Flashback to Summer 2011: I was in St. Maarten while cruising for my friend Heather’s Wedding. It was a blast! I was rockin’ the blonde bob back then. Since, my hair has grown out, and is currently long, wavy and luxurious. This was #86, Try Another Culture’s Food, on the original Melissa’s 100 List.
“Before I start to go into detail, we need a little backstory. I’m allergic to curry. I discovered this allergy a few years ago at an Indian restaurant near my parents house. I started having chest pains shortly after the appetizer, and had difficulty breathing. The only thing that had been in the food that was foreign to me was the curry, so I’ve avoided it ever since.
After that, whenever something has looked unfamiliar, my mother would say, “IS THERE CURRY IN THIS?!!? MY DAUGHTER IS ALLERGIC TO CURRY! WHAT’S IN THIS?” I love my mom. But nevertheless, this nipped my adventurous side in the bud.
For this goal, I selected a little cafe just off the beach. It was just before the dinner rush, if there is such a thing on the island. I kind of loved it. All the seating was outside, and just consisted of plastic chairs and tables, with inexpensive tablecloths on top. No dress code, nothing fancy. I brought my sister with me to help document the trip. For those of you who don’t know Erica, she’s quite a character. Like me, but all of my eccentricities multiplied by like, a thousand. Here’s a recent photo:
So Erica and I ate here, and right away, she decided to leave the mystery to me. She ordered a Diet Coke and fries. After a few minutes of debate, I ordered a “Ting” soda (grapefruit soda) and a traditional Caribbean dish, a conch plate. I asked the woman what the “conch” was, and she laughed and replied, “A shell”. I still had no idea what it was when I ordered it.
I’ll be honest, I was concerned for a minute that she was going to bring something out either in a conch shell, or consisting of conch pieces. When she brought it out, I inspected it closely before deciding to just go ahead and eat it. Basically, it was jerk chicken. It had some kind of tangy sauce on the outside, that had a real smoky flavor to it. They also gave me brown rice, a spicy macaroni and cheese dish, and potato salad. I obviously went for the potato salad first, and worked my way around to the chicken.
It was pretty good, and I got full really fast. Luckily, mid meal, my Dad appeared, and he offered to finish the rest. He’s pretty adventurous, like myself. He took one look at the orange coated chicken, and asked the inevitable question: “Is there curry in this ma’am?”
There wasn’t. “
