- Feels like boiled potato, no.
Oh.
- Hey, guys, I'm Mariah and I'm challenging my friend Amy
to try two St. Lucian foods for the day.
- Hi, guys, I'm Amy and today,
I'm challenging my friend Mariah
to make two traditional Jamaican dishes.
- Fun fact, Amy and I are both vegan
so can I get a hand clap for the environment
and the animals?
Thank you.
You're welcome.
- [Amy] The first dish I'm asking Mariah to make
are coconut drops.
They are delicious, not nutritious.
It's basically pure sugar.
The second dish I'm asking Mariah to make is carrot juice.
It sounds very unassuming but it's literally anything but.
- [Mariah] The first dish that I select for Amy
is jackfruit and green figs also known as green bananas.
The second is roasted breadfruit.
A nice food that goes with everything.
- So I'm really looking forward to trying Mariah's recipes.
There are some crossovers
between Jamaican and St. Lucian culture.
Some of the ingredients are really familiar to me.
- I'm excited.
Let's get to it.
Island girl versus island girl.
- The first dish I'm asking Mariah to make
is my nana's coconut drops.
They just happen to be vegan
but they are by no means healthy.
They are full of sugar and deliciousness
and this is how you make them.
In a saucepan,
you put your coconut and water and bring it to a boil.
- How is it smelling so good when it's just coconut?
- And when it's just come to the boil
then you add your sugar, spices and salt
and when everything's nice and bubbling,
you wanna turn it down for a simmer
and cook it for about an hour
until the liquid has reduced to half.
- [Mariah] Guys, the smell coming from this is insane
and look at that color.
Steaming up the camera.
- Then all you have to do is let it cool.
So you place little blobs of mixture
on a greased baking tray
and when it's cooled, it's ready to eat.
Simple.
Preferably, you wanna wait about six hours
for it to come down to room temperature
if you can wait that long but I bet you won't be able to.
- No idea what to expect.
If this tastes anything like it smelt
then it's gonna be amazing.
I'm ready for it.
Let's give it go.
Mm.
That's really nice.
It's like soaked up every single bit.
The nutmeg.
It almost doesn't taste coconutty really anymore
but in a good way.
I don't know if you can see that like the sugary particles.
So good.
Amy, you smashed it with this one.
Jamaicans know what they're doing.
I always knew that but now confirmed.
For Amy's first dish,
she's making jackfruit with green figs or green bananas
and this is a vegan take on yes,
St. Lucian's national dish, salt fish and figs.
You guys came for me in the comments last time
and I didn't exactly say
that it wasn't St. Lucian's national dish or it was.
I said salt fish.
But anyway, this tastes absolutely delicious.
Amy, let's go.
You're gonna love it.
Firstly, open the tin of jackfruit
and cut the hard rubbery ends off
and break off the stringy pieces.
Place in a bowl.
- I just had to show you a closeup of this
'cause the holes creep me out.
Anyway, I'm sure it's gonna taste delicious.
- [Mariah] Then add olive oil to a pan on high heat.
Add the onions, garlic, scotch bonnet.
- I've just realized I don't have a scotch bonnet on it.
I just got a red chili
and I know my nana will be turning in her grave
by me doing this.
She's not dead but like the same sentiment.
Scotch bonnet is the flavor of the Caribbean.
Sorry.
I am gonna do what my nana does though.
She doesn't slice it up.
She just jooks it so it just like releases the flavor.
- And saute for about two minutes.
Peel the bananas.
- I like bananas like with brown spots that they're so ripe.
I've just seen in the recipe we're gonna boil these.
Okay, I'm just gonna put these in a pan of boiling water
'cause I really don't know what else to do.
It just says boil.
- Add the jackfruit to the pan and season with black pepper,
salt, thyme, pimento.
Mix together and then cook.
Then add the mixed peppers and tomatoes.
You bring it to bowl, cover the pot
and reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes.
Serve together and enjoy.
I hope you like, Amy.
- So straight off the bat, it smells really good,
really nice aromatic, spicy.
Let's try the jackfruit first.
Mm.
As expected, the jackfruit is like salty,
very tender and flaky.
I like it.
It's really simple, it's really healthy.
It's the kind of meal that I wanna eat like after the gym.
Right, let's try the banana.
Mm.
Okay.
Mm.
The banana actually makes the dish.
In Jamaican cuisine, we have plantain
and we fry it and I prefer it fried.
Well, plantain, obviously it's a different thing.
It's got really similar vibes.
I can really see the crossovers between the two cultures.
Green banana aka fig.
Much better than I was expecting to be honest.
Okay, so this second recipe is so naughty.
I'm so excited for Mariah to make and try this
because she is gonna love it.
It's all of the goodies in one big jug
to celebrate anything.
To make the carrot juice, you chop up those carrots,
boil them for about 20, 30 minutes
until they're nice and soft.
So when the carrots are cooked,
you puree all of that goodness
and mix 'em up with nutmeg, vanilla, Guinness and rum.
That is right, Guinness and rum.
Add some more water
and then add a tin of vegan condensed milk
just to sweeten it all up.
- [Mariah] Can you guys see the separation
like carrot, Guinness, rum somewhere there.
Brilliant.
I'm looking forward to this.
- And that's it.
Enjoy.
- I mean, it smells like rum
which obviously I love 'cause I love rum.
Let's give it a go.
That's not bad.
I cannot taste any Guinness.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
The rum is fantastic.
We do like rum punches
and like Guinness punches in St. Lucia as well.
I would definitely have this again
because I would convince myself that it's healthy.
It tastes so good.
It's so strong as well like we love a strong drink.
Jamaicans do not play.
This is what I've learned from this food swap.
So the second dish I chose for Amy is roasted breadfruit.
Breadfruit is in the same family as jackfruit
so it's easy to get them confused.
It's a potato but kind of fluffy on the inside.
Basically, it's delish.
You can have it on the side of anything
but I personally just like it cut up, roasted,
maybe with a little bit of a jerk sauce.
- The second dish that Mariah wants me to try
is breadfruit roasted and it's funny because on the tin,
it actually says Jamaican breadfruit.
I wonder what the difference is between Jamaican breadfruit
and St. Lucian breadfruit.
Why is it called breadfruit?
It smells like if pineapple and papaya had a baby.
It feels like boiled potato, no.
Oh, I'm just gonna try it raw and see.
Okay, yeah, the texture is very potato-y
but there's this kind of floral fruitiness to it.
Okay, so let's roast the breadfruit.
- Once cooked, you'll know it's done.
It will be easy to pick with a knife.
You can also just sprinkle
any sorts of seasoning on it as you want.
I like to have it plain and simple
with a little bit of jerk sauce on the side.
You gotta keep it spicy.
- Let's do this.
It looks really good.
It looks like really crispy roast potatoes
or roast parsnips or something.
Mm.
It smells like my nana's house.
I don't think I've had this before but maybe I have.
I'm gonna try it on its own
and then we'll try it with a bit of jerk sauce.
Mm mm.
Mm.
This has massively exceeded my expectations.
I was expecting just sort of like a plain potato
but it reminds me of yam but better.
It's really soft and fluffy
and then it's got these crunchy caramelized outsides.
I would definitely get this again.
No seasoning either.
That's wild.
Gonna try it with some spicy sauce.
Mm.
Mate, 100% would have this again.
Thank you, Mariah.
Thank you, St. Lucia.
Thank you that we culture crashed our food.
Bye.
(calm music)