Much like Southern soul food, the dishes of Caribbean nations such as Jamaica were born of necessity as impoverished people made culinary miracles from meagre resources. And like anything else, traditional Jamaican dishes can be given a healthy contemporary spin. That’s one objective of sisters Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau, owners of a Kingston gastropub and authors of Provisions: The Roots of Jamaican Cooking—150 Vegetarian Recipes. Like most recent cookbook writers, the sisters have family stories to tell, along with updated family recipes to relate. Provisions includes dozens of things to do with plantains, breadfruit and ackee, “Jamaica’s national fruit.” Some of their recipes are less obviously Caribbean, such as the artichoke dip made with Dijon mustard and grated Parmesan, or lasagna with coconut milk. The photographs are tantalizing.
