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You are here: Home / Food / Celebrate Caribbean Food Week with Grace Foods

Celebrate Caribbean Food Week with Grace Foods

August 26, 2016 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

When it comes to Caribbean flavours in the U.K, Grace Foods have bagged the top stop as the numero uno food and drinks company. They have a wide range of sauces, dips, marinades seasonings and tropical drinks to satisfy all palates.

Grace Foods are celebrating their 5th annual Caribbean Food week – Aug 22nd to Aug 29th’ 2016. To spread the word of their celebrations Grace Foods, sent me a cracking hamper stuffed with an assortment of goodies.

Grace Foods hamper

I wanted to try all the sauces but I was cooking for two so choose the following products:

  • Dunns River Ackee
  • Dunns River beans
  • Dunns River Tropical seasoning
  • Dunns River all-purpose seasoning
Grace Foods Caribbean seasonings

I had never heard of Ackee before and was very curious to try working with this ingredient. Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica, is consumed in a traditional dish with salt fish. AK is not fond of salt fish though I decided to create a side with vegetables and Dunns River Tropical seasoning. I am so pleased with the results, the dish is truly sunshine in a plate.

Canned ackee

It is always fun to try out new and exotic flavours but mind you this one comes with a warning. The unripe fruit can prove fatal and causes Jamaican vomiting sickness. But the ripe fruit has many nutritional benefits including being a digestive aid, helping to lower blood pressure and is high in unsaturated fats which help to maintain heart health.

Ackee and vegetable side

Manjiri Chitnis
This dishis truly summer in a plate
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
25 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 4 portions

Ingredients
  

  • Dunn Rivers can of ackee
  • 6 tsp Dunn Rivers Tropical seasoning
  • 1/2 a red onion chopped lengthwise
  • 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 3-4 small sweet peppers
  • 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a wok
  • Sauté’ the chopped garlic until they brown
  • Add the Tropical seasoning and mix well
  • Add the chopped onions and sauté’ them until they go soft
  • Then add the green beans and stir fry for about 2 minutes
  • Then add the peppers and sauté for about a minute
  • Drain and wash the ackee under running water
  • Add the ackee and cook on low heat for at least 4 minutes
  • Ensure the ackee mixes well with the vegetables and spices and serve hot
Keyword Ackee
Ackee and vegetable side

As the ackee cooks, it breaks down like soft gooey scrambled eggs and takes up the flavours in the seasoning very well. Mix the ackee very gently or it will turn into a lump.

I paired this dish with hearty brown rice mixed with peas and beans.

Caribbean rice with peas and beans

Manjiri Chitnis
Delightful mixture of spices add a different dimension of flavour to this simple dish, make it healthier by using brown rice
Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cup brown rice
  • 1 can of Dunns River peas and Beans
  • 1 small red onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions
 

  • Chop the onion lengthwise
  • Rinse and soak the rice in a big vessel
  • Heat the olive in a medium-sized vessel
  • Add the bay leaf and then sauté’ the chopped garlic until it browns
  • Add 2 heaped tbsp of all-purpose seasoning and mix well and sauté for under 30-second stirring continuously so that the seasoning does not bu4n
  • Drain the water used to wash the rice
  • Then add the washed rice and sauté it for under a minute stirring continuously
  • Drain the water from the canned peas and beans and transfer them to a sieve and wash them under running water, to get rid of the salt
  • Add the peas and beans and add exactly twice the amount of water as the rice and cook on a medium flame with lid on
  • Garnish with some chopped spring onion
  • Serve hot
Caribbean brown rice with peas and beans

Ideally, I would cook up a fiery chicken curry to go with this rice but I had some white fish in my freezer and decided to grill them with some jerk seasoning.

Grilled jerk fish

Grilled Jerk Fish

Manjiri Chitnis
Spicy grilledfish is great paired with the brown rice with peas and the ackee and vegetableside
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 mins
Cook Time 8 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 fillets of white fish
  • 3 heaped tbsp of Dunns River Jamaican jerk seasoning marinade
  • 2 tsp of olive oil
  • 1/4 th of a lime

Instructions
 

  • Wash the fish fillets and coat thoroughly with the marinade
  • Heat a grill pan and pour the oil
  • Grill the fish until done
  • Ensure you do not overcook as the white fish is generally very delicate and will break easily. Overcooking will render it dry and not much fun to eat!
  • Squeeze the lime and do not be shy with it, the lime will cut through the spice and elevate flavours
Grilled jerk fish

Get creative in your kitchen or just go with the recipe suggestions on the packs, if you need more recipe inspiration head over to the Grace Foods recipe section.

Caribbean street food party

If you are in London join the festivities at Caribbean Food Week Festival at Windrush Square in Brixton.

Caribbean Food Week poster
Caribbean street food party

Disclaimer:  With thanks to Grace Foods for sending me a selection of products to experiment with. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. 

Filed Under: Food, Product Reviews Tagged With: ackee and saltfish, al fresco eating, Brixton street food festival, caribbean rice with peas and beans, Celebrate Caribbean Food Week with Grace Foods, Dunns River Ackee, Dunns River all purpose seasoning, Dunns River beans, Dunns River Tropical seasoning, eat outdoors, enjoy the sunshine, Grace Foods, Jamaican recipes, street food party, summer 2016

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Comments

  1. Elizabeth says

    August 26, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    I’ve tried ackee once, at a local restaurant on my remote North Sea island home – they had a themed menu on one night. Such an unusual fruit!

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      August 26, 2016 at 3:36 pm

      Yes it is very unusual indeed, I really like the texture and neutral taste and cannot wait to experiment more with it.

      Reply
  2. Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

    August 26, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    I’ve had a tin of ackee in the cupboard for AGES because I’ve not known what to do with it – your veggie ackee dish looks so easy! Will definitely be trying that soon 🙂

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      August 27, 2016 at 12:07 am

      Do try it Becca and let me know what you think of ackee!

      Reply
  3. Kavey says

    August 27, 2016 at 7:38 am

    I loooove that the brand is Dunn’s River – we visited the Dunn’s River waterfalls in Jamaica on our honeymoon back in 1994! Such a trip down memory lane. Will look out for these, thanks!

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      August 30, 2016 at 2:30 pm

      Aww how fab Kavey! I would love to visit Jamaica some day soon too.

      Reply

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