Categories
caribbean product

Golden Krust’s New Bottled Sauces

I love sauce. Sauce makes dry food wet and bad food taste good. When I was a kid, I used to put a little A1 sauce on a plate, add a little water, then eat the sauce with a fork. Sauce is good.

Golden Krust kicked off their new line of bottled sauces with a party at the Jamaican Consulate in New York. That sounded weird to me. But they have a strong relationship with the Jamaican/West Indian community and are one of the biggest Jamaican businesses in the U.S.

There were steel drum musicians playing what I thought was the Publix supermarket theme song (that I used to hear on their commercials). Someone corrected me as it was a Bob Marley song.

The new line of sauces consist of Jerk Sauce, Honey Barbecue Jerk, Island Flavored Ketchup and Hot Pepper Sauce. All a little on the sweet side of Caribbean flavors. My favorite was the Hot Pepper Sauce made with scotch bonnet peppers. The bright red color kinda freaks me out, but the flavor is mad tasty. Not super hot like this other scotch bonnet sauce I recently got, but a good medium tolerable heat. (Correction: Just tried some more now and it is pretty spicy –good heat)

The sauces will be sold at local Golden Krust bakeries and in supermarkets in the near future.

goldenkrustbakery.com

Categories
caribbean

The Islands – Exotic Caribbean Cuisine

Our Caribbean adventure continues as we walked up to Prospect Heights for what many say is the best Caribbean food in NYC at The Islands. I got the address from Yelp (Washington Ave between Sterling & St Johns Pl). So we followed my lead towards one of the streets. Then we noticed that we following two girls, a guy and a baby. Walking right behind them, turning at the same streets. We got to our corner and saw Tom’s Diner. I was staring at the menu for a few minutes. Then looked down the street to see if I can see The Islands. Oh shit. I was standing right next to the group we’ve been following for the past 15mins, going into their apartment. They seemed a little bit nervous.

Anyway, we kept walking up and down the street and couldn’t find the Islands. Yasmin finally called them. It was pretty much right where we started at the edge of the park, before we went in a long circle and stalked the two girls, a guy and a baby. I’m going to see if I can change those Yelp cross-streets right now. There’s a shuttered business closer to those cross-streets called “Island Taste” with a green awning that says “West Indian Cuisine – Jerk Chicken – Patties.”  I’m sure newbies like me think that was it and they closed. Fret not. Go towards the Key Foods. It’s right next door.

I was told by a Jamaican friend to get the Jerk Lamb. I was going to do a joke about “You are what you eat. Jason Lam–>Jerk Lamb”, but they didn’t have any and now my joke is ruined. We got the large Jerk Chicken instead. Huge portions for $12. Came with Rice and Peas and Cabbage Veggies. So good. Really nice spice. Chicken was the most tender I’ve ever seen for Jerk Chicken. The drumstick meat fell off the bone. I’m not usually a drumstick fan, but this was great.

Nice to take the food a block away to eat in front of the shooting water fountain at the Brooklyn Museum. I feel like I’m home …at Epcot.

The Islands – 803 Washington Ave (btwn Eastern Parkway & Lincoln Pl) Brooklyn, NY 11238

Categories
Uncategorized

De Hot Pot’s Bake & Shark and Doubles

Yasmin joined me for a Caribbean food adventure this past weekend in Lefferts Gardens/Prospect Heights. The B43 bus dropped us off near De Hot Pot …and holy mang! I’m glad they did. Festive music blaring out the store. A lady walking by on the sidewalk started dancing.

The Doubles (small flat sandwich filled with chickpeas). Sounds boring, but whatever sauces the guy put on it was amazing. A small little packet full of flavor. I think it was only a dollar.

We also got a Bake and Shark sandwich ($5). I’ve heard of these. But I wasn’t sure if it was real shark or just fish. The guy confirmed it was shark. Dang. Fried shark pieces in a Coco bread sandwich. Tasted good. Maybe too much bread. Needs more awesome sauce. I picked up a bite on the tray that I thought fell out of the sandwich and put it my mouth. It turned out to be a piece of cartilage Yasmin spit out.  I didn’t finish eating that piece.

The rotis the guy was making was huge. Like the size of two big burritos. As we left, an old man came dancing in. De Hot Pot!

De Hot Pot – 1127 Washington Ave (between Lefferts Ave & Lincoln Rd) Brooklyn, NY 11225

This is what happened to Yasmin after doubling down (via Fat Booth phone app). If you order double doubles, how many will they give you? More Caribbean adventure to come. Stay tuned.

Categories
caribbean lunch

Terry’s Gourmet Goat Roti

Grabbed some Caribbean style rotis at Terry’s Gourmet with Jasper. $6 for my Goat Roti. It was great. Be careful not to eat it like a buritto, because there’s bones. Nice little Caribbean hot sauce on the side you can ask for.

Terry’s Gourmet Deli – 575 6th Ave (@ W 16th St) New York, NY 10011

Categories
caribbean

Christie’s Jamaican Patties

I’ve always been on the lookout for a great Jamaican meat patty in New York. I’ve loved the patties and coco bread at Caribbean Spice when I went to school down in Gainesville, FL. I’ve found nothing close since I’ve moved 8 years ago.

I’ve heard of Christie’s Jamaican Patties and finally got my chance to try them the other night (when I was in the area to say goodbye to Albertina at Sharlene’s Bar). Christie’s came out with a fresh batch of beef patties when I walked in. 1 Beef Patty and 1 Coco Bread was $3 total. The Coco Bread looked good and homemade as they pulled it off the baking tray. I’ve come to be disappointed with the store-bought Coco Bread that comes out of a bag whenever I see it in NY.

Well, I don’t know. The patty and coco bread were no Caribbean Spice. I suppose it’s good for NY compared to Golden Krust, pizza spots and bodegas. But their coco bread (along with all the other places) is just bread. Not the buttery layered warm bread found at Caribbean Spice. Maybe I have it all wrong. Perhaps all these mediocre patties and breads are authentic-style and Caribbean Spice is just a different beast of its own. Surely I haven’t found anything close to it. 🙁

Christie’s Jamaican Patties – 387 Flatbush Ave (btwn Sterling Pl & Carlton Ave) Brooklyn 11238

Categories
lunch street

Veronica’s Kitchen West Indian Food Cart

Met up with Shonali for lunch at the popular Veronica’s Kitchen food cart down in the Financial District. My first time. I always heard the lines were long and food runs out quick, but this time it wasn’t so bad when I got there at one. The Goat Roti ($6.50) was soupy and had pumpkin sauce on it. The meat so tender and so good. I was sucking on the bones afterwards. The Jerk Chicken ($6) was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Heavily spiced thick coating of the jerk seasoning. The hot sauce on the side was the bomb. One of the best Caribbean meals ever.

Veronica’s Kitchen – 125 Front St (@ Pine St) New York, NY 10005

Categories
lunch

2 Bros Pizza Plus’ Jerk Chicken and Spicy Rice

From the $1 pizza slice and fried chicken joint, here’s their jerk chicken and spicy chicken rice. $4 for the platter here ($2 quarter jerk chicken). The food looks much better than my old pics of the same food. After getting over the saltiness of the chicken, it was pretty darn good –not jerking you around.

2 Bros. Pizza Plus – 601 6th Ave (btwn 17th & 18th St.) NYC 10010

Categories
lunch

Midtownlunch.com: B&B African

TGIF! Today’s review on Midtownlunch.com —link