Avocado & mango topper

For ➍
2 ripe large avocados (200 g each), peeled, pitted & diced
1 ripe mango, peeled & diced
1 cup seeded, diced tomato
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander
2 tbs chopped red onion
1 tbs minced jalapeño pepper
1 tbs lime juice
½ ts salt
¼ ts black pepper
600 g grilled chicken, sliced

In a medium bowl, combine mango, tomato, cilantro, onion, jalapeño, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
Add avocado and toss gently.
Serve over grilled chicken.

Creamy Caribbean chicken

For ➍
800 g chicken pieces
1½ ts Caribbean seasoning*
2 tbs oil
70 cl water
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
10 cl double cream

Heat oil in a pot. Add onions. Fry till onions turn golden. Place chicken in pot. Brown.
(Alternatively, put all ingredients in at the same time, and cook until onions turn golden.)
Add water and Caribbean seasoning. Cook covered till chicken is soft and only enough water remains to make a gravy. (about 60m).
Remove from fire, stir in cream.
Serve chicken with rice and some salad.

*A mix of coriander powder, cumin powder, ground cinnamon, garlic powder, ground ginger, black pepper and salt. The ingredients can be stored in an airtight container.
**Alternatively, brown the onion, add to the chicken, rubbed with spices (or push spices in cuts), with a little bit of water, and cook in the microwave.
See tip for timing.
***Or rub the chicken with spices (or push spices in cuts). Add to the fried onions and put in a 220°C preheated oven for 45 m. This recipe comes close to a quick version of a Jamaican jerk.

Caribbean pineapple salad

For ➋
1 small pineapple, chopped (catch juice)
2 sweet Caribbean peppers, seeded & minced (red or green, if possible)
1 bush coriander, shredded
1 large red onion, minced
2 tbs olive oil

Mix ingredients, some of the juice included, cover the dish and let stand for 2 h in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator.

Excellent with cold pork meat or grilled chicken.

*Add a dash of white balsamico, and a handful of chopped mint, and serve it with grilled white fish.

How to cut a pineapple!

Che Guevara's ceviche

For ➍
200 g firm white fish fillets*
juice of 15 fresh limes**
250 g cooked prawns
2 tbs chopped coriander
5 green onions, chopped
1 red onion, diced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted & chopped
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
pico de Gallo***
2 ts salt
1 pinch black pepper

Cut the raw fish into cubes and spread out single-layered in a large dish. Pour in enough lime juice** to cover the fish. Cover dish, and refrigerate for 24 h.

Remove fish from the refrigerator, and mix in prawns, coriander, green onions, red onions, avocados, tomatoes, and celery. Stir in pico de Gallo**** to taste, and season with salt and pepper. Cover. Refrigerate for another 12 h.

Serve as appetizer, with ice-cold, almost frozen (Mexican) beer and a slice of good bread.

*Double quantities to serve as a summer dish.
**About 50 cl bottled juice. Lemon juice can be used instead, or a mixture of ⅔ lemon and ⅓ grapefruit juice.
***Pico de Gallo is a Mexican sauce with tomatoes, chili peppers and onions. Use canned salsa (a Mexican taco dip sauce might do) or make it yourself.

Believed to be the preferred ceviche of South American revolutionary Che Guevara and close to Mexican versions of a ceviche. Picture shows Castro and Guevara (r.) in the Miguel Schultz prison in Mexico in 1956, where he wrote his Poem to Fidel before taking off on the disastrous Granma expedition.
Ceviche is popular from Mexico through all of South America, especially in Peru and Ecuador. Some say that pre-Hispanic peoples cooked fish with a fruit called tumbo. The Incas ate salted fish and a chicha-marinated fish dish. The Spanish contributed the Mediterranean custom of using lemons and onions.
Other historians believe that the ceviche's origin is Arabian, imported to Peru by Arabian immigrants, or, as seems more likely, by Spaniards with Arabic heritage, and re-interpreted by the Peruvians of the coastal area.
Most likely, the name comes from the Spanish word 'escabeche' meaning 'marinade', derived from the Arabic 'sikbaj'. While the basic of ceviche stays the same, cooking fish in a cold way by putting it in lemon juice or lime juice alcohol, there are local variations.

Cuban bean soup

For ➏
500 g dry red kidney beans, soaked overnight, rinsed & drained
2 medium onions, cubed
1 whole medium garlic, crushed & peeled
2 tbs grape seed oil
2 l hot water
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 medium sweet red bell peppers, cubed
2 ts smoked paprika
3 large bay leaves
1 pinch Cayenne pepper or other chili powder
1 ts dried oregano
sea salt to taste
2 handfuls of freshly chopped coriander
lemon/lime wedges to serve
fresh bread to serve

Fry onions and garlic in oil until translucent on the bottom of large pot.

Add chopped peppers and fry some more.

Add water, then add beans, vinegar, hot water, smoked paprika, chili powder, bay leaves and oregano.

Bring the soup to boil over large fire, let it bubble for a while, then reduce the fire, cover and simmer for about 2,5 h.

Mash beans in the soup with potato masher, season with salt and cook 10 m longer.

Remove from fire, stir in coriander.

Serve with lemon/lime wedges on the side and some fresh, crunchy bread.

Banana salad

For ➋
2 bananas, ripe and firm
150 g seedless grapes, halved
35 cl whipping cream
½ ts cardamom powder
100 g halved roasted peanuts
¼ tbs lemon juice

Chill bananas 1 h before chopping.
Chop bananas. Sprinkle lemon juice over bananas and toss to coat evenly.
Beat cream till stiff peaks form. Gently toss in bananas and other ingredients.
Serve chilled.

Moqueca de camarao (Brazilian shrimp stew)

For ➍
1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tbs white vinegar*
½ ts salt
500 g fresh prawns, shelled & deveined**
1 ts fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbs tomato paste*****
black pepper to taste
40 cl coconut milk***
2 to 3 tbs dende oil****

Squeeze the lemon. Make a marinade with lemon juice, onion, garlic, vinegar and salt.
Marinate the prawns for 30 m.
Put mixture into a sauce pan. Add coriander, tomato paste****** and black pepper.
Add coconut milk and cook over low heat until the prawns are cooked. Add the dende oil****. Continue cooking for another 5 m.
Serve with rice.

*Use white balsamico instead.
**Use firm white fish instead for a moqueca de pixei. Chop into chunks. Or use a mix of fish and seafood.
***Use a can of coconut milk.
****Dende oil is palm oil. Use peanut oil instead. Or you can forget about the oil, it will stil taste good.
*****Otherwise, make a marinade of fresh tomatoes, fresh onions, sweet chili powder, coconut milk and olive oil. Put in the cleaned fish or prawns. Let marinate for 3 h. Put on low heat and bring to cook. When cooking, add palm oil and simmer for another 5 m.

This stew from Salvador in the Bahia province of Brazil combines black African influences, such as the dende, and the Portuguese heritage of the Arab cuisine.

Bahia clericot

For ➍
1 bottle dry white wine
1 diced apple
1 peeled orange, sliced
2 peeled peaches, diced
½ pineapple, peeled & diced
a few cut strawberries
a few seedless grapes
1-3 tbs of sugar

Put all the fruit in a pitcher. Add sugar and enough white wine to cover the fruit. Let the fruit absorb the alcohol for a couple of hours in the fridge.

When ready to serve, add the remaining wine and a lot of ice.

*Essential is the combination of white wine and fruit, most fruit is suitable.

This classic Brazil summer breeze drink was invented in colonial Punjab in the 19th century. Let's call it Indian and English as well.
For a stronger version, see another clericot.

Another Bahia clericot

For ➍
1 bottle dry white or pink wine
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 pear, peeled & cubed
2 peaches, peeled & cubed
12 ice cubes
1 glass maraschino
1 glass Grand Marnier
soda water

Put the orange slices in a jar. Add the maraschino and the Grand Marnier.

Let rest for 30 m.

Add the pear and peaches.

Pour the wine on the fruit.

Add the ice and a little soda water.

*Essential is the combination of white wine and fruit, most fruit is suitable.
For a softer, less alcoholic version, see Bahia clericot.