West Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica

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What’s inside: A celebration of the lesser known Caribbean culture, rooted in tales and memories of the history and heritage of the eastern reaches of the Caribbean. Riaz blends authentic Jamaican ingredients and dishes with popular trends – discover recipes for nose-to-tail and vegan cooking. Why not also recreate popular takeaway food, Oxtail and Butterbean, or feel as though you’re on the beach with a Langoustine Soup. This cookbook has everything – main meals, sauces, soups, juices and preserves, bakes and desserts. In a bowl, combine the dark soy sauce or ketchup, vinegar, maple syrup or sugar, the browning, if using, and 90ml water, then set aside. In a separate bowl, mix three tablespoons of water with the remaining cornflour.

What’s it about? Celebrating Jamaican culture, cuisine, and history, West Winds is a uniquely rich and deeply personal cookbook. Award-winning writer Riaz Phillips draws on his own memories of growing up in the Caribbean diaspora of London, as well as of his time spent living in Jamaica, to create a set of over 100 vibrant and intensely flavoursome recipes, interspersed with travel and food photography. From hearty soups and bakes to thirst-quenching drinks, these recipes are rooted in centuries of Jamaican traditions, folktales, and anecdotes. Riaz also explores how veganism, healthy eating, fermentation, and zero-waste cooking formed part of Jamaican cuisine long before they became modern trends. Whether you want to delve deeper into your heritage or discover new facets of regional Caribbean cuisine, West Winds will help you bring the spirit of traditional Jamaican cooking to your kitchen. The hidden Caribbean isn’t a place but a legacy of the complex history, people, and food that exists outside the limelight of Caribbean culture. Team Infatuation: Congratulations on the publication of West Winds. What made you want to write Belly Full, Community Comfort, and now West Winds?

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Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl. Add the goat and, using your hands, turn the meat in the marinade until coated. Cover the bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight –or even 72 hours is welcome. Remove the oxtail from the marinade, reserving the marinade for later. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Working in batches, add the meat to the pan and cook, stirring, for 5 mins until browned all over. In retrospect, both point to the same Western reverence and sanctity towards eating certain animals, and the seeming disgust of consuming others. While goat is widely available at local butchers across Britain, particularly in areas with a high ethnic population, it has never fully entered the British culinary repertoire and it’s likely this prejudice is the reason. Although goat (and mutton) was favoured during the Tudor period of British history, especially in pies, it doesn’t seem to have caught the national imagination since. Add the potato and bell pepper, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste the meat, if it’s not as soft as you’d like, cook for a further 20 minutes, or if the sauce is too dry, add 3–5 tablespoons of water and heat through. Turn off the heat and let sit for 20–30 minutes before serving with rice & peas or Syrian flatbread. Want to feel like you’re on a walk in Jamaica with a local, talking to his friends and sharing plates of food? Then this is the cookbook for you.

That same curiosity about people, what they eat, and how they cook infuses this book. It’s loaded with gorgeous photos that transport you to warmer climes and recipes with narrative vignettes woven into the headnotes. It’s delicious food, yes, but there’s always a story there, too. Growing up in London and now living in Berlin, food writer Riaz Phillips is passionate about celebrating the familiar Caribbean food of his childhood while also demystifying new and unknown ingredients for home cooks from around the globe. With 120 traditional and delicious dishes that draw on Riaz's personal memories, West Winds is so much more than a showcase of Jamaican cooking, it is also rooted in the exploration of the island's heritage and culture. Featuring colourful and sun-drenched imagery, and easy-to-follow instructions, the versatility of Jamaican cuisine is apparent. TI: When it comes to newer Caribbean restaurants, do you think it’s important that they serve other communities as well as their own?Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and saute for two minutes, add the garlic, ginger and the white part of the spring onions, then cook for another two minutes. TI: There’s a gap in the syllabus when it comes to imperialism and colonialism. Do you think that food could be a good vehicle to turn that into more mainstream knowledge? TI: Do you think anything has changed in regards to Caribbean food in mainstream British food culture since, say, you first started crowdfunding for Belly Full? Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6) and grease and line the base of a 24cm round cake tin. (If making a double-layered cake, use 2 tins and double the quantity of the cake mixture and frosting.)