Coco bread: Essentially an extra pillowy pita pocket with the fat content of a croissant, this trusty trencher and mopper-upper incorporates coconut milk for added density and unctuousness, although there are versions that use other fats effectively.
Porridge: Typically consumed at breakfast or lunch, this isn’t the blank canvass of your continental breakfast “hot cereal.” Rather, Jamaican porridge tends to be long-simmered and spice-infused, with coconut milk serving the essential function again of melding flavors that would otherwise wander off in their own gustatory directions. It also tends to boast more than one starch, such as my all-time favorite, which incorporates a thick slurry of green bananas and plantains with chewy pearls of bulgur wheat.
Condensed (Tin) Milk
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of Thai or Vietnamese iced coffee can attest that this thick, syrupy milk derivative supplies a richer, fuller sweetness than any number of sugar packets. Not that Jamaicans are averse to sugar—white or brown cane sugar is kind of our raison d’être, after all—but when we want a robust pot or cup of something-something to be sweetened, it’s our tin milk that we turn to. Once opened, tin milk should be stored, covered, in the fridge, and should ideally be used up within the week.
