Caribbean Food Essay

414 Words2 Pages
The Caribbean is a group of islands that stretch over 2000 miles in the Caribbean Sea. These islands are also called the West Indies. Christopher Columbus was responsible for naming these islands. He gave the name West Indies because in his search for India he ran into these islands and assumed they were off the coast of India. The largest island in the Caribbean is Cuba. These islands were formed from coral, limestone, mountain ranges and volcanic eruptions. A majority of the islands are flat and are made of up coral and limestone. Natives of Caribbean lived in small settlements. They obtained food from the ocean and hunting the land with blow guns, bows and arrows. After Columbus' discovery, Spain took a majority control of these islands. Other European countries such as England, France, and Germany took a high interest after catching word of the beautiful islands. These countries were relentless in their attempt to control these islands. The new European settlers brought disease to the natives witch were not immune to these diseases. The Europeans also brought an estimated 100 million slaves to these parts to farm sugar cane. The Caribbean is the worlds largest producer of sugar in the world. The culture in the West Indies soon changed from that of the Europeans to the Africans. African influence in the Caribbean can be seen in their religious and spiritual views. The Carib people also follow many African rituals. When the slave trade was abolished in the nineteenth century the islands saw yet another cultural influence. This influence came from the Asians. Currently the islands are comprised of African, European, and Asian descent with the Africans still as the majority. Native Caribbeans are credited to be the first culture to introduce the use of chili peppers in their cuisine. Slow cooking meat over an open fire was one of the natives cooking
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