When you think of Bermuda, you’re probably picturing the pink-sand beaches and a two-week holiday with incredible food.
But if you’ve ever eaten in Brooklyn, you may have noticed that a few flavor profiles that keep popping up are extremely similar to those in Bermuda. That’s because a lot of the food in both Brooklyn and Bermuda has been inspired by Caribbean flavors.
Key Ingredients
In Brooklyn, salt cod is weekend breakfast food. Ackee and saltfish are rich and savory and exactly the kind of homey meal you want on a slow Saturday morning in Flatbush. In Bermuda, codfish and potatoes are served up as the unofficial Sunday dish.
Lime is also one of the main ingredients used to squeeze over these fishy meals. But they can also be stirred into marinades or used to brighten up an otherwise heavy dish.
When it comes to drinks, Bermuda’s dark rum poured over ginger beer (also known as a Dark ‘n Stormy) is ultra-refreshing on a hot summer’s day. However, you can also taste it in glazes and dishes like chowders. In Brooklyn, rum is used the same way, and can transform a simple sauce into something served at a fine-dining restaurant.
The Caribbean Influence
Brooklyn’s Caribbean food culture came with the people. Jamaican, Trinidadian, Haitian, and Guyanese families brought their traditional recipes with them and never stopped making them. From home kitchens to market stalls and small restaurants, the Caribbean flavors they use have been feeding the same neighborhoods for decades.
On the other hand, Bermuda’s food is what you get when West African and Caribbean dishes meet British influences. After all, it’s one of the only places in the world where you can order fish chowder finished off with rum and sherry peppers, and then top it all off with a creamy trifle or sticky toffee pudding.
Similar Dishes
There’s a slight overlap between what you get on your plate in Brooklyn and what’s on the menu in Bermuda, and it’s easy to spot the similarities when you compare specific dishes.
Fish-based meals
Fish is a default ingredient in Bermuda and just as common in Brooklyn’s Caribbean communities. Bermuda keeps things fairly simple with fresh wahoo or rockfish. In Brooklyn, however, escovitch or brown stew fish are far more common and have more bold, complex flavors.
Stews and chowders
Brooklyn’s Caribbean stews are packed with tons of flavor and slow-cooked to perfection (with a little bit of heat to kick the dishes up a notch).
In Bermuda, fish chowder is prepared for hours, and isn’t complete until you’ve added a slash of rum at the table.
Fried street food
If you’ve ever had a fish sandwich on raisin bread in Bermuda, then you’ll know just how unique it is. The sweetness of the bread against the savory fish works perfectly, and it has inspired plenty of other dishes you might find in Brooklyn.
For example, Brooklyn serves Jamaican-inspired golden fried dough from sidewalk stalls (known as festivals). The dough also has the slight sweetness of raisin bread, but when they’re deep fried, the oil gives them a savory quality that resembles the fish batter you’ll find in Bermuda.
What Makes Bermuda and Brooklyn Different?
Bermuda’s restaurants are slightly more formal than Brooklyn’s street food stalls, and typically have a dress code and tables overlooking the water. So you’ll need to pack with that in mind before you go, since showing up to a harbourside restaurant in sneakers isn’t always an option.
Bermuda imports a lot of its ingredients as well, which means a meal that would be quite affordable in Brooklyn could easily cost three times as much on the island. Bermuda definitely wins in terms of freshness, though, with the fish almost always having been freshly caught on the day it’s served.
Crossing the 700 Miles
A Bermuda cruise offers you the chance to experience the Caribbean flavors you’ll find in Brooklyn, just a lot more elevated. So if you want to taste the difference between how the ingredients are used, booking that cruise is well worth it for a world-class foodie holiday.
