Callaloo: the Caribbean Mix in Victoria - Museum Victoria

Caribbean food:
historically delicious!
Caribbean food is a vibrant fusion of
cultural influences reflecting our rich
and complex history.
above
A selection of popular West Indian dishes,
including stew, curry and rice.
opposite, clockwise from top
Serving coo coo, a popular dish made
with cornmeal and okra, at the West Indian
Cultural Day, 2008.
Pone, pineapple up-side-down cake and
sweetbread.
The children got the best, the adults ate the
rest.’ Spicy food was a normal part of their fare.
Coo coo and fish; rice and peas.
A favourite soup throughout the Caribbean,
callaloo cooked with spinach, crabs and spices.
(See recipe overleaf).
‘Cutters’ or light snacks with doubles and souse.
Photographer: David Loram.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
The indigenous Caribs and Arawaks made bread, grew
corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, arrowroot, tomatoes,
chillies and other crops, and ate a wide variety of fruit,
shellfi sh, turtle and game. The Arawaks, grilling their
meat over open fi res using frames of thin sticks called
barbacoa, gave the world the word ‘barbeque’.
Sugar cane was the basis of the Caribbean economy
and required intensive labour. European colonisers
introduced many foods from around the world to
supplement the local food sources: breadfruit, taro,
ackees, okra, yams and plantains from Africa as well
as salt fi sh and rice, to name just a few. Indentured
workers from China and India brought their chow meins,
curries, rotis and snack foods. West Indian cooks created
many cross-cultural or ‘creolised’ dishes, which were
eaten by everyone.
Caribbean recipes continue to evolve in Australia as
West Indian immigrants experiment with local
ingredients. For example, we now substitute spinach
leaves when making our ‘crab and callaloo’ dish. We are
passionate about passing down our food traditions for
the next generation to enjoy!