West Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica

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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. Did you know that there has been growing interest in Caribbean food worldwide, with the highest number of searches taking place in Australia, India, Western Europe, and the US. There has also been a strong rise in Caribbean cooking in the UK, which has remained a popular search over the last year. Whilst there are not many Caribbean cookbooks on the market, especially those that include vegan food, baking, and zero-waste dishes, West Winds successfully taps into fashionable food trends such as fakeaways, veganism and baking. It’s also where a cookbook comes in. You get to see a rich culture of things that maybe you didn't know about or haven't eaten before. Then you can make your own journey towards it. Restaurants aren't the only player in that sphere of influence. 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.

Arrange the blanched vegetables on the lined baking tray and place in the oven. Leave the oven door ajar and cook for 4-5 hrs, turning the veg every hour, until dried and crisp. 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. 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. In a separate bowl, add the bananas, coconut oil or butter, reserved pineapple juice, vanilla, vinegar and egg, if using. Whisk until combined, then add to the dry ingredients with the pecan and pineapple mix. Briefly stir until combined, but do not over-mix the cake batter. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and level the top. 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.)

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. Introducing West Winds– a joyous celebration of Caribbean cooking, with a special focus on the sensational flavors of Jamaican cuisine. Winner of the Jane Grigson Trust Award 2022, the all-encompassing Caribbean cookbook West Winds introduces everyone, everywhere to the enriching and mouth-watering flavors that Jamaica has to offer. Riaz Phillips is a writer, video maker, and photographer. He was born and raised in London, but he’s passionate about the Afro-Caribbean food he ate growing up. So passionate that he self-published his first book. Belly Full: Caribbean Food in the UK is an in-depth look at Caribbean people and restaurants around the UK. It tells the oral histories of the chefs, butchers, grocers, and bakers who bring the food of a warm island to a cold one.

And there are spiced patties, the irresistible hand pies with golden pastry so buttery-crisp, ‘you just have to accept the pastry flakes are going to get everywhere.’ Add the carrot, pepper and tomato, if using, and three tablespoons of water, then stir until combined. Cover with the lid and cook for two minutes. Add the tofu and heat through, adding an extra two to three tablespoons of water if needed. Cover and heat through, then serve with a scattering of the green part of the spring onions. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based sauce pan or Dutch pot over a medium heat. (If using a pressure cooker, see note below.) Remove the goat from the marinade, reserving the marinade for later. Add the goat to the pan or pot and brown on all sides; this will takeabout 5 minutes. (Do this in batches to ensure the meat browns, rather than steams, adding more oil if needed.)Put the tofu in a shallow bowl and add the soy sauce. Gently turn it until coated, taking care not to break up the slices. Add three tablespoons of the cornflour, then turn to coat all sides of the tofu and set aside. Heat three tablespoons of the oil in a large wok or frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the tofu, in batches, for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest of the tofu, adding more oil when needed. Drain and set aside. 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.

Team Infatuation: Congratulations on the publication of West Winds. What made you want to write Belly Full, Community Comfort, and now West Winds? I always ate Caribbean food growing up—but to me, it was just food. It wasn’t until I went to school in a predominantly white middle-class area that I realized the food I was eating was different from my friends. My grandma also passed away, and I really regretted not talking to her about where she came from.cooking, it is also rooted in the exploration of the island’s heritage and culture. Featuring colorful and sun-drenched imagery, and easy-to-follow instructions, the versatility of Jamaican cuisine is apparent. RP: For sure. The multifaceted nature of the Caribbean means that no matter where you're from in the world, there's almost always something that relates to where you're from. You know, there's a rich culture of Caribbean Chinese food. Most of the curries originated from North India. A lot of baked stuff originated from Portuguese Jews. Place a large pan of water over a high heat and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with cold water. Working in batches, add the pepper, courgette, carrot and beetroot to the pan for 10 secs, then transfer to the bowl of cold water for 10 secs. Scoop them out, drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. Sift all the dry ingredients, up to and including the salt, into a mixing bowl, then stir until combined and set aside.

RP: Not because of the book, but I just think mostly all the people strive to do Caribbean food in new ways and modern ways. It's definitely pushed the whole food culture forward. If you go to a food market now, you're always going to see maybe even more than one Caribbean food stall. In more cities across the UK there are sit-down Caribbean restaurants than there were, I guess, when I wrote the book. So I think it's something that is definitely on the increase. Just as people's knowledge and awareness of it grows.Wipe the wok or pan clean, and heat the remaining oil over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, spring onions, saving some of the green part to garnish, thyme and scotch bonnet. Stir-fry for three to five minutes, then add the garlic and ginger, then cook for another two minutes. RP: There should be a diversity of diversity. Everybody needs to toe the same line and, at the end of the day, they are businesses that people are running as well. Newer restaurants are always trying to reach a wider audience, but at their heart, they usually do want to appeal to the native audience as well. If they didn’t they could just go completely off the chain and just do burgers and wraps. There's always an element to them that they want to keep things authentic in ways, but to reach a wider audience.