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Caribbean dreaming

Warm sun, sparkling seas, cooling rum punch… The Caribbean is a delight for all five senses. Get that holiday feeling, wherever you are.

7 min 20 Jan 2025

Editorial Team

Author

Close your eyes and imagine you’re on holiday. It may be cold and grey where you are, but halfway across the world there’s an island paradise of dazzling sunshine, azure skies and swaying palms – the Caribbean. Bring it closer… Hear the parrots chattering in the trees, the laughter from the beach bars… Can you smell the fresh fish frying, feel the soft, warm sand between your toes, hear the lilt of calypso and reggae in the air? Breathe in deep: you might catch the tangy ozone scent of the sea, the soft perfume of ylang-ylang flowers on the breeze, the earthier tones of jungle ferns. Look around: are you snorkelling on a coral reef darting with brightly coloured fish, or flying on a zip wire over a canopy of green? Perhaps you’re simply relaxing by the ocean shore, savouring the taste of a rum punch or a refreshing pineapple mocktail.

A Caribbean holiday is one you enjoy with all your senses – and when you can’t sense paradise up close, we’ll bring the flavours, sights and sounds of sun-drenched islands to you. It’s the least we can do to send any January blues packing. Ready for your sensory tour?

Taste

Caribbean food draws inspiration from African, European and Indigenous cuisines, and there’s a bounty of ingredients to draw inspiration from. Seafood is fresher than fresh – watch as the local fishermen bring in the daily catch from the deep-blue sea, be it snapper, mahi-mahi or lobster. Fruit and vegetables grow in abundance and taste like turbo-charged versions of the ones we know – a mango has never been juicier, a coconut never richer.

Chefs and home cooks alike make the most of nature’s bounty by whipping up dishes such as conch chowder, fried jackfish, tania fritters and soursop ice cream. Not forgetting of course, rum punch – a fruity concoction of light and dark rums, fresh juice and grenadine syrup.

What does the Caribbean taste like? Probably something like Shivi Ramoutar’s Jerk Chicken Supreme. Our Local Food Hero has put sunshine on a plate with this zingy, warming recipe. Try it for yourself and turn your kitchen into an island escape.

Jerk Chicken Supreme (Shivi's Beach House recipe)

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast: 2 pieces (6oz each – bone in)
Ground Pimento (Allspice): 6g
Cinnamon Stick: 1 stick (2g)
Coriander Seeds: ¼ tsp
Thyme: ½ tsp (if fresh, leaves)
Spring Onion (Scallion): 45g
Scotch Bonnet Chilli: 4g (stalk removed)
Garlic: 2 cloves (peeled)
Nutmeg: 1/5 tsp
Ginger Root: 6g(peeled)
Demerara Sugar: 40g
Fresh Lime: 10ml juice
Soy Sauce: ½ tsp
Olive Oil: 10ml

For the Coconut Rice & Peas:

Olive Oil: 4ml
Yellow Onion: 40g (finely diced)
Garlic: 1 (finely crushed)
Ground Pimento (Allspice): 1/8 tsp
Thyme: 2 tsp
Basmati Rice: 100g
Coconut Milk: 80ml
Chicken Stock: 1tsp (160ml water)
Scotch Bonnet Chilli: 2 chillies (1/5 chilli left whole)
Red Kidney Beans: 120g
Maldon Salt: ½ tsp

For the Festival Dumplings:

Cake Flour: 80g
Water: 50ml
Cornmeal Flour: 20g
Table Salt: 1/4 tsp
Superfine/Castor Sugar: 12g
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Vanilla Flavour: ½ tsp

Method:

Prepare the marinade
- In a blender, combine the pimento/allspice, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, thyme leaves, spring onion, scotch bonnet chilli, garlic, nutmeg, ginger root, demerara sugar, fresh lime juice, soy sauce, and olive oil. Blend until smooth.
Marinate the chicken
- Place the chicken breast in a large bowl. Pour the marinade over the chicken, ensuring it is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Cook the chicken
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and sear the chicken breasts on both sides until they are nicely charred. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Coconut Rice & Peas

Prepare the rice
- In a medium saucepan, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add finely diced yellow onion and the finely crushed garlic. Sauté until the onion is translucent.
Cook the rice
- Add ground pimento/allspice, thyme, and the basmati rice to the saucepan. Stir to coat the rice with the oil and spices. Pour in the coconut milk and water mixed with the chicken stock. Add scotch bonnet chilli and red kidney beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Season with Maldon salt.

Festival dumplings

Prepare the dough
- In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, cornmeal flour, table salt, superfine/castor sugar, baking powder and vanilla flour. Gradually add water, mixing until a dough forms.
Shape and fry the dumplings
- Divide the dough into small portions and shape them into dumplings. Heat oil in a deep fryer or a large pot to 180°C (350°F). Fry the dumplings until they are golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towels.

Smell

From lush fruits and exotic flowers to lotions with sweet-smelling coconut and cocoa butter, the Caribbean is brim-full of enticing aromas.

In Grenada, the ‘spice island’, the atmosphere is intoxicating. Scents of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and mace float through the air – it’s said you can smell the island before you even reach it. At Laura’s Herb and Spice Garden, a small plantation in the hills of St David’s, a guide will show you what cocoa, cinnamon, turmeric and tonka beans look like in their natural state and how you can use them in cooking and medicine.

Nearby Barbados is known as the ‘garden island’ – Hunte’s Gardens, Andromeda Botanic Gardens, the Flower Forest and more burst with vanilla-scented blue durantas, sweet frangipane and heavenly ylang-ylang – a key ingredient of Chanel’s most famous perfume, No.5.

Meanwhile, the sublime smells of Caribbean food will whet your appetite – spicy jerk chicken on the griddle, goat curry simmering in a pot, freshly cooked roti, ripe mangoes, plantain and pawpaw. Not to mention the heady butterscotch-and-banana aroma of smooth Jamaican rum. Hungry yet?

St George's, St George, Grenada, Caribbean

Touch

Where’s the softest sand in the Caribbean? Some say it’s on the sugary white beaches of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bask on its sun-kissed sands and paddle in the warm, clear waters; ride a horse through the shallows trailing your feet in the sea or venture out to the beautiful reefs that protect the bays.

Mullet Bay on the French side of St Maarten in the Leeward Islands is also renowned for its silky-soft sand. Popular with the locals, it’s a lovely spot for snorkelling – angelfish, blue tang and more frequent these waters.

On St Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean, the terrain is a little wilder and the textures a little rougher. The Sulphur Springs near Soufrière offer spa treatments straight from mother nature: a black mud bath washed off with hot, mineral-rich water at the Pool of Love.

Colorful Caribbean batik patterened scarves drying in the wind

Sight

Within the Caribbean’s picture-perfect dreamscape is so much diversity, from the candy-coloured Dutch architecture of Willemstad, Curaçao and the bustling Georgian harbour at St George’s Carenage, Grenada, to the spookily beautiful pink salt pans of Bonaire, complete with resident flamingos.

There are glorious palm-fringed paradise beaches, of course, such as the pristine Eagle Beach on Aruba, romantic Princess Margaret Beach on St Vincent and peaceful Fort James Beach, Antigua. Inland are lush green rainforests and plantations, tumbling waterfalls and rugged mountains, and not to mention the occasional volcano. Most famous of these are the iconic twin peaks of St Lucia’s Gros Piton and Petit Piton, volcanic ‘plugs’ that were created when magma hardened within a vent on an active volcano. The site is home to a wonderful array of wildlife on land and in the sea – 60 per cent of the Pitons is coral reef, where snapper, parrotfish, lobster, flying gurnard and possibly even the odd turtle, seahorse or barracuda can be spotted. The coastlines of the Caribbean are ideal for spotting whales and dolphins and for getting up close with graceful rays.

But of all the sights you can see, perhaps none are more pleasing to the eye than the glorious sunsets, a kaleidoscope of purple, pink, orange and gold that marks the end of an unforgettable day ashore.

Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezi, Bahamas

Sound

The crashing of the surf at Bathsheba Beach on the wild Eastern coast of Barbados and the pop of Champagne corks on the glamorous west coast. The crunch of a pork patty, the crack of a lobster claw, the hiss of a freshly opened Red Stripe beer. Halyards slapping against the yacht masts in Bahamas marinas. Tree frogs and crickets filling the night air in Jamaica. Wind stirring the palm fronds, laughter in the streets, restaurants and bars, a fascinating mix of languages, dialects and accents. And everywhere music, from Bajan jazz and zouk in Guadeloupe to iconic steel drums and gospel choirs and the latest R&B in the clubs.

If you want lively music and good conversation, it’s here in abundance, but there are more peaceful sounds, too. In Montreal Gardens on St Vincent, a rainforest garden in the fertile Mesopotamia Valley, water gurgles down the hillside against a chorus of sweet birdsong – Whistling Warblers, St Vincent Parrots and the twitter of iridescent hummingbirds. And the best sound in the world? It might simply be the gentle lapping of waves as you stroll the seashore. Feeling the holiday vibes?