East Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from the Hidden Caribbean

From skimming through it, it gave a lot of history behind the culture which was interesting, but I felt that too much emphasis took away the joy of enjoying this book and some recipes did not appeal to me; maybe it’s just me, but it could be a great book for one who grew up and/or is familiar with the East Caribbean cuisine.

Loved this book as well as its counterpart West Winds. As a Guyanese person, East Winds holds a particular interest for me, as the Indian influence on our food and general culture is so deep rooted. East Winds is both a recipe book and a history book. Both very much needed.

The book is beautiful, but a bit too heavy on the history for me. As someone who suffers with fatigue, headaches and brain fog, it needs to be lighter or more gripping to keep me on track. As much as I tried, I ended up skimming and skipping sections. It took me quite some time to get interested in the recipes. The plant based section is filled with side dishes and having multiple chronic illnesses, means hours in the kitchen, isn't an option for me. Also, the large amount of text and photos that were there, I didn't find particularly inspiring. In other words, the layout isn't great and a bit all over the place.To start with, I chose three recipes to get a feel for the flavours. I do like that there's a quick version of the green seasoning as I'll only cook from the book occasionally. Otherwise, the main recipe can be frozen. The first one I cooked up was roast channa (chickpeas). It was my first time getting such a good crunch. Usually, mine come out soft. There was enough spice to stop me from eating them all in on go. Next, I tried cornmeal porridge and that was a disappointment. It came up like mash potato in consistency, within minutes. Nothing like the photo. There was no way it could be simmered for 20 minutes. All it did was pop and splatter everywhere. The flavour profile wasn't great either. Sadly, this was a no from me.Next, I did the pomtajer. This was a long recipe, but the flavours were lovely once combined to create the finished dish. As I couldn't quite make up my mind on the book, I did a fourth dish; the fish creole with brown rice. It was lovely, balanced and so tasty. Overall, although I've had some issues with the book, when the recipe work, they're great! I'll go back through at some point and earmark more to try.

I got this for my girlfriend, whose mother is from the Caribbean, for her birthday and she loves it! we're super excited to cook up these delicious-looking recipes

This is a fascinating book with loads of interesting cultural and historical context that extends beyond cooking. Don't expect to find a jerk chicken recipe! This book focuses on the food, recipes and cultures of the eastern Caribbean, primarily Trinadad & Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and Grenada.It has over 80 recipes and although I've only cooked a handful so far, the choice and fusion of ingredients has produced some memorable dishes. The curry chicken particularly was out of this world. If I'd eaten it in a restaurant, I'd have been passing on my compliments to the chef! The most interesting part for me is the curry section and I'm working my way through the various recipes.Make sure you check out the Green Seasoning recipe on pages 26 & 27! It's used as marinade and base ingredient for many of the pan cooked dishes and I've made a batch of it.Most will be, but some of the ingredients may not be readily available in your local supermarket, so improvise if necessary - it's part of the enjoyment of home cooking!With photos adding a splash of colour, this book is a cut above the glut of recipe books out there and Phillips has, not only in his recipes, but in his writing, produced a book that has quickly established itself as a firm favourite in my kitchen.