Recipe: Hibiscus Ginger Party Punch

Hibiscus Ginger Party Punch

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• boil :

  to cook a food in liquid heated to the point of gas bubbles and steam forming (boiling point is 212 F at sea level).

• steep :

  to soak a food, like tea, in water or other liquid so as to bring out its flavor.

• strain :

  to separate liquids from solid foods or remove bigger food particles from smaller particles using a perforated or porous device like a strainer, sieve, colander, or cheesecloth.

What is Jamaican Punch?

• One unusual type of Jamaican punch is "sea cat" punch. Its name comes from the Jamaican nickname for "octopus." It is named after the octopus because one of the ingredients is the milky white liquid produced by boiling the octopus. Other ingredients may include white rum, rum cream, peanuts, molasses, malt powder, and a liquid meal supplement, Supligen, by Nestlé.
• Another Jamaican punch is "sorrel" or hibiscus punch. Jamaicans refer to the hibiscus plant and its fruit as sorrel. This punch is a popular Christmas beverage. Ingredients include dried or fresh sorrel fruit (or hibiscus tea), sugar, white rum, and spices like allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.
• Jamaican punches often include alcohol, like rum; however, they can also be made non-alcoholic. Of course, beverages at Sticky Fingers Cooking® are always alcohol (and octopus) free!

Let's Learn About Jamaica!

• Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean, just south of Cuba and West of Haiti. The capital and largest city is Kingston.
• Jamaica is 4,244 square miles in size, and its population in 2018 was over 2.7 million. That is a little smaller than the state of Connecticut with about 1 million less people.
• The currency is the Jamaican dollar. The official language is English, but Jamaica's primary and de facto national language is Jamaican Patois (PATwa), an English-based creole.
• Spain claimed Jamaica after Spanish explorers landed in 1494; however, in 1655, it became an English colony before gaining its independence in 1962.
• The original inhabitants of Jamaica were the Arawak people. The Arawak grew corn and yams. Today, none of the crops grown in Jamaica are native to the island, including sugar cane, bananas, and mangoes. Bamboo, coconut palms, and breadfruit were also imported to the island.
• Jamaica's climate is tropical. It can be hot and humid and prone to damage caused by hurricanes.
• The Blue Mountain range is the longest in Jamaica, and Blue Mountain Peak, at 7,402 feet, is the highest spot on the island.
• Jamaica has eight native snake species, but none are venomous.
• In Jamaica, as in England, they drive on the left-hand side of the road.
• Reggae music originated in Jamaica, home of well-known musician Bob Marley.
• Over one million tourists visit Jamaica every year.
• Jamaica produces many talented athletes, especially in track and field, where runners Usain Bolt, Johan Blake, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce have excelled.
• In 1988, Jamaica became the first tropical country to enter a Winter Olympic event. It was the four-man bobsled event. 
• The biggest and the tiniest butterflies found in the New World are in Jamaica: the Homerus Swallowtail and the Pygmy Blue.
• Pimento trees, which grow in Jamaica, produce allspice. The name "allspice" originated from the popular notion that the pimento berry contains the characteristic flavor and aroma of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper, all combined in one spice. Jamaican allspice is of the highest quality, and the country is the largest allspice exporter worldwide. 
• Jamaican cuisine uses a local spice mixture that has become famous, Jamaican jerk spice. It includes ground allspice and Scotch bonnet chili peppers. You can use it as a spice rub or in a marinade for meat, especially chicken or pork. Like many Caribbean countries, the cuisines of several countries influenced Jamaican foods over the years, such as African, Spanish, Portuguese, Cornish, Chinese, and East Indian.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Jamaica?

• Kids go to school from 8 am to 2 or 2:30 pm. School is taught in English in Jamaican schools. After six years of primary school (grades 1-6), students go on to Lower School (junior high) for three years and then to Upper School (senior high) for three years. Uniforms are the required dress code.
• Jamaican kids participate in sports like football (soccer), track and field, cricket, tennis, netball, and basketball. They may play a game called "Dandy Shandy" that is similar to dodgeball. "Bull Inna Pen" is a game with children playing the parts of the bull, the mother hen, or the chicks she protects from the bull.
• Kids may eat "ackee and saltfish" (fruit and codfish) for breakfast, along with boiled green bananas and fried dumplings. Ackee is the national fruit used more like a starch or veggie, and "ackee and saltfish" is considered the Jamaican national dish. 
• At Christmastime, due to British influence, families may serve "black cake" or Christmas pudding. Other popular treats are the Jamaican spiced bun; "gizzada," a tart filled with sweet, spicy coconut; "coconut drops," a toffee-like sweet made with coconut chunks and sugar; and a coconut and ginger candy called "busta."