Pirate Theme Party

No doubt cod was a staple pirate recipe. Pirates feasted on many types of seafood & the Caribbean is ripe with codfish. Try it out and check back at our pirate recipe blog often for more ideas.

1/4 lb. raw codfish, (Dried Salted Codfish)
1/4 lb. flour 1 medium sized onion
2 medium sized tomatoes
1 small clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 stalks escallion (or leeks)
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper
Wash codfish with lime or lemon juice, dry and dice or shred finely.
Chop very fine the onions, garlic, escallion or leeks, hot pepper and tomatoes, combine.
In a skillet using a small amount of oil, fry the chopped seasoning until thoroughly cooked.
Place the codfish in a mixing bowl and to this add the flour and sufficient cold water to make a batter similar to that of pancakes- quite thin, stirring until smooth.
Add the fried seasoning and the paprika.
Have a skillet well heated with oil for frying, using a moderate amount of oil.
Spoon the batter in the skillet as you would for pancakes, but use a knife to spread each fritter thin.
Fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides.
Drain on paper towels and keep in a dish in a warm oven until ready to serve.
These fritters will make an excellent cocktail snack, for which purpose use a small teaspoon to measure fritters when frying. Spear with toothpicks to serve.
NOTE: The fritters must be served hot.

Thanks for visiting the pirate recipes blog. For anyone who has been to the Caribbean, there is a staple food there that you may not know about it. It is conch, and it is a native seafood that is easy to obtain and prepare. Conch can be rather tasty and was surely one of the pirates favorite pirate recipes. Check back at this blog often to get more ideas on how to host your next pirate theme party.

3 pounds conch, skinned, finely diced (cooked diced lobster may be used instead)
2 hot red peppers, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 green peppers, finely chopped
1 small cucumber, peeled and finely diced
2 firm, ripe tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh lime juice or lemon juice
Salt to taste.
The conch has to be prepared by using two large bowls of salt water. Wash conch thoroughly in first bowl. Dice finely and put into second bowl to soak for about 30 minutes; drain. Combine all ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Allow mixture to marinate 30 minutes to 1 hour in refrigerator. Serve cold on lettuce leaves.

Yields 8 to 10 servings

Certainly many pirates were familiar with the pirate recipe. Here are a few you can enjoy. Come back often to the pirate recipe blog for more information.

JAMAICAN SHRIMP
1 doz. Scotch Bonnet Pepper
2 bots. Hot Pepper Sauce
1 lb. Escallion
2-3 pkgs. Shrimp
Garlic
Thyme
Oil
Method
Place shrimp in bowl, and add scotch bonnet pepper or bottled pepper sauce, chopped scallion, thyme and garlic. Mix all seasonings into shrimp and allow to marinate in refrigerator over night or 6 - 8 hours.
To cook place oil in frying pan and allow oil to get hot. Add shrimp and cook just until tender.
Remove from heat and peel the shrimp. Ready to serve.

CREOLE FISH
4 or 5 fish steaks
1 small onion
1 tablespoon seasoned paste
2 medium ripe tomatoes
3 or 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
Vinegar or lime juice
Salt
Marinate fish and rub with seasoned mixture. Sprinkle with a little salt. Slice onions. Melt butter in a frying pan and fry onions lightly. Remove onions from pan. Put in fish and cover pan tightly so that the fish cooks in steam. When one side is done (4 minutes). Just before serving pour a little lime juice or vinegar over each piece of fish. Note: Fish cooked in this way takes only 10 to 15 minutes and there is no extra sauce to be made.

Here is another installment for the pirate recipes blog. Come back to the pirate recipes blog often for updates.

MANGO SALAD
Ingredients
6-8 half ripe mangoes
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon mixed powdered spices
2 cups vinegar
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon green ginger (grated)

Peel and dice the mango; cook with half the vinegar until soft. Strain through a coarse sieve. Boil the fruit, spices and seasonings in the rest of the vinegar. Combine mango pure with the sugar and add to the spices and seasoning mixture; allow to simmer and cook until thick. Cool and bottle.

AVACADO SALAD
Ingredients
2 avocado pears
1 tomato
1 head lettuce
Pepper and salt to taste
4 oz. peas or cooked beans
2 oz. grated cheese
Salad cream
2 hard boiled eggs
1 medium cucumber
2 tablespoons sour or sweet pickle
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped nuts

Wash lettuce and put in covered bowl in refrigerator to chill, strain peas from stock. Wash and slice cucumber and add salt to taste. Cut avocado pears lengthwise and peel off skin. Place avocados in bowl and sprinkle with lime juice.
Cover. Mix together pickle, cheese, peas and season for stuffing. Fill hollows of avocados. Place 2 wedges of tomatoes in each half. Arrange on a bed of lettuce. Lay cucumber slices of hard boiled eggs on dish around avocados. Dot with salad cream and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Pirates patrolled the area of Haiti, and were sure to pick up a nice pirate recipe. Haitians from the northern part of Haiti cook with cashews, and this is a local recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
• 1 cup cashews
• 1 hen (or small chicken), cut in 8 to 10 pieces
• 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons pikliz, or to taste
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, sliced thin
• 1 scallion, chopped
• ½ green bell pepper
• ½ red bell pepper
• 1 parsley or cilantro sprig
• 1 thyme sprig
• 2 to 3 whole cloves
• ½ tablespoon salt, or to taste
• ¼ tablespoon black pepper, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup sos ti-mailis
Method:
In small pot, boil cashews in 2 cups water over low heat for 1 hour and put aside. While the cashews are cooking, clean hen with lime, rinse with water and drain. Marinate hen with pikliz, garlic onion, shallot, scallion, and green and red pepper. Put marinated hen in large pot and parsley or cilantro, thyme, cloves, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, covered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. The juices will evaporate allowing the meat to start browning.

Dissolve tomato paste in 1 cup water and stir into the chicken 1/4 cup at a time and cover until it evaporates. Do this 4 times (until you use up the cup of dissolved tomato paste). The idea is that you want the meat to become brown on all sides. This process takes 40 minutes.
Alternatively, you can put the hen in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350ºF until meat is brown. Add sos ti-malis to the hen. Add cashews and cook, covered, for another 20 minutes. When it is cooked, see if it needs a zing; if so, add another tablespoon of pikliz, or more salt and pepper to taste.
Tune in here for another pirate recipe.

Have you ever wondered where a ships cook could find a good pirate recipe? Well the pirate recipe was filled with Caribbean dishes. Where these recipes originated is a good story. Caribbean cuisine is actually a combination of dishes and styles from many different places, including Africa, Amsterdam, France, Spain, and North America. The Caribbean islands were first discovered by Columbus who was working for the Spanish crown, thus the obvious influence of Spanish cuisine. The natives, or Indians, as Columbus had termed them, had their own food preferences, and it was not long before they started incorporating Spanish style into their cooking.

The French had taken a large portion of territory in the Louisiana region and frequently traded in the Caribbean islands. Their cooking style meshed with the Indians and the Spanish. Amsterdam was also a naval power in the area, so that is where you find their influence. Lastly, and perhaps most sadly, was the African influence. The Caribbean islands were the hub of trade in the world. That trade revolved around sugar, rum and unfortunately slaves. Many different peoples and many different cultures combined to create an exotic and unique cuisine style that is enjoyed to this day. For this and any other pirate recipe, visit this blog daily.

Chicken is an ingredient in all kinds of recipes, including the pirate recipe. I found this one in a dusty, old pirate recipe book. This is called “Pirate Chicken and Rice.”
1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups water
1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (with liquid)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup uncooked regular rice
1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup cubed fully cooked smoked ham (about 2 ounces)
1/3 cup pitted small green olives
1 tablespoon capers
Grated Parmesan cheese
Place chicken in 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven. Sprinkle with salt, oregano, coriander and pepper. Add water, tomatoes, onion and garlic. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
Stir rice into liquid. Cover and simmer until thickest pieces of chicken are done, about 20 minutes. Rinse frozen peas under running cold water to separate; drain. Add peas, green pepper, ham, olives, capers and 1 tablespoon caper liquid to chicken. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
Serve with Parmesan cheese.
Yields 8 servings.

Below is another one of our pirate recipes for you. Check out our ebook because we will soon offer you a host of pirate recipes!
Ingredients:
1 oz tamarind
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 lb. fish fillets, cut in pieces
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 piece ginger (I inch), crushed
2 cloves garlic minced
salt to taste
4 pieces bay leaves
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. hot pepper chopped
1 inch piece cinnamon
peel of 1/2 lime thinly pared
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
11/2c. water
Directions:
1 Soak tamarind in 2 tbsp. water and vinegar for 15 minutes.
2. Squeeze with finger tips to loosen pulp, fibres and seeds.
3. Strain through a fine sieve, keeping liquid and pulp and discarding fibres and seeds.
4. Rinse fish in lime juice and water; pat dry.
5. Saute fish in I tbsp. hot oil and leave aside.
6. Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan. Saute onion, ginger and garlic for a few minutes.
7. Add tamarind sauce, salt, bay leaves, peppers, (black and hot), lime rind, cinnamon and water and bring to the boil.
8. Continue to boil for 5 minutes more.
9. Reduce heat and add fish.
10. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or more until sauce has thickened and fish is tender. Serve with rice; makes
6 servings.
If preferred, sauce can be thickened with a little flour or corn flour.

When you plan a pirate theme party, you will need several tools. You will need the proper costume, decorations, food, music, pirate party invitations, and lighting. That is a simple enough order for anyone to fill, and is nothing compared to the tools that the pirates used in order to navigate. If a pirate wanted to accept a pirate party invitation, he would have to navigate a course to the proper location. Luckily for pirates, the art of ocean navigation had come a long way from their ancient pirate descendants. In the early sixteenth century, the British government offered financial reward for people to come up with ideas for new types of navigation equipment. Two items in particular made safe and accurate ocean navigation possible. First, there was the sextant. A sextant is a too of measurement, and is used to gauge the ships latitude, or the ships position in relation to the equator. The second invention was the chronometer. The marine chronometer addressed the pirates primary concern; determining his longitude The combination of these two inventions, plus the addition of more accurate nautical charts made ship navigation easy and accurate. No longer would pirates have to guess their position or use rudimentary tools. The history of piracy would be changed forever.

Still contemplating a pirate party idea? Well consider again what life was like for the characters that lived during that time. Believe it or not, ships at sea could become absolutely infested with rats! This would seem unlikely because rats normally congregate in urban centers. The ship offered rats the easy pickings of grain, and allowed them the space to breed and multiply. Today we consider rats to be nuisance, or at worse, unsanitary, but during the Golden Age of Piracy, they were the very embodiment of death! Yikes! Just a few hundred years earlier, rats were the cause of the worst plague ever to have swept the earth. They carried fleas that were infected with the bubonic plague and they created a pandemic of absolutely enormous proportions. Over one third to one half of the entire population of Eurasia succumbed to disease. There were so many dead that they piled up in the street because the cemeteries had become filled. Not a pretty picture, but that was the reality of the day. Because of this, there was a real fear of rats and the diseases they could carry. So for your next pirate party idea, try including some fake mice to make the scene, and don’t forget their place in pirate history!