A “Baje” Cooks in Brooklyn
A wonderfully authentic kitchen succeeds Just beyond Prospect Park
For almot 3 years I have been spoiled by, not just discoverig the unique flavors and recipes indigenous to the Caribbean island of Barbados, but the quality to which their foods and dishes are ubiquitously high.
So when I thought to check if people back in New York City had a restaurant where the could avail themselves of top-tier Bajan (Barbadian) cuisine, I discovered a place called Culppepper’s out past Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
My early spring trip back to Gotham saw me too short of time to mke the trip, but I made sure this return to NYC that I wouls make both the time and commitment.
I am very glad I did. My recent visit landed me at a colorful, humble little corner restaurant that greets incoming customers with warm greetings and lovely aromas. I already knew what I what order before I got there — fried flying fish with cou-cou, fish cakes, and a mauby drink.
The short, savory, and sweet of it? Every menu item I enjoyed thoroughly brought me back to the business and home kitchens of the best Bajan food I indulge with on as regular as possible.
The flying fish was crispy and well seasoned on the outside, giving way to moist, tasty, flaky flying fish. The fish cakes likewise boasted a crispy exterior, softer on the inside, a pepper-and-herbs batter that cooks light and airy, speckled with visible chunks of fish.
The mauby drink made me smile. I remember the first time I had it in Barbados I thought it tasted ... different. Now it turns out that when I have a mauby drink it goes down as easily as water — delicious water! — without a second thought.
Through some serendipity of a wrongly scheduled pick up car service ride, I was there enough extra minutes to meet the lovely owner, a kind, stately gentleman named Winston. As well a friend who saw me post while I was there decided to surprise me for a visit.
The three of us and a local friend of Winston’s then shared tales of the restaurant industries and, admiring my custom Barbados Kente cloth designed apparel — related the histories of the first Africans who were brought to Barbados on slave ships, and (as my own family’s American lineage starts in South Carolina) how many of those slaves first landed at South Carolina before being “distributed” throughout the rest of the country.
I was happy to see an old friend, and pleased to now have made two new ones. I’ll be back home in Barbados in just a few days, but it is reassuring that during any future visit back to New York City, I can state any Bajan culinary homesickness by just stopping by Culpepper’s again — which I look very much forward to. I of corse still need to revel in the other Bajan staples, including conkies, pudding & souse, and any of the lovely pastries that are as well ubiquitous throughout Barbados.
