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Nutrition: Food & Culture

Everyone, please welcome the sweet and gentle Mrs. Cassanova.

I’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

My name is Cynthia Cassanova. I was born in Belize. I moved to the United States as a young adult and resided there for 40 years. Seven years ago, I returned to Belize.

I see. I am hoping to visit Belize one day soon. I haven’t traveled to Central America yet. I will have to ask Corin to start planning something. [laughs]

You are welcome.

Thank you. Please share three to five traditional dishes in Belizean culture and their ingredients with my readers.

Three traditional dishes are:

• Rice and beans: red kidney, black or black eye peas, prepared with coconut milk, onion, garlic (bell peppers optional), and white rice.
• Stewed chicken: cut chicken, coconut oil, onions, garlic, vegetables of choice, and annato seasoning.
• Potato salad: tender boiled and diced potatoes, canned mixed vegetables (I prefer to cook fresh carrots and coarsely chopped green bell peppers), salad dressing, chopped onions.
• Pepper and salt are added to each dish to taste.

That all sounds good. I have had Belizean food once. I’ve had conch fritters, panades, salbutes, and stewed red snapper. I asked Corin to take me to a Belizean restaurant and she took it to the next level. You know how she is. She loves thrifty extravagance. [laughs] She gone definitely take advantage of the opportunity to make it a moment. She ordered a variety of dishes, and I was able to try a few things in one setting. It was like a little feast. [laughs]

Are there believed to be any medicinal/healing attributes to the traditional foods of Belize? What are some staple/essential ingredients?

Onion has antioxidant properties. Garlic has antibiotic and blood pressure reducing properties and is used in almost all dishes. A staple vegetable is callaloo (collard greens) which builds red blood cells. Plantain is a staple ingredient and is used a lot but likely have no healing properties.

Plantains have some nutritional benefits such as fiber. The thing is their nutrition is affected by how they are cooked.

Oh, that is good to know.

Yes it is, because plantain is too delicious to not eat. [laughs] Also, I take/swallow a clove of garlic from time to time to support my immune and digestive health. I have my daughter do it as well. I did not know callaloo was collard greens. I love collards and I love callaloo. I was introduced to callaloo in Jamaican cuisine.

Is Belizean food healthy?

Belizean food is very healthy. A lot of fresh and organic food is used for the most part. Suppliers of fresh foods are readily accessible. Fresh foods are bought weekly or at least three times during the week.   One not so healthy thing is the meals are often packed with starches.

Are there a lot of fresh vegetables included in the preparation?

Yes. We can get organic fruits and vegetables at the market daily. And may people do.

You all are sooo [sic] lucky. Having access to fresh organic fruits and vegetables regularly sounds amazing. I would love to have that as my daily experience. How are traditional Belizean meals typically prepared? How long does it take?

It usually takes two hours to prepare our meals. Beans, rice, and potatoes are typically boiled; chicken is browned in little oil before it is seasoned. Often a liquid is added to produce a gravy. All the meals are stove top prepared.   

In your opinion, would traditional Belizean food work for meal prepping?

Minimizing starches must be considered for meal planning Belizean food. Starchy foods are inexpensive thus they are used often. Otherwise, there are a wide array of fruits, vegetables, beans, and meats that are vital to a healthy diet used in Belizean cooking and can be used for meal prepping.

Can you share with my readers what sets Belizean cuisine apart from other cuisines?

Most of our food is organically grown with minimal use of pesticides and herbicides. I believe that the foods consumed here are fresher. As a child we would go to the food market daily to get the freshest pick. Some families still do that today but the majority shop three times weekly.

That’s awesome. Continuous availability of organically grown fresh food as the normality is definitely a game changer. Let’s talk about food in America – what do you love? What do you not love?

Can’t think of any foods in America that I don’t love. Fast foods are the bomb and keep me out of the kitchen. [laughs] Those foods there however do have a high content of fat because of the deep frying. There are some things that are not good about how food is managed in America. Raw foods are stocked piled or frozen which takes away from the freshness. Also, there is much more use of preservatives and pesticides and added hormones. All that affects the food.

You are right about that. The preservation practices and use of additives to extend shelf life, among other things, in America greatly impacts the quality of our food. Would you say it was easy adjusting to American cuisine, and if not, what were some of the biggest adjustments you’ve had to make?

When I’m in America, I stick to my Belizean cuisine out of habit because it is simpler to prepare. Plus, the ingredients are available there. As a full time working mother while there, fast foods were my cuisine of choice especially on work days. Wasn’t a good choice on my part but it made it easier to manage a family. Now that I am retired, there is much more time to stand at a stove and cook. Not for pleasure but for necessity. That’s why I welcome fast foods.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about this topic.

You are most welcome.

Photo credit: Arturo Rivera via Unsplash