The Best Halal Restaurants serving Caribbean food. Toronto, Ontario

Caribbean restaurants serve delicious and well-priced island foods using ingredients and cooking methods that are exclusive to their countries of origin. Caribbean food is unique because it uses local ingredients, including plants that are unique to the region, while drawing influence from the numerous cultures of its inhabitants. European colonists, Africans and migrants from India and Asia all influenced the local cuisine in their own way, resulting in a trademark style of cooking which emphasizes European and local ingredients with indo-chinese spices and cooking techniques. Local ingredients include rice, cassava, plantain, beans, chickpeas, sweet potatoes and coconut. Many of these ingredients can't be locally sourced and must be brought in from the Caribbean directly, lending an authentic feel to the dishes prepared from these exotic items.
The Caribbean Roti is an adaptation of Naan bread which comes from India. Roti is made from stoneground wholemeal flour, baked without yeast into a large flatbread. This flat, thin bread acts as a wrap which can be stuffed with numerous ingredients such as chicken, beef, goat, shrimp or conch, among other stuffings. Roti is a staple of the West Indian diet and is commonly served as street food. Another common street food known as doubles bears some similarity to a roti. Doubles are made by preparing a fluffy bread called Bara. This bread is formed into a round, thin disk about 5 inches across and then fried to a golden brown colour. A doubles consists of a portion of curried chick peas served between two pieces of Bara.Roti is commonly served at all Caribbean restaurants while Doubles are typically unique to Trinidadian and Guyanese cuisine where the Indian influence on cooking is the most profound.
Some Caribbean Restaurants emphasize the Chinese influence on West Indian cuisine that largely originated in Jamaica. Curried or stewed chicken is served alongside fried rice or noodles mixed with vegetables. Categorically Asian dishes typically found at a Chinese restaurant, such as orange chicken or sweet and sour chicken have also found their way into some Caribbean restaurants, exemplifying the influence that Chinese meal preparation has had on West Indian cuisine.
Jerk chicken and jerk pork are common dishes served in Jamaican restaurants where the technique of jerking originates. The meat is either dry-rubbed or marinated in a very spicy sauce which contains allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, a very hot pepper that grows in the West Indies and is a main ingredient in many pepper sauces from the region. Other spices like cloves, cinnamon and garlic may be added to the marinade to enhance the flavour. The meat is usually grilled in a steel pan over hot coals which provide a smoky flavour to the meat.
Caribbean restaurants are unique in that each one offers a unique interpretation of the fusion of African, East Indian, Chinese and European influences that make up Caribbean cuisine. Although some restaurants exhibit primarily Northern Caribbean influences, serving Jamaican dishes with little Indian influence, equally as many find their inspiration in Guyanese or Trinidadian cooking from the South Caribbean. Find your inspiration on Menu Palace, which features listings of the best Caribbean Restaurants in Toronto and the GTA.