Savor the food, flavor, rhythm, and romance of the Caribbean.A truly authentic guide to down-home traditional Caribbean cooking, the kind you'd find at roadside stands,Sky Juice and Flying Fishcaptures the feel of the Islands, bringing the blue-green sea, the tropical breeze, and the exotic scents of the Caribbean into the American kitchen.A culinary history of each of the Islands provides the perfect introduction to the 150 mouth-watering recipes for appetizers and soups, entrees, side dishes, and desserts, all featuring the distinctly exotic seasonings -- ginger, garlic, chili, coconut, curries, and rum -- of the Caribbean.Begin your meal with plantain chips and a rum-spiked 'ti-punch. Go on to Bajan Fried Chicken from Barbados, complemented by a banana-ginger chutney and served with Jamaican Rice and Peas. Finish up with a sumptuous coconut pudding.A glossary lists ingredients from achiote (small reddish berries) to z'yeux noirs (black-eyed peas), which can be found in grocery stores, Caribbean markets, or through the mail-order source list provided in the appendix.

A professor of French and English at Queens College, Jessica B. Harris is the author of Hot Stuff: In Praise of the Piquant, and Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons, Africa's Gift to New World Cooking. She lives in New York City.