TRAVELER

If I close my eyes, I could still be there… Lying on a sun-lounger at the shores of the Caribbean Sea, sipping on colourful juice cocktail cleverly poured into a shelled-out coconut.  The scorching sun beating down on me as the waves gently lap the silvery-white sand.  Could this be heaven?  Well not exactly, but it could be the next best thing.

It’s the colourfully exotic Caribbean… Puerto Rico, to be precise.  Was it really 6 years ago, I ask myself?  Sadly yes.  6 years since I saw such beauty and felt such unequivocal peace, where my every whim was catered to and I felt immersed in a strange and new experience, like never before.

It’s a no-brainer.  Who wouldn’t want to relax for a week, somewhere achingly beautiful and home to a tropical rainforest?  A paradise of exotic plants and flowers never seen before with birds and animals only ever seen in Zoos and on TV.  Beyond the flora and fauna, the one thing that hits you when you arrive to this part of the world is how much people love to eat and drink, so much so, I would say that there days revolve around it. 

From the minute you arrive at your hotel, there are rum-filled bars and restaurants galore.  Room service menus laden with endless local specialities.  Exotic spins on the humble classics we know so well at home.  Menus adorned with exotic fruits like papaya, mango, guava and seafood so fresh that you can still taste the sea.  Take a drive and every inch of the roads are littered with restaurants, cafes, snack stands and food emporiums galore.  You can’t escape it, these people love to eat and they are beckoning you in every way they know how, to eat with them.  I love the Caribbean.  I love it for its simplicity, its vibrancy and its unflappable ability to reel you in like the naïve little fish that you are, into its sea of colour, culture and cuisine.

First stop San Juan… A coastline studded with opulent 5-Star hotels, everything from the Ritz Carlton and Wynn Hotel to the chic and trendy boutique style hotels.  Hotel after hotel all sharing one endlessly long stretch of stunning beach.  Restaurants that boast top quality food and highly skilled chefs, serving cuisines from around the world.  Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and of course “Caribbean Fusion”… Whatever that is.

One of the most memorable restaurants I went to was located in the San Juan Museum of Art and History, ‘Picayo’ (name after Cuban-born artist Jose Picayo, who moved to Puerto Rico in 1966).  The restaurant was set in the heart of the museum and an interesting feature in the otherwise dimly-lit restaurant, were the mood lights that would change from one vibrant colour to another in short intervals throughout your meal.  The walls were adorned with plasma screens where diners were able to view the kitchen and all its happenings and an impressive cellar boasted a glass-fronted exterior where you were able to peer in and view their extensive selection of wines of all vintages and origins.  The food was as you’d expect, vibrant, beautifully presented and excitingly exotic.  Sea urchin with a citrus ponzu dressing and shiso greens… BBQ’d black bean quail with corn and chilli cakes… A justifiably exciting departure from the norm.   

The restaurant tour continued… From San Juan down to Old San Juan and eventually from the Atlantic ocean-clad north of the Island to the Caribbean Sea lined southern shores ending at the second leg of our stay in Guanica.  The drive from north to south was literally festooned with pineapple, banana and pomegranate trees as well as regular bursts of avocadoes.  All trees that I had never seen before as I was raised on the freezing shores of England.

I remember feeling a combination of adventure and excitement, not knowing where we would go next and of course what we would eat next.  I’d already had my fill of 5 star hotels and top notch restaurants, but the truth is, I’m a homely girl at heart and nothing makes me happier than eating the same food as the locals, because THAT is when you get a real sense of what the people and culture are really about.  Driving through a bumpy country road, I spied a small shop in the middle of nowhere with fresh coconuts with straws speared into them. “STOP!” I yelled… And out we jumped.  Having purchased several of these refreshing cool juices, we were offered what could only be described a pie (as big as a cake) literally brimming with a mouth-watering spicy mix of ground beef, peas and onions.  I remember having 2 slices to myself and firmly refusing to share the second slice with those who chose to decline another.   

A short while later, we continue our journey to La Parguera.  A port filled with restaurants, shops, bar and masses of people milling around eating, drinking and visiting the little outdoor street vendors who sold everything from hair clips to rum punch. More food for us to try… Now I’m no stranger to this kind of food as the Caribbean culture continues to weave its long-established influence on London and infuses itself through colourful neighbourhoods like Shepherds Bush, Brixton and Peckham to name but a few. 

BUT there is definitely something distinctly more enticing about eating those wonderful foods in their authentic environment.  Spicy marinated pork, chicken and fish served with fried garlic greens, rice and black beans and not forgetting one of my all time favourite accompaniments to rice ‘Fried Plantain’.  We literally went from stand to stand trying different items.  I just love plantain… which can best be described as a ‘Cooking Banana’.  It is much larger than its mainstream cousin (the household banana) and is best used when bruised and mostly brown on the outside.  Cut into thick elongated slices, it is best when fried, but can be steamed or boiled as well. Delicious.  Once cooked it has a slightly sweet banana-like flavour, which compliments the fierce heat of the spiced meat and elevates the purposely-bland rice and bean combination.   

Another observation I made during my trip was that the Puerto Ricans (and indeed most Caribbean natives) make good use the widely-available Papaya fruit as an ingredient in every possible form, in their cooking.  Unripe, ripe, fresh, dried, preserved… It can is used in sauces, marinades for meat, jams and jellies, desserts and so much more, it really forms an essential part of their culinary repertoire.  Once again “sweet, meets savoury” to create interestingly addictive results.   

With an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables and unbelievable supply of seafood readily available to them, it’s no wonder that they love to eat.  Somehow, they even manage to strike a perfect balance and avoid mass obesity in a way that the United Kingdom and the mainland United States could only dream of doing.  Once again it boils down to one little statement…. They are eating what is seasonally and locally available to them.  It’s delicious, nutritious and readily available.  It doesn’t cost them a premium because it is mostly grown or reared on the Island… and if it isn’t?  Then the chances are they don’t eat it! 

Having visited several giant supermarkets there, I can tell you that they have a lot of the things we have in our local supermarkets, but there are just some things that we can find everyday in our stores that they just don’t have. Maybe this is a good thing and we will one day follow suit. I think we are too spoilt for choice.  Instead of having one or two varieties of good tomatoes (for example) we are given twelve varieties of sub-standard tomatoes at massively hiked prices to overly confuse us.  Most are imported from thousands of miles away meaning they are not as fresh as they should be, nor do they contact the full-on flavour that any fruit or vegetable should when it is sold for consumption.  That’s the price we are paying for the demands we make when it comes to food.  When will it change?  Let’s just say you shouldn’t get your hopes up too soon.

But when the stresses of the daily grind and strains of real life become a little too much for me, I begin to wish I could be back in Puerto Rico.  So I simply pay a visit to “Yum Yum’s” my nearest Caribbean take-away restaurant in Ladbroke Grove, where I know I can find a delicious home-cooked Caribbean meal and a freshly squeezed exotic juice of my choice waiting for me… and within a matter of minutes, I am back in the Caribbean again. Toes dipped in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea with the scorching hot sun, sparkling like a jewel in turquoise sky and a big selection of all my favourite foods lay out like a table of sacrifice in front of me… accompanied by an ice-cold fruit-elixir to wash it all down with.  Ahhhh… paradise lost?  Quite the opposite my friends… Paradise well and truly found.