Food

 First Peoples’ - Food

There were a few tribes that inhabited Caribbean Islands before the arrival of settlers. The names of these tribes were, Kalina, Warao, Kalipuna, Nepuyo, Taino, Aruaca, and Carib tribes. As you’ll know they were here as long as 7000 years ago, and their population has grown to at least 40,000 at the time of Spanish settlement in 1592.

These tribes mainly ate dishes that included fruits and vegetables, involving Yams, Guavas, Papaya, Dasheen, Cocoa and Cassava. Cassava was a main popular staple amongst the tribes. They would use their utensils to grind the cassava into a type of powder, this will then be used to make dishes like Cassava Bread. They will also use this powder to make a variety of juices and sauces. Cassava consisted of poisonous juices that had to be extracted before it was ready for consumption. Corn was also widely favoured, they were parched and grounded between stones to make flour for the kernels.

 

As far as meat, they are known to hunt for wild animals, such as Agouti, Boar, Lappe, Deer and sometimes different types of wild birds. They will sometimes take to the waters, whether it be fresh or salt and hunt for seafood with their wooden canoes, sticks and nets. They will then gather what was caught and haul it back to their homes, known as Caney’s. They then smoke the meat over an open wood fire, preferably cherry guava saplings. They will then infuse the meat with different herbs and spices by applying the leaves directly into the fire under the meat. Small Mud and Straw ovens will be used for baking, the food wrapped in leaves instead of tin foil that we are used to today. If they have no mud ovens to work with, they sometimes wrap the food in leaves and cover the leaves with hot stones.

 

Most of these dishes are still noticed even up to this day, even though the process in which they are prepared may differ, they still derive from past principles.