Recipes: Culinary Adventures In Bermuda

Experience a taste of Bermuda at home with these three recipes from celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Bermuda, to me, is pink – pink sand, pink shorts, pink houses.

And yes, pink is a colour of happiness, of lightheartedness. It beckons and charms us. In Hamilton, Bermuda’s largest city, I was charmed by a place that’s affectionately called the Pink Palace by locals. It’s the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, a Fairmont managed property and, this past summer, it entered its second act. After two years and about $100 million USD later, the more than 100-year-old hotel is ready for its close up.

Luckily, my foodie appetite was also enlivened, due to the recent opening of Marcus’, the eponymous island outpost of New York City-based celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, seen above, greeting me at the launch party. He’s known for Red Rooster, the groundbreaking Harlem restaurant where his interpretation of American comfort food informed by the storied NYC neighbourhood is fused with his adoptive parents’ Swedish roots and his own Ethiopian heritage.

JERK PORK BELLY, QUAIL EGG, STEWED FAVA BEANS (above)

Jerk Sauce

• 10 garlic cloves
• 3 scotch bonnets or habañeros
• 2 bunches scallions
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup Meyer’s rum
• 1/3 cup molasses
• ¼ cup kosher salt

Red Slaw

• 1 cup shredded red cabbage
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onions
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp grated apple
• 3 tbsp Kewpie mayo (Japanese mayo)

Fava Beans

• 1/3 cup diced bacon
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
• ¼ cup chopped onions
• 2 tbsp chopped celery
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup tomatoes, blended and reduced by half
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup cooked fava beans

Pork Belly

• 2 lb skin-on pork belly
• Salt and pepper
• 4 quail eggs

 

Jerk Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth

Slaw: In a large bowl, combine cabbage, red onions, vinegar, sugar and salt; cover with a paper towel and weight down with a heavy pan or bag of dried rice/beans. Let stand overnight. Squeeze out liquid and mix slaw with apples and mayo. Season with salt if needed.

Fava Beans: Sauté bacon in the oil until golden brown. Add onion, celery and garlic; sauté until softened. Add tomatoes, mustard, brown sugar, sriracha, tarragon and oregano and cook through, about 10 minutes. Add cooked fava beans and season to taste.

Pork Belly: Score skin of pork belly about a quarter inch (be careful not to cut through to the meat). Season with salt and pepper on both sides and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. In a cast iron skillet or baking dish, bake pork belly in 250 F oven until completely tender, about 5 hours. Cut into four equal portions and drain excess fat. (You can refrigerate cooked pork wrapped in foil for up to 5 days at this point.)

To serve, roast cooked pork belly skin side up in 450 F oven until the skin is bubbly, about 15 minutes. In a small skillet, fry the quail eggs. Serve pork belly on top of the fava beans and slaw with a drizzling of the jerk sauce and egg on top for garnish.

 

FISH CHOWDER BITES WITH RUM AÏOLI

Chowder

• ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ sweet onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• ½ green pepper, diced
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• ½ cup diced carrots
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp Sherry Pepper Sauce
• 1 tbsp dark rum
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 3 cups fish stock
• 1 cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup Heinz chili sauce
• ½ tbsp fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 cloves
• ¼ tsp allspice
• Salt
• Fresh chopped parsley

Rum Aïoli