that straight into my pan here.
16:32And then to that, I'm going to spice it up a little bit.
16:35And I've got some, a bit of a paprika there.
16:41Along with some, the old allspice.
16:44I've crushed down those berries and we're capturing that lovely flavour.
16:48A bit of nutmeg, a bit of cinnamon, a bit of everything in there.
16:51Ha ha!
16:53Lovely.
16:54OK.
16:55And finally, some of that garlic powder.
16:58That's it.
16:59And then, I'm just going to rub those spices into those wings.
17:07OK?
17:08Yeah, really mix it round so you get that flavour really penetrates and get under that skin, alright?
17:16That's beautiful.
17:18That's it.
17:19Look at that.
17:20That mixed in really well.
17:21All of the wings have got some of that spice on it.
17:25And then, what I'm going to do afterwards, look here.
17:28What I've got here is some corn flour, baking powder and a little bit more paprika.
17:34And I'm just going to mix those together.
17:36And the reason I've done it this way round is because I wanted to rub those spices well into my
17:41meat first.
17:42And then this will create a nice toffee kind of pop taste to the chicken.
17:51Crispin it up beautifully.
17:52That's it.
17:55And now, I'm just mixing all those flavours together.
17:58Adding a little bit of salt.
18:00Yeah, boy.
18:01A little bit of pepper and a touch of oil.
18:06Guys, the smell of that is just fantastic.
18:11That really captures a bit of the old flavours of the Caribbean.
18:17What should I say?
18:18A little bit of Nassar thing going on in there.
18:22My spice-coated chicken wings are ready for the barbecue.
18:34You've got to close the lid.
18:36Leave them in there.
18:36And every now and then you just roll them over and you'll see them crispen and brown up and all
18:41the flavour will be inside.
18:43Really, really lovely.
18:44Now for those zesty corn cobs.
18:47Ah, what could be simpler?
18:48I've got a bit of butter that I'm going to mash down a little bit, soften.
18:53What am I going to soften it with?
18:54A little touch of the old cayenne.
18:58That's it.
19:01And a little bit of lime juice too.
19:07I'm mixing some of that lime juice and a bit of that cayenne pepper into the butter.
19:13And then you take the corn and we're just rubbing that through it like that.
19:18Just a little bit of that.
19:20That's beautiful.
19:22Now I'm taking my corn which I've cooked in boiling water for about 8-10 minutes and I'm popping them
19:28into that lovely spiced butter.
19:29And then it's straight onto the barbie.
19:36Look at that.
19:38Beautiful.
19:39Let's turn over our chicken, shall we?
19:42Wow.
19:44That chicken's looking good, isn't it, eh?
19:46Absolutely lovely.
19:47The corn is glazing up really lovely.
19:49And now we can crack on with the Nassau potato salad.
19:55Oh, check this out, guys.
19:56Look.
19:57That's potatoes, pre-cooked potatoes there.
20:00I've also got my eggs cooked.
20:01Now what they do here, which is fantastic, is they boil up your potatoes, just boiling away.
20:07And they take the egg in the shell and they throw it in 15 minutes before the potatoes are cooked.
20:11It all just cooks together.
20:13Fantastic.
20:14Take it out, take off the shell and bang.
20:16There you have it, ready to go into your potato salad.
20:18All right, so we chop this up.
20:23I've kept one of the eggs back because I'm going to sprinkle that on top later, but...
20:28Look, you see what I mean?
20:29Just so, so simple and lovely.
20:32Now I'm going to take some mayonnaise, and to that I'm going to add a pinch of cayenne pepper,
20:37some mustard, a little bit of sugar, lime juice, and then just blend it all together.
20:44That's it, beautiful.
20:45Now in with the chopped egg and potato.
20:52And then, guys, check this out.
20:55This is what makes the Bahamian salad so different, is that they incorporate things like chopped peppers into it, a
21:02bit of onion, parsley.
21:04I've got some scotch bonnet pepper and garlic there, and celery too.
21:08All of that, loads of crunch, loads of flavour, go into your potato salad.
21:13Let's do it.
21:14Here you go.
21:17Salad ready.
21:18Wings almost done.
21:19All I need now is my carnival rum punch sauce.
21:24We've got loads of fruit going in there.
21:26A bit of citrus, pineapple, mango, spices, honey, and of course, some rum too.
21:31All that's blitzed down into your food processor.
21:34Then after that, you just add everything else, bring it to the boil, reduce it down for about 10 minutes,
21:39take it off, let it rest, and then pour that on top of your beautiful chicken wings.
21:44Hey, time to bring it all together.
21:47My barbecued corn, my spicy toffee popped chicken, my eggs and potato side dish, and my sweet Bahamian sauce.
21:56And here's your order, your carnival rum punch chicken wings with some zesty corn and a Nassau potato salad.
22:07What a combo, and what a way to round off my latest flavour adventure.
22:13You know, today's really showed me the heart of the Bahamas.
22:17The craft, the cooking, the community.
22:19It's just made me feel so much more connected with this place.
22:25Special.
22:55Ainsley's Taste of the Bahamas.
22:56Brought to you by Nassau and Paradise Island.
Comments