Three ‘Must-Have’ Caymanian Dishes

Delicious foods to try on your next visit!

There are certain flavours that come with Caymanian cuisine and Morritt’s adds its own special flare at our on-site restaurants.

Here are a few dishes we offer on our menus, as well as a recipe to try at home so you can feel that Caymankind spirit when you’re away from our shores. And if you are just browsing our site and have never experienced these foods, well you are in for a treat!

Breadfruit
Similar in texture and flavour to a potato, breadfruit is a popular side dish in Caymanian cuisine. It can be prepared much in the same way as a potato, with roasting in the oven being one of the most popular. Here at Morritt’s we turn it into fries and serve it with a light sprinkling of salt.

Cayman-style Beef
Beef has a special place in Caymanian culinary history. Several decades ago, before Cayman became the thriving tourism and financial centre it is today, beef was hard to come by and therefore expensive. This meant that it was typically only enjoyed as a special treat at Christmas time (also known as ‘Christmas beef’).

Cayman-style beef is stewed low and slow to yield tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth shredded beef that is flavoured with onion, garlic and peppers (scotch bonnet, or seasoning peppers if you can’t take the heat!). Served up with a side of rice and beans, roasted breadfruit and fried plantain and you have yourself a perfect hearty meal!

Cassava Cake
Cassava is a starchy root that can be enjoyed in savoury applications, such as roasting, or in sweet dishes such as cassava cake. Like Cayman-style beef, many Caymanian families have their own recipe and secret tweaks for cassava cake – so much so, that it’s not unusual to see cassava cake competitions at local food festivals! Cassava cake is dense, sticky and deliciously sweet. Grating the cassava for this dish is labour intensive, but man is it worth it!

Cassava Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 lbs Cassava, grated
• 2 lbs Dark brown sugar
• 2 cans Coconut milk (plus additional 3-4 cups of water)
• 2 tablespoons Vanilla essence
• 1 tablespoon Salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Nutmeg, grated
• 1 teaspoon All Spice
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions

1. Bring coconut milk to a boil. Add sugar, stirring until completely dissolved and continue to boil for about 45 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the coconut milk/sugar mixture for later.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stir until well blended. Add hot coconut milk mixture and stir well. Mixture should be of a thick liquid texture.
3. Use 2 tablespoons of coconut milk mixture to grease 9” baking pan. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake at 350ºF (basting occasionally with reserved coconut milk mixture) for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Spread any remaining coconut milk mixture over top of cake. Place cake on top of stove to cool completely.

Recipe courtesy of Cayman Islands Department of Tourism – check out their website for this and other traditional Caymanian recipes!