As I continued exploring the city of Portsmouth, Dominica, I was joined by a special guest: the former mayor, Julian Brewster. He welcomed me to Portsmouth on behalf of the community and teased the amazing things I’d see in this thriving Caribbean market.
It was Saturday morning, so it was market day here in Dominica. We started at the beginning of the market, where there was a vendor selling fresh breadfruit, coconuts, avocadoes, and plantains. Further on was a woman selling papaya, passion fruit, tomatoes, and household items.
As we walked further down the street, we found vendors selling cassava flour, produce, cinnamon, limes, cacao, honey, coconut oil, ginger, and more. We crossed the street to The Cassava Man, a vendor who was grilling cassava flour flatbread on a griddle. They even had some with fillings!
He makes rectangle-shaped ones that he fills with cheese, ham, and sauce to make a cassava flour wrap. To others, he adds grated coconut and sugar for a sweeter flatbread. It was grainy and flavorful but had a slight gooey texture on the inside. I loved it. I’d eaten these in Moraikobai, a small village in Guyana!
As we continued through this amazing Caribbean market, we passed more produce vendors and found some butchers and meat vendors. We watched them butcher some beef, lamb, and pork.
Inside a covered section, there were people dancing! Then, Julian took me to buy some garments. Along the way, we got a tender coconut from a vendor. I drank the water and then ate the meat inside. You can also buy bottled coconut water from them.
Just a few streets away from the main market is Universal Tailor Shop, where you can buy local garments, including head scarves and creole ties. I bought a head scarf, and then we headed back to the covered Caribbean market, where they were holding an awards ceremony.
Inside were more vendors selling produce, honey, juices, carrot cake, banana cake, and coconut cake. We also saw bottled coconut oil, browning sauce, pepper sauce, and more. On the other side was a stand selling local dishes. Julian took me over to Clavia’s Local Cuisine to get some food.
I ordered some crab callaloo, which also contained some dumplings in a nice, thick gravy. It was hot and flavorful, and rich. I liked the thick soup and the amazing dumplings. Then, the woman inside gave me some codfish accra, which is a small, fried fish cake.
It was crispy and oily, and soft in the middle. It was insanely flavorful. I was loving the Creole aspect to the food. It adds an amazing dimension to the food!
Back outside, we came across some vendors selling apples, melons, and grapes, before we arrived at the fish market. I watched the butchers cut up a large piece of tuna. The motto here in Dominica is “Grow what you eat, eat what you grow.” The vast majority of the produce there is grown locally, and 1% is imported.
What a great morning exploring the Caribbean market in Portsmouth!
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