In 2000, Chef Cullin David travelled to Georgetown, Guyana to prospect for gold and study the native food.
One day, while relaxing in his hammock, he noticed a young woman across the way baking salara bread in an oil drum over her backyard fire. Later, he saw her again selling it from a hut in the town. Of course, he had to try. It turned out to be the best stuffed coconut sweet bread he鈥檇 ever had.
Providentially, on his Strathcona Village restaurant鈥檚 brunch menu, you鈥檒l find his version鈥nd I can鈥檛 imagine another recipe tasting any more delicious.
His main inspiration, however, comes from his Guyanese grandma.
鈥淪eeing how much time she put into things, and how she put her heart and soul into the food. There were no teaspoons. Her recipes were measured by 鈥榓 tick of this鈥�, 鈥榓 bit of that鈥�. That鈥檚 what authentic food means to me.鈥�
At Calabash, you won鈥檛 eat jerk chicken before it鈥檚 been marinated at least 12 hours, nor will you drink a Dark and Stormy without an alluring garnish of fresh coconut and cinnamon. From your greeting to your last course, the Calabash experience is special.
Here are five unique Caribbean flavours Chef Cullin recommends you try at his cozy Gastown dining room.
1. Ackee and Salt Fish
鈥淪alted cod has a big history in the Caribbean rum trade. Sailors would visit the island with huge shipments of rum and trade it for salt fish. Ackee is a fruit from West Africa that looks kind of crazy. It can cause Jamaican vomiting sickness unless its harvest properly. The seed and the membrane are outside the flesh, which is yellow, creamy and eggy in texture (it looks like scrambled egg). This is classic Caribbean, Jamaica鈥檚 national dish. We make it fresh-to-order, with peppers, tomatoes and onions.鈥�
2. Jerk Chicken
鈥淭his dish is rich in history, too. It used to be cooked over a grill made out of pimento branches until the Europeans came and invented the metal grill (which was the birth of barbecued chicken). Our jerk chicken is all about the marination of the spices and the herbs. We always marinate our meat overnight, but two days gives the best results. The spice we make in-house is a bit sweet, made with brown sugar, fruit juice, all spice, thyme, hot peppers and cinnamon. We have a dry jerk finishing spice that we put on our fries, too.鈥�
3. Dark and Stormy Cocktail
鈥淵ou need a Bermuda rum for this drink. We also use candied ginger, ginger beer (that we make ourselves鈥his really improves the drink), fresh coconut on top and a sprinkling of cinnamon, which is an aesthetic touch. I鈥檝e had some dark and stormies around the city that are missing the touch of cinnamon, and it鈥檚 just not the same.鈥�
*If you plan on knocking back more than one Calabash cocktail, try their Coconut Jumby. Made with lemongrass, mint, coconut water and rum, it鈥檚 incredibly easy to drink.
4. Love
鈥淧utting love into everything you do, from greeting people, to their first drink, to their appy, to their dessert. If you鈥檙e not putting love into it, what鈥檚 the point? What 鈥榩utting love into something鈥� means is that you鈥檙e focused on channelling energy and love into what you鈥檙e doing. I say to my staff, if you鈥檙e not putting love into it, what鈥檚 the point?鈥�
5. Kung Fu Roti
鈥淭his is something I made up a long time ago and it stuck. At first, I made it for my friends, and they loved it so I had to put it on menu. I was maybe 20 years old when I took roti home from The Reef and made a roti stuffed with chicken fingers, mango chutney and all these fixings. My buddies and I loved it. Here, we鈥檝e made them with duck confit, lamb, you name it. This is just something we do. You wouldn鈥檛 find it in Jamaica.鈥�
is located in Gastown, which is part of the Strathcona Village area. For more information on Strathcona Village (900 E. Hastings), visit to register and follow the hashtag #StrathconaVillage online for more updates on other local gems and more.
And, it鈥檚 time for contest #3! A $100 gift certificate to Calabash is up for grabs.
To enter...
1. Post a picture to Instagram (or tag an old shot) with the hashtag #StrathconaVillage
2. Tell us what you love about the Gastown, Chinatown and/or Railtown neighbourhoods.
And congrats to last week鈥檚 winner, @WanderungHike!
We鈥檙e giving away a $100 gift certificate each week for the next four weeks, so stay tuned to my Instagram account (@erinireland) for updates. The next winner will be announced on Friday, October 3rd. Good luck!
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