I simply couldn’t visit Ian Fleming’s Jamaican villa without making a Martini in his honour. So, here is my Bitter Orange and Cardamom Martini; in true James Bond style, it’s shaken and not stirred!
SERVES 4
8 cardamom pods
3 tbsp bitter orange marmalade
450ml vodka
3 orange peel strips
150ml Cointreau or triple sec
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 large splashes Angostura bitters
For the garnish
4 x orange peel twists
In a pestle and mortar, crush the cardamom pods until they have split open.
In a small saucepan, melt the marmalade over a medium heat, but do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and add the vodka, crushed cardamom pods and orange peel strips. Set aside to infuse until cool.
Pour the cooled mixture into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add the Cointreau, lemon juice and Angostura bitters and give everything a good shake.
Fine-strain into Martini glasses and serve garnished with orange peel twists.
TIP: To make the orange peel twists, using a paring knife or peeler, cut a long thin piece of peel from the orange (try to avoid digging into the pith). Roll the strip of peel into a spiral and give it a little squeeze to tighten the twist before dropping into your drink.
BITTER ORANGE & CARDAMOM MARTINI
BLUEWATER BREEZE
The bluest sea rippled by a perfect breeze under the Tobagan sun is the inspiration behind this banging cocktail! It’s simple to make, but beautifully delivers.
SERVES 2
a large handful of ice cubes
50ml vodka
50ml white rum
230ml coconut water
2 tbsp blue Curaçao
2 tbsp coconut cream
100ml pineapple juice, to top up
fresh pineapple slices, to serve
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the vodka, rum, coconut water, blue Curaçao and coconut cream. Put the lid on and get shaking! Pour into two tall glasses, top up with the pineapple juice and garnish with a slice of fresh fruit.
BLUEWATER BREEZE
CARIBBEAN SORREL COCKTAIL
Sorrel is the Jamaican word for the hibiscus, a flower grown in many parts of the Caribbean. This slightly tart and tangy spiced drink is traditionally served at Christmas, but can be enjoyed at any time of the year. If you’re using fresh sorrel/hibiscus, make sure that you remove the nut or seed as it can be quite bitter. The sorrel infusion can also be served with lemonade for a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage.
To make the infusion, put all of the ingredients into a large saucepan set over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid to allow the flower buds and aromatics to steep and cool. This is best left for 6–8 hours in the fridge.
Pass the cooled infusion through a fine sieve.
To make the cocktail, fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and add the sorrel infusion, rum and lime juice. Shake well, then pour into two glasses over fresh ice and garnish with lime and orange slices.
CARIBBEAN SORREL COCKTAIL
CARIBBEAN COCONUT CHAI
Chai is a spiced milk tea from India and this is my Trinidadian twist with the flavours of coconut and tonka bean. If you can’t find tonka bean, you can use a couple of cloves and a pinch of nutmeg or half a vanilla pod in the infusion.
SERVES 4
400ml boiling water
2–3 tbsp loose black tea leaves
seeds from 10 crushed green cardamom pods (pods discarded)
1 cinnamon stick, broken
6 slices of fresh root ginger
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 tonka bean, for grating
1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
nutmeg, for grating (optional)
Combine the boiling water and tea leaves in a saucepan and infuse the tea to your preferred strength. Strain to remove the tea leaves and return the tea infusion to the pan. Add the cardamom seeds, cinnamon, ginger and coconut milk and give everything a good stir. Grate in half of the tonka bean and set the pan over a low-medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse, but do not boil. Add sugar to taste, stir until dissolved and remove from the heat.
To serve, strain or ladle into glasses or cups and garnish with a grating of tonka bean or nutmeg.
CARIBBEAN COCONUT CHAI
CORN ’N’ OIL
Velvet Falernum, with its strange-sounding name, is a bartender’s dream – it’s a spicy, sweet syrup that adds a sweet kick to many tropical cocktails. The ‘oil’ in this golden corn-coloured cocktail comes from the black strap rum, which, before stirring, sits on top of the drink, like … well, a puddle of oil. Trust me, though, it’s delicious!
SERVES 1
large ice cubes
60ml black strap rum or dark rum
15ml Velvet Falernum
15ml fresh lime juice
2–3 dashes Angostura bitters
lime slices, to garnish
Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour in the rum, falernum, lime juice and bitters. Give everything a quick stir and garnish with a fresh lime slices.
CORN ’N’ OIL
DEATH BY CHOCOLATE MARTINI
Martinis are nearly always gin-or vodka-based, but this is not a clean-cut Martini as we know it. Instead, I give you a delectable, creamy chocolate and vodka sensation in a glass, which ends with the sweet smell and taste of cardamom on one’s lips. Death by chocolate, indeed.
SERVES 2
1 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
175ml chocolate liqueur, plus extra for decorating
100ml vodka
75ml single cream
ice cubes
First, decorate the glasses. Mix together the cocoa powder and ground cardamom on one plate, then pour a few tablespoons of chocolate liqueur into a separate small saucer. Carefully and gently dip the rim of each Martini glass into the liqueur, making sure the entire rim is coated, then dip into the cocoa and cardamom mixture, to coat. Set aside.
Add the chocolate liqueur, vodka and single cream to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for 20 seconds. Carefully pour into the decorated glasses and enjoy!
DEATH BY CHOCOLATE MARTINI
COCONUT, PINEAPPLE & MANGO MINT COOLER
This cooler is so fresh and vibrant it doesn’t need any alcohol. It’s the sweet tropical taste of the Caribbean in a glass!
SERVES 4
1 small pineapple, peeled and diced
2 large mangos, peeled and diced
2 x 400ml tins coconut milk
a handful of mint, roughly chopped
1 tsp caster sugar, plus extra to taste
a handful of ice cubes, plus extra to serve
To garnish
pineapple wedges
mint sprigs
Put the pineapple and mango into a sturdy blender and pour over the coconut milk. Add the chopped mint, 1 teaspoon of sugar and a large handful of ice. Blend until smooth and taste for sweetness, adding a little more sugar if required. If the mixture is too thick, add a dash of water and pulse again.
Pour into glasses filled with a little ice and garnish with pineapple wedges and sprigs of mint.
COCONUT, PINEAPPLE & MANGO MINT COOLER
RUM
Of course, I can’t talk about the Caribbean without saying a few words about rum. The Caribbean is a huge producer of both white and dark rum.
Rum is said to have been first distilled in Barbados in the seventeenth century. As Europeans began colonising the islands, the sugar-cane plantations became an important part of the trade industry and African slaves were made to work on the fields. Sugar was the main product of the crops, but sugar cane molasses (the by-product of refining sugar) was used to create alcohol. The vast majority of rum is produced from molasses, which provides the rich, dark flavours associated with the spirit, but it can also be made from pressed sugarcane juice, resulting in a lighter, grassier-tasting rum (rhum agricole). In the early days, rum was distilled in pot stills, before modern, sophisticated column stills allowed for easier mass production. Premium rums are stored and aged in oak barrels, which mellow its natural harshness.
The drink is an important part of Caribbean culture and rum shops are a great place to meet and chat with the locals. They’re not really bars or shops – they can be in people’s houses or in shacks on the beach or roadside and you can buy bottles of rum to drink as you enjoy the vibe. There are plenty of rums to choose from and they all have a distinct flavour – rum tasting is one of the many joys of a trip to the Caribbean!
Just as the different islands have their own food specialities, they also have their own flavours of rum. Jamaican rum, for instance, is thick and sweet with fermented notes, whereas Saint Lucian rum is rich and robust. The Angostura Gran Anejo is a seven-year-old rum from Angostura in Trinidad (well known for its Angostura Bitters), which features aromas of dried fruit with vanilla and wonderful Christmas spices. Another popular spiced rum, Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum, is made in Saint Lucia and contains flavours of clove and allspice. If you’re looking for a more traditional rum, there is the Mount Gay Eclipse Gold from Barbados, or the famous English Harbour 1981 from Antigua (which some say is the best in the Caribbean). For a special occasion, one of my favourites is from Trinidad: Plantation Single Cask Rum, an aged rum matured in bourbon casks … superb! Coconut rum is also popular throughout the Caribbean and is great in cocktails.
Rum is used in many regional dishes. One of my favourites is a butter rum cake I tried in Antigua and I’ve included the recipe on page 187 for you to try. The tipple forms the base of many tropical cocktails – my mum’s Rum Punch (page 235) is definitely a winner!
MANGO & COCONUT RUM DAIQUIRI
Mangos are a celebrated fruit in the Caribbean – there are annual mango festivals on many of the islands – and they are a main ingredient in lots of traditional dishes, sweet or savoury. The fruits are juicy, sweet and larger than any mangos we get over here. I made this sumptuous mango cocktail on the beach in Saint Lucia after sundown – a perfect end to the day. You can either make the purée by blending fresh mangos in a blender until smooth or you can buy it ready-prepared.
SERVES 2
200ml mango purée
juice of 1 lime
1–2 tbsp sugar syrup (depending on how sweet you like it!)
150ml coconut rum
a large handful of ice
fresh mango slices, to garnish
mint sprigs, to garnish
Combine the mango purée, lime juice, sugar syrup, coconut rum and ice in a blender and blitz until smooth.
Pour into tall glasses and garnish each with a mango slice and a sprig of fresh mint.
MANGO & COCONUT RUM DAIQUIRI
RUM PU PUNCH
For the last day of filming I just had to make up some of my Mum’s delicious rum punch – it’s a family favourite and I love it … and so did the crew! You can leave out the rum if you prefer a non-alcoholic punch, but remember – more rum, more dancing!
SERVES 14–16
175ml boiling water
175g granulated sugar
juice of 4 limes and 4 lemons
1 tsp Angostura bitters
400ml mango purée
150ml strawberry purée
300ml white rum
1 litre tropical fruit juice
1 litre lemonade
plenty of ice cubes, to serve
lime wedges and orange slices, to garnish
freshly grated nutmeg, to garnish
In a medium saucepan set over a medium heat, stir together the sugar and water until dissolved, then set aside until cold.
In a large pitcher, mix the cold sugar syrup with the lime and lemon juice, Angostura bitters, mango and strawberry purées and the rum. Stir together until well mixed and chill.
When ready to serve, stir in the fruit juice and lemonade. Serve over ice, garnished with lime and orange slices and a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg.
RUM PU PUNCH
TROPICAL FIZZY PERFECTION!
This fizzy cocktail is an elegant, tropical delight and is perfect for a special occasion or summer barbecue. Cheers!
SERVES 4–6
150g fresh raspberries
100g tinned lychees (drained weight)
1 mango, peeled and diced
2–3 tbsp lime syrup
Champagne, to top up
Put the raspberries, lychees, mango and lime syrup into a food processor or blender and purée until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside.
To serve, spoon 1½ tablespoons of the fruit purée into chilled Champagne flutes, then top up with Champagne. Give everything a quick swizzle, kick back, sip and savour!
