With the sun having finally arrived in Britain, what better way to add a touch of Caribbean flavour to afternoon tea?
These authentic Caribbean recipes come from Barbados-born chef Jason Howard, who trained at the Michelin two-starred Connaught in London before striking out on his own.
Jason has long had a mission in life to become the first Michelin-starred chef cooking Caribbean food – at the moment, he’s working on another mission (as part of a sponsorship deal with Celebrity Cruises) to get more people to try out cooking the cuisine at home.
Recipe: Pineapple scones
Ingredients (makes 8)
- 100g unsalted butter
- 400g self-rising flour
- 5g baking powder
- 2 tbsps caster sugar
- A pinch of salt, to taste
- 250ml milk
- 125g of dried pineapple or fresh pineapple cut in to small cubes
- 10ml milk (for brushing at the end)
Method
- Preheat the oven to Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Rub the butter into the flour, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar and salt and baking powder.
- Place your mix in a mixer (or a bowl if you want to do it by hand) and add your milk and dried (or fresh) pineapple.
- Stir until the mixture is even and the dough comes together, then let it rest for 30 mins to an hour.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and roll to 1 inch thick, then cut out with cutters of your choice.
- Transfer to a baking tray and brush with milk and bake for 15 minutes until golden and cooked through.
Recipe: Jerk chick sandwiches with raisin and curry mayonnaise
Ingredients (serves 8)
For the jerk chicken
- 2 ½ tsps dried thyme
- 80g spring onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 20g curry powder
- 1 ½ tsps salt
- 1 tsp pimento seeds
- Pinch of ground clove
- Pinch of ground ginger
- 50g fresh thyme
- 2 scotch bonnets
- 20g lemon juice
- 4 chicken breasts
For the mayonnaise
- 20g raisins
- 40g curry powder
- 150g mayonnaise
- 1 onion finely diced
- 20g unsalted butter
Method
For the jerk chicken
- Blend all your ingredients together (the day before for the best result).
- Rub jerk seasoning over chicken and place in your oven at 200C for 40 mins.
- When finished take out and let cool in the fridge.
- Once cool, slice thinly.
For the mayonnaise
- Take your raisins and pulse them in your food processor until fine.
- Take your onions, raisin mix, curry powder and butter and place in a pan and let simmer on a low-med heat and mix with your spoon for about 5 mins then let cool.
- Then add the mayonnaise and mix altogether.
- Place in your fridge until ready to use.
To put it all together
- Using the bread of your choosing, take two slices and butter both with your mayonnaise mixture.
- Delicately layer your jerk chick slices on top of the mayonnaise on one of the slices of bread
- Add thinly slices cucumber on top
- Layer the second piece of bread on top and slice into crustless finger sandwiches.
Jason Howard is working with Celebrity Cruises to get more people to try out Caribbean cookery.
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