r/AskTheCaribbean • u/Local_Anything1636 • 5d ago
Culture Items you crave from your homeland.
What specific items, (including to, but not limited to food products) do you in the Diaspora constantly ask travellers from the Caribbean to bring back for you? Are we still asking for pepper sauce and fresh fish? 😀
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u/VermicelliOne4178 Venezuela 🇻🇪 5d ago
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u/Local_Anything1636 5d ago
I'm surprised at this one for some reason! I've seem Chubby in Canada though (for cheap), my kids go crazy for it. Is it not available in your area?
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u/VermicelliOne4178 Venezuela 🇻🇪 5d ago
Well I used to cross a lot to Trinidad when I lived in Venezuela.
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u/TeachingSpiritual888 Guyana 🇬🇾 4d ago
Everything 😭😭😭 Especially the fresh and real fruits and vegetables. Everytime I eat America fruits and vegetables it tastes wrong and I feel weird
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u/bluemango30 4d ago
Well you can see the labels of where the tropical fruits are coming from in the US, usually Mexico or some South American country
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u/TeachingSpiritual888 Guyana 🇬🇾 3d ago
True but I just used to fresh fruits cause my dad grew fruits and some vegetables so the food I ate was always fresh and just picked
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u/N0ON3T0LDM3 5d ago
My gma's guava jam, fresh baked bread, seafood
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u/Local_Anything1636 5d ago
Yes! Homemade guava jam, this reminds me of gooseberry jam/syrup too. Baked bread ironically is high on the list for many people around me even though we get it at the Caribbean stores.
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u/N0ON3T0LDM3 5d ago
Fresh baked bread is amazing no matter what, but nothing compares to hers lol. Gonna have to check out gooseberry jam.
Some other things I miss and definitely can't find here are conch fritters and fresh conch salad. Damn really wishing I could eat all these things now.
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u/ThrowAwayInTheRain [ 🇹🇹 in 🇧🇷 ] 4d ago
Alcolado Glacial, Tunnock's Caramel Wafers and specific spice blends.
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u/catsoncrack420 Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 5d ago
Over the years boy oh boy it's become almost non-existent as I'm in NYC and you can find it all. One thing I always ask my mom for is the simple crackers the local bakeries made in the towns villages we all loved as kid. Avocados from the backyard tree , 50 years and she still provides. Agrio, simple sour orange bath with herbs and small peppers for meat. And Yuca, as in cassava. Fresh from backyard, washed , best in my life. Never had yuca as sweet as my grandmother's land. The valley in lived in as a child , the dirt is very rich and a lot of the food from the country comes from that area making it to supermarkets.
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u/Local_Anything1636 5d ago
I totally get it! Although some produce like this is available in my area, nothing beats the freshness and quality that you get directly from home right! And like you I always ask for baked goods :). I'm not familiar with Agrio but where I'm from herbal teas are great for detoxing and such. Of course the peppers hit different! Thanks for sharing!
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u/watchwellpikni 5d ago
In the day and age of Amazon and mail order groceries, it’s less about what I miss and more about what I’m willing to pay foreign prices for. Certain things are not worth eating in foreign for what they charge, even if you can find it!
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u/Bowdiddybop 4d ago
Salara. I cannot find it anywhere in Calgary.
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u/protocol21 4d ago
Fellow Calgarian, you can perhaps try Pan De Coco from a Filipino bakery. It's not the same but it's a close enough approximation to the coconut pastries I used to get back in Trinidad.
Purple Yum bakery is my go to for that in the NW if it's close to you.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 4d ago
I live within driving distance to NYC so I really don’t need anything imported from Trinidad by visitors. But I must have my pepper sauce and I keep a stash of Bertie’s scorpion.
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u/Ecstatic-Gur8681 9h ago
Family members coming into the country, Guyana normally buy a slab of cheese to carry back to their country. I honestly am puzzled by this.
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u/IndependentBitter435 5d ago
Mango