Island flavour: 6 easy Caribbean recipes

Caribbean cuisine is a melting pot of flavours from all over the world, combined with native ingredients dating back as far as the thirteenth century. Its colonial past means the food has been influenced by African, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and British cooking techniques, among many others, resulting in a unique food scene that's still yet to be truly appreciated by the rest of the world.

Each island has its own signature dishes, reflective of its individual culmination of cultures, and while many from Jamaica are known in the UK (think curry goat, beef patties and jerk chicken), there's a whole host of other fantastic flavours on offer. Caribbean food has very humble beginnings, yet uses some super-simple yet effective flavour and ingredient combinations.

Fresh seafood is abundant on many of the islands and integral to many favourite dishes such as Crabes farcis (stuffed crab), a Creole (African and French) seafood classic from Martinique, but many dishes (for example, Grenada's national dish Oildown) also contain simple, local ingredients such as cassava, yams and breadfruit combined with salted meats or fish. Plantains, beans and sweet potatoes are all used in a variety of ways, differing from island to island and the scotch bonnet chilli pepper is also quite ubiquitous throughout Caribbean cookery, beautifully flavoured as much as it is packed with heat!

The recipes below are a perfect starting point if you're looking to explore the flavours and dishes found across the islands of the Caribbean. From rich, hearty stews to zingy fresh ceviches, there's something for everyone.

Curry goat is a classic Caribbean dish, adopted by many islands of the former British West Indies, Jamaica, St Lucia and Dominica, to name a few. Goat was introduced to the islands by the Spanish and Portuguese in the fifteenth century during colonial times and then became a staple meat on the islands. Curry, as a spice form, travelled to the Caribbean from south India with the indentured workers who immigrated to the West Indies in the early 1900s. These two ingredients united when Indian immigrants sought a substitute for lamb in their recipes. As beef was sacred and could not be consumed, goat became the next best thing and remained a staple of the area ever since. Here it is served with rice and peas and coleslaw – however, due to the larger Indian populations in Trinidad and Guyana, curry goat is also eaten alongside dhal puri roti (a split pea-stuffed flatbread) or parathas.

Saltfish accra are eaten on almost every island of the Caribbean. Each island's recipe differs slightly, as does the name – in Barbados and Grenada they're called fishcakes; they're known as fritters in Jamaica; Puerto Ricans refer to them as bacalaitos and the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique named them acras de morue.

They represent our African roots entirely and originate from the West African dish akara. These are fritters made from a dough of black eyed peas and other spices originating in West Africa, namely Ghana. They evolved in the islands to incorporate saltfish, as this became one of the main ingredients accessible to those on plantations. Serve with tamarind chutney or just as they are.

Haiti was the first black republic to establish itself after it triumphed during the Haitian revolution in 1804. This nation created the blueprint for independence and sovereignty amongst the West Indies and many islands have followed since. Griot (or Griyo in Creole) pays homage to the ‘Griot’, a person of high standing such as a community leader, master of ceremony or tribal spokesperson across many West African cultures, namely Senegal and Burkina Faso as examples. West Africans formed the majority of the Haitian population in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and had a direct influence on food culture. Griot can be found all over Haiti as a street food snack and enjoyed as a dish cooked in many households simply served with pikliz; Haitian-style pickled coleslaw.