By Minna LaFortune
 News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Nov. 13, 2015: Ask any Caribbean national about their favorite foods and they will tell you about a dish prepared with local food ingredients. Caribbean foods are always a favorite among Caribbean nationals and they are passionate and proud of it.
Caribbean nationals consider Caribbean foods as the best food in the world. This sentiment is shared by Caribbean nationals living in the region as well as with those Caribbean nationals that live in the Diaspora.
For Jamaicans living at home and in the Diaspora for example, Jerk chicken and oxtail with rice and peas and mix vegetables are favorites. With the Haitians its black rice with griot. For the Grenadians, its oil-down and for the Trinidadians its curry roti. Not to be outdone, the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans favorite is Mofongo.
Monfongo is a fried plantain-based dish from Puerto Rico. It is typically made with fried green plantains mashed together in a pilón (which is a wooden mortar and pestle), with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup. Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, pork, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over.
I will be offering a Caribbean recipe here per week. Please see below one of my favorites.
Jamaican Stew Chicken Recipe
- Season one whole (cut up) chicken with soya sauce, black pepper , onion garlic, thyme.
- Marinate overnight. Or for three hours at room temperature.
- Remove garlic, onion and thyme.
- In hot Dutch-cast iron pot, add half cup coconut oil.
- When hot, add chickened pieces and brown each piece until golden brown.
-  When all pieces are brown add all the pieces to Dutch pot -(remove excess oil ) and add one -two cups chicken stock or tap water.
- Steam chicken until cook. 10 minutes before the end of cooking time add the freshly chopped onions, scallions and crushed garlic.
- Taste for salt and pepper. Add fresh green thyme and one tablespoon of ketchup and one teaspoon Pick-a-Pepper sauce.
- Make Gravy to your desired thickness.
-  Serve with Rice and peas lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes, or with dumplings , plantains, roast or boiled breadfruit, white or yellow yam  and green bananas. (stay tuned for this recipe in my next column)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Minna LaFortune is a trained Caribbean caterer and also president, Society for the Advancement of the Caribbean Diaspora (SACD). Check out her food group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bestfoodscaribbean/
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