Belly Full: Exploring Caribbean Cuisine through 11 Fundamental Ingredients and Over 100 Recipes

Belly Full: Exploring Caribbean Cuisine through 11 Fundamental Ingredients and Over 100 Recipes by food writer Lesley Enston is a thoughtful exploration of Caribbean cuisine that uses eleven foundational ingredients to tell the interconnected stories of the region’s diverse islands, cultures, and histories. Drawing on her Trinidadian heritage, Enston combines more than 100 recipes with rich historical narratives, examining how African, Indigenous, European, and Asian influences shaped the food traditions of countries including Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago. Organized around staple ingredients such as plantains, cassava, coconut, okra, salted cod, and scotch bonnet peppers, Belly Full is both a practical cookbook and a cultural journey that celebrates the shared roots, distinct identities, and enduring resilience of the Caribbean diaspora through the universal language of food.