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Floribbean cuisine is the marriage of the familiar, and not-so-familiar

By CHEF DAVID BEARL
First Coast Technical Institute'sSchool of Culinary Arts

	click photo to enlarge  Chef David Bearl, Director at First Coast Technical Institute's School of Culinary Arts, suggests trying a Key Lime Pie as dessert for the New Floribbean cuisine. By ANDREA S. BLUM, Staff

For marketing reasons you will see many restaurants and resorts in Florida touting new Floribbean Cuisine as the driving force behind their menus.

To quote the Rob Report, "At its best, New Floribbean cuisine is bright, colorful, and tantalizing. At its worst, it is a chaotic jumble of too many ingredients crammed onto a plate." It's a marriage of the familiar and the unfamiliar.

New Floribbean cuisine is the evolution of nouvelle cuisine and fusion cuisine based on indigenous ingredients. Nouvelle cuisine focuses on fresh local ingredients, smaller portions (as in spa cuisine), with local fruits and vegetables, all presented with flair. Fusion cuisine is the result of the transportation and information infrastructure that allows people, ideas, and products to move quickly and unimpeded. You can purchase any product now no matter what the season. You can obtain any recipe as well with a simple keystroke. When I went on the Internet to see what was there, I found more than 1830 Floribbean entries.When folks in Florida "fuse" local ingredients with tropical Caribbean fruits, vegetables, spices and menus, Floribbean cuisine is born. However, Floribbean food is a lighter version of its Caribbean cousin, with less frying and fewer oils involved in the preparation.

Menus utilizing mangos, papaya, avocados, plantains, various hot peppers and other island specialties mixed with abundant seafood are now the norm in many Florida restaurants. It also blends hot, spicy Caribbean flavors with "softer" accents of cinnamon, honey and allspice in addition to oregano, cumin and cilantro. Flavors shine through in marinated, grilled and roasted fish, meats or poultry enhanced by salsas, dressings and sauces. Traditional seafood fare and a mix of strong spices, marinades, smooth dressings and sauces create a playground for the palate.

Indeed, to capture our discerning customers, restaurant operators must strive for freshness and quality. They must follow the market trends or fail.

	click photo to enlarge  Chef David Bearl, Director at First Coast Technical Institute's School of Culinary Arts, suggests trying the Baked Grouper with Papaya Bourbon Sauce and Mango Salsa as the entree for the New Floribbean cuisine. By ANDREA S. BLUM, Staff

The owner of Norman's in Coral Gables, aptly put it in a quote in Restaurants & Institutions: "Restaurateurs who ignore the people of the culture and their contributions miss the leading dynamic of opportunity."

Floribbean cuisine becomes increasingly more popular every day. This new and strange word is popping up in restaurant magazines and cooking shows everywhere. If you're eating your way around our Sunshine State, or just enjoying local fare, this exciting cuisine makes dining fun, delicious and surprisingly different.

Chef David Bearl, director of First Coast Technical Institute's School of culinary Arts, has been a certified culinary educator for 17 years. He is a Certified Chef de Cuisine with the American Culinary Federation and was recently named Chef of the Year by the St. Augustine Cooks and Chefs Association.

David makes his home in Crescent Beach with his wife MaryEllen and their family.

	click photo to enlarge  Chef David Bearl, Director at First Coast Technical Institute's School of Culinary Arts, suggests trying the Ceviche as an appetizer for the New Floribbean cuisine. By ANDREA S. BLUM, Staff