The Bahamas - Fish Chowder with Johnny Cakes

From enchanting and mysterious underwater caves, to swimming pigs and pristine beaches, The Bahamas has a lot to offer. To celebrate the island culture of The Bahamas I made a wonderful Fish Chowder served with Johnny Cakes.

I have finally finished cooking all the ‘A’ countries and I have made it to the letter ‘B’! Although technically it is 'The Bahamas' rather than Bahamas, and it is one of only two countries in the world that officially begin with 'The' (the other being The Gambia). The Bahamas is located north of Cuba and south-west of Florida. It is an archipelago consisting of more than 700 islands. The Bahamas was the site of Columbus’ first landing in the ‘New World’ in 1492.

The Bahamas is a fascinating country full of many unique and interesting sights. For example, one island is known for its swimming pigs. Big Major Cay is an uninhabited island populated by a colony of feral pigs. There are many theories as to how the pigs arrived on this island. One idea is that the pigs were dropped off by a group of sailors intent on returning to eat them. But the sailors never returned. Another theory is that the pigs were survivors of a shipwreck and swam to shore. There are now about 15-20 pigs living on the island and they have become a major tourist attraction.

The Bahamas also fascinates tourists with its magnificent underwater cave system. The Bahamas are famous for their Blue Holes, which are large underwater sinkholes formed in carbonate rocks. These holes are a result of erosion from changing sea levels during the glacial period and rainwater percolating down through the rocks.

Dean’s Blue Hole in The Bahamas is the world's second deepest Blue Hole, plunging down 202 metres into the ocean. The scientists who are exploring this massive cavern believe that it is home to dozens of new species.

Give the strange and mysterious occurrences on the Bahamian islands, it is not difficult to believe that the Bahamian culture is rich with folklore and legends. Storytelling plays a large role in traditional Bahamian entertainment. It is not surprising that given that only a small percentage of Bahamas underwater cave system has been explored, that there is a legend of a huge and mysterious monster lurking in the depths. The creature is known as Lusca and is said to be over 23m in length and looks like a cross between an octopus and a shark, having menacing tentacles and sharp teeth. Locals believe that Lusca attacks at night and drags swimmers and boats down to its underwater caves, never to be seen again.

Bahamian cuisine is a mixture of British, African and southern United States, with a focus on fresh and locally caught fish and seafood. Traditional Bahamian food is spicy and uniquely flavoured. Popular seasonings include chillies, lime, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cinnamon, rum, and coconut. This week I made Johnny Cakes which are are a Bahamian speciality. While it is called a cake and contains sugar, Johnny Cakes are mostly served as a savoury accompaniment to stews and soups. It is believed to have originated from the slave trade from the US. Originally they were referred to as ‘journey cakes’ because it was a sturdy, dense loaf useful for long trips. Nowadays Johnny Cakes are fried like pancakes in the US, while Bahamian Johnny Cakes are baked in the oven.

Johnny Cakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 4 cups flour
• ½ cup water
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup milk

Preheat oven to 160°

Beat together butter and sugar until combined.

Add flour, water, salt and baking powder and mix, while slowly adding the milk until the batter is combined and sticky.

Transfer dough to a greased 23 x 23 cm pan and gently flatten.

Bake for 1 hour or until the cake is starting to brown. Then let the cake cool for a couple of minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.

Fish Chowder 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small hot chilli (use more if you want it really spicy), diced
• 1 spanish onion, diced
• 4 celery stalks, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 small fennel bulb, diced
• 1 capsicum, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups fish stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 Tbs lime juice
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• 600g of fish, cut into bite-size pieces
• Tabasco Sauce, to taste if desired

Marinate the fish pieces in lime juice and chilli flakes for 1-2 hours.  

In a large pot, cook the bacon with olive oil. When the bacon is almost cooked add the chilli and garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.

Add onion, celery, carrot, fennel and capsicum and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes, bay leaves, herbs, stock and marinated fish to pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked and chowder is thickened slightly. 

Add Tabasco Sauce to taste and serve.

✸✸✸✸

The Fish Chowder was a perfectly spiced and wonderfully warm soup with nicely rounded flavours. While it was delicious on the night, the flavours of the chowder were definitely enhanced on the second day when we had it for leftovers. This was my first time using fish stock and I was a bit unsure how it would go and if the fish flavour would be too overpowering. But the stock added a nice flavour and wasn't too overpowering. The Johnny Cakes were unexpectedly sweet for a savoury side dish (they tasted a bit like scones) but they surprisingly worked really well with the soup.

184 meals to go. Next stop on my world tour: Bahrain!