Callaloo

Trinidad and Tobago (West African calalu tradition adapted to Caribbean ingredients)

Callaloo is the Caribbean's most versatile green stew — a silky, deeply flavoured preparation of callaloo leaves (dasheen/taro leaves in Trinidad; amaranth in Jamaica) cooked with coconut milk, crab or salt beef, okra, pumpkin, thyme, and scotch bonnet, blended or beaten to a smooth, dark green purée in the Trinidadian style. In Jamaica, callaloo refers to the cooked leafy greens without blending, served as a side. The Trinidadian callaloo is a complex, multi-ingredient stew that is the first course of every Sunday lunch and the required accompaniment to the national feast. Crab is the essential protein — its sweetness contrasts the bitter depth of the taro leaves, and the shells impart flavour to the broth.

The definitive Sunday lunch first course in Trinidad alongside the Sunday rice, macaroni pie, and stewed chicken; crab's sweetness against the taro leaf's bitter depth is one of the Caribbean's most considered flavour pairings.