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Recipes

Celebrating Bajan Food during November!

I feel like I end up saying this phrase quite often to people, “In Barbados…”, and some random Barbadian fact comes out. Either about our customs, cuisine or just how everyday life is. I’m sure you can put two and two together to figure out I’m from Barbados. Yes, yes, that’s the island in the Caribbean where Rihanna is from. And NO, we are not all on the same landmass as Jamaica, but rather very far away in our little Caribbean Sea. November is the month of our independence from English rule, which ended in 1966.

As we celebrate our 54th year of independence, I’ve decided to share some Bajan delicacies with you all. Barbadian cuisine has evolved from African, Indian, European (English, Irish, Portuguese) and even South American influences. It’s delicious food and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Now not every food is the ideal of healthiness (I’m looking at you fish cakes and souse) but keep in mind that food has a social, cultural and economic role aside from providing nutrients.
Hopefully, you can either try to make them at home or come to Barbados to experience them.

Nutrition Advice

To Eat or Not to eat the Chocolate

As Valentine’s day approaches, we may feel conflicted about eating chocolate. But chocolate can have many health benefits, eaten occasionally of course.

Chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids, cocoa butter fat, milk, sugar and stabilisers like lecithin which help the main ingredients to form a solid mass. As if that didn’t sound like a bit of science, the cocoa solids give the chocolate its antioxidant properties, as they contain flavanols which are psychoactive organic compounds. And so, the higher the cocoa contents, the more of these antioxidants you’ll receive. Typically, dark chocolate will contain 45 – 90% cocoa solids and trace amounts of milk, while milk chocolate will have mostly milk and sugar, and between 10 – 32% cocoa solids (at least in the States). You may see vanilla included in the ingredient list, and that tends to round out the flavor and may lead to less sugar being added too. But there are some manufacturers who use cheaper alternatives to cocoa butter like vegetable oils and palm oil, and other additives to stabilize the product. Now although I like my KitKats, Cadbury, Agapey and Lindt, when it comes to quality chocolate, you want to see a very minimalist ingredient list. That’s the standard of chocolate, I’m talking about in this article.