Montego Bay’s foodie denizens are singing the praises of The Calypso Restaurant. The beachfront eatery — situated at the Seawind Beach Club in the Second City’s Freeport area — has made a lasting impression with its top-notch Caribbean cuisine and exceptional service.

Thursday Life continues our look at The Calypso and the mastery of its executive chef Luis Fitch who has crafted a menu that fuses the rich flavours of the cuisine of Jamaica, The Bahamas, Cuba, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic. We share four of Fitch’s recipes, which we recommend you try this Christmas.

Mexican Christmas Punch

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 sugar cane stalk

1 guava

1/2 pineapple

1 cup Sorrel Jamaica (hibiscus flower) water. (Boil the hibiscus in water for ten minutes, discard the flowers).

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup tamarind pulp

1 stick cinnamon

2 cups

Method:

1 Wash and cut all fruit ingredients.

2 In a medium pot, mix the water and fruit, and boil for about five minutes.

3 Add sugar, remove it from fire and let it rest for another five minutes.

4 Serve hot with sugar cane stalk as garnish.

Duck breast with garambullo sauce and fried mashed sweet potatoes

Yields 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 duck breast

For the sauce:

1 cup Sorrel Infusion

1 cup Jamaica (hibiscus flower) water. (Boil the hibiscus in water for ten minutes, discard the flowers).

1 cup sugar

For the sweet potatoes:

2 1/2 lbs Sweet potatoes, Peeled and diced

2 cups water

1 stick of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of butter

Method:

1 Cook the duck breast at medium heat in a heavy bottom pan to desired temperature and slice.

2 For the sauce, mix all the ingredients and reduce by half.

3 For the sweet potatoes, cook the sweet potatoes in water and cinnamon, until soft. Strain, then add 1 teaspoon of butter. Make square-shaped cubes, sprinkle with sugar and sautée.

4 In a plate put the sauce and then the mashed potato cubes. Put the sliced duck around and garnish with vegetables.

Pan-seared tuna medallions with chocho and wakame salad and lemon basil vinaigrette

Ingredients:

80 g fresh Ahi tuna

1 piece chocho

Lemon basil (a handful of leaves)

Lime juice (3 large limes)

2 tablespoons of soya sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil

2 tablespoons of capers

1/2 onion

1 tablespoon of olive oil

15 g wakame salad (sea asparagus)

Method:

For Raw Chocho Salad

1 Prepare lemon basil vinaigrette by placing basil leaves, lime juice, soya sauce and sesame seed oil in a blender to make a smooth vinaigrette.

2 Cut chocho in thin julienne strips.

3 Marinate the chocho in the lemon basil vinaigrette.

4 Prepare a mixture of capers, lime, onion and olive oil.

5 Sear tuna in a non-stick pan for 1 minute on each side

6 Slice carefully the seared tuna.

7 Place the chocho salad as a bed on a plate.

8 Distribute the tuna slices over the chocho salad.

9 Spread the mixture of lime, oil, onion and capers on tuna.

10 Place the wakame salad on plate at one of the extremes.

11 Decorate with dots of chipotle or other chilli.

12 Garnish with micro greens

Sea bass fillet with yam pancake and spicy lemon grass broth

Ingredients:

250 grams fresh sea bass fillet

1 stalk leek

15 grams fresh ginger

I stalk of lemon grass root

1 chilli pepper

Lime (1 lime)

1 tablespoon butter

1 carrot

1/2 handful of raw callaloo

1/2 cup water

1 Irish potato

30 grams white yam

Method:

1 Blend lemon grass, ginger and chilli with 1/2 cup water until smooth and strain.

2 Sauté chopped leek, carrot julienne and chopped callaloo with butter.

3 Add lemon grass, ginger and chilli blend until vegetables are soft, and put aside.

4 Spread the yam and potato, making a thin pancake and pan fry then put aside.

5 Pan fry sea bass until cooked and has a golden colour; season with salt and pepper to taste.

6 Serve the vegetable blend with broth on a pasta bowl or similar dish.

7 Put the potato and yam pancake on top of vegetables.

8 Finally, cook fish over the potato and yam pancake.

9 Garnish with micro greens.

Coconut Shrimp

Ingredients:

For the Shrimp

6 bamboo skewers

6 (16/20 size) shrimp

1 egg

30g wheat flour

20g bread crumbs or panko bread crumb

5g shredded coconut

For the Sauce

40g tamarind pulp

1 stalk bottom lemon grass (fibre grass)

10g fresh ginger

1 red hot chilli pepper

1/2 litre of water

1 cup Jamaican brown sugar

Method:

1 Peel and devein shrimp.

2 Mix bread crumbs and shredded coconut.

3 Beat egg (whisk or fork).

4 Place in skewers carefully (stabbing the shrimp from the tail).

5 Pass shrimp through the flour and then through the egg.

6 Let the shrimp rest in the fridge while preparing sauce.

7 Blend the lemon grass, chilli pepper and ginger with 1/2 cup of water.

8 Put water to boil in a sauce pan then add tamarind, letting it dissolve.

9 Add the tamarind pulp to boiling water until dissolved and strain.

10 Add sugar, lemon grass, chilli and ginger. Blend until there is a thick sauce, add salt to taste.

11 Deep fry the shrimp for 2 minutes at a temperature of 210 degrees Celsius until there is a brown colour.

12 Tie shrimp all together 1 inch from top and spread in a tent shape with the lemon grass, place the sauce in the middle of the plate inside the tent shape and serve.