Caribbean cuisine is a veritable, culinary melting pot. Comprised of just about every ethnic culinary tradition, it is impossible to define it in terms of a traditional dish as each island has its own culinary specialties and cooking styles. Nonetheless, if there is one culinary tradition that permeates throughout the diversity of these isles, it is the liberal, yet subtle, use of herbs. Caribbean cuisine evolved from the practices of the humble homemakers who relied on the daily availability of fresh ingredients. Hence, it is the reason why Caribbean cuisine is so noteworthy for its use of fresh vegetable, fruits, grains, meats, and herbs that flourish everywhere in the wild throughout the isles. Indeed, no dish is complete without the taste and aroma of fresh herbs. Bouquets of thyme, parsley, chives, oregano, bay, sage, and chadon beni or shadow beni, reminiscent of cilantro, comprise what the islanders refer to as seasonings. As prime ingredients in marinades, rubes, sauces, and dressings, these seasonings are used so subtlety and uniquely as to render them invisible to even the most sophisticated culinary palate. So magically are they incorporated in dishes, that one might believe in culinary voodoo. Indeed, the typical exclamation upon first-bite of this atypical cuisine is "what is that?!!" Well it might just be thyme. As one of the most common and versatile herbs used worldwide, it’s little wonder that this humble, simple-to-grow herb has inserted itself into the melting pot of the culinary styles of the Caribbean Isles. As the featured herb in the famous Jamaican jerk rub, thyme is so popular in the Caribbean that it grows wild and in domesticated gardens as either fine-leaf thyme or Spanish thyme.
|
  |
