Stay Home And Cook

Editor’s Letter About Our Special Stay-At-Home Issue

How Cooking Caribbean Can Provide Comfort During the Pandemic

Island and Spice Magazine normally focuses on new and innovative ways of approaching Caribbean food. But during the pandemic, I began to understand the true depth of my mother’s reliable recipes. Her dishes are extremely resourceful, filling and tasty. Plus, she makes large quantities. There are always extra servings for the days to come. Her meals are far more practical than I ever realized.

Rochelle Oliver is the editor of Island and Spice Magazine. PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDRE’ LAFLEUR.

So, here I am. Staying at home, working in my kitchen and going back to the basics — the classics. It only seemed right to produce a special Stay-at-Home Issue to recognize the ingenuity of traditional Caribbean cooking.

As the pandemic continues, I will be sharing Caribbean-inspired recipes that your family could benefit from as well.

These recipes will meet the following criteria:

• They will be easy to make.

• They will use ingredients that are easily accessible at your local grocery store — even now as aisles remain anemic.

• They will also be flexible, meaning you can easily substitute one ingredient for another if need be. For example, if a dish calls for tomato sauce, feel free to use spaghetti sauce or ketchup, maybe even a whole tomato with an extra kick of salt.

• These dishes will be stress free. We already have enough to worry about. Following a recipe should not be one of them.

• The dishes will be Caribbean inspired, which is a plus since travel these days has become entirely domestic: BDR, LVR, KTN (bedroom, living room, kitchen).

If you want to share a recipe with readers, send it to editor@islandandspice.com. Your submission may get featured in the coming weeks.

From my kitchen to yours,
Rochelle Oliver