Where you’ll find the world’s first Little Caribbean

Three barbecues stand chained to a lamp post, tethered like animals that may run away. Nicky Gordon, their owner, lifts the lid on one, releasing a plume of smoke. As it clears, I behold the cultural treasure, sitting on the grill.

“Jerk chicken is a street food, and this is how it’s done at home,” Nicky says, as he hands me a slightly blackened chicken drumstick and thigh, in aluminium foil, accompanied by fiery chili sauce.

Brooklyn now has the world’s first designated ‘Little Caribbean’.

The street food he’s referring to is being cooked just centimetres from the actual street. And the home he’s referring to is Jamaica. But despite the roadside jerk chicken, street names like Bob Marley Avenue, and Jamaican, Barbados and Haitian flags flying above businesses, this is not the Caribbean. It is in fact, Little Caribbean, in Brooklyn, New York.

Nicky is part of New York’s proud Caribbean diaspora, and meeting him and his jerk chicken is one of the highlights of a Little Caribbean walking tour, run by Shelley Worrell.

The tour with Shelley started at her shop called I Am CaribBEING in Flatbush, which sells authentic Caribbean art, souvenirs and cooking supplies. It’s also the headquarters of her multi-faceted organisation, CaribBEING.

Shelley’s organisation is the driving force behind naming the neighbourhood Little Caribbean, and she explains New York City has the largest population of people with Caribbean ancestry outside the West Indies. Despite comprising at least 20 per cent of city’s population, a designated epicentre of Caribbean culture was missing.

“I wondered why, when there are there two Little Italys in New York, and eight Chinatowns!” Shelley says.

In 2017, Shelley spearheaded the creation of an official neighbourhood, and her success is now documented in both Google Maps and Apple Maps. It’s the world’s only designated “Little Caribbean”.

Shelley says this official recognition is important as it helps her community.

“I think it creates a sense of belonging, and I would say ownership,” she says. “We want people to come in and to celebrate, learn about out our food and culture. It’s for everyone.”

The world famous African Record Centre.Credit: Arne Vollstedt

This is where Shelley’s walking tours come in, making this culture more accessible for visitors. Our first stop is the African Record Centre, owned by Roger and Rudolph Francis. The brothers were born in the US Virgin Islands, but also have family in Africa. The pair is credited with introducing African music to the US market in the 1960s, and their vinyl-filled shop has a cult following.

Further down Nostrand Avenue, MacDonald Romain (known as Big Mac), is wheeling a box of soursop fruit into his fresh grocery store, Labay Market. The soursop, like much of his produce is grown on his farm in Grenada.

Everyone knows Mac, calling out to him, shaking his hand, and raiding his soursop before it even hits the shelves. There’s a queue inside the store, and around the corner, a separate queue where the flesh from young coconuts is being opened.

Allans Bakery, home of the currant rolls.Credit: Christian Rodriguez

Being a weekend, Mac’s sister is cooking a traditional curry, and today it’s Grenada’s national dish, “oil down”. Mac almost loses me at “salted pig’s tail”, but the spicy and hearty flavours of the coconut milk, taro leaves, starchy yam and peppers win me over. Unlike Mac, I’m drawing the line at chewing up the entire tail. But regardless, I have gained an understanding of how food goes hand in hand with culture and belonging.

“People are going home when they come here,” Mac says. “I don’t want to be like a snake-oil salesman focusing on the money. I want to give people what they actually want to eat.”

Our final stop is Allan’s Bakery, where Christian Smith bakes traditional Caribbean breads and treats using his great-grandmother’s recipes. We’re shown behind to the bustling kitchen, meeting Christian’s mother, aunt and cousin.

On the grill in Little Caribbean.

We sample Christian’s beef patties and currant rolls as Shelley reminds him about the traditional black cake she has on order. She tells us it contains dried currants, raisins, pineapple, and oranges and is soaked in rum. She says her family has been buying their celebratory black cake here for her whole life.

Through a secret door in the back of the bakery, we arrive in the very modern Allan’s Bakery Bar and Cafe, the family’s newest venture. I’m soon sipping a cocktail called Currant Roll Bliss, featuring Hennessy cognac, black currant juice, cinnamon, cloves and garnished with a chunk of next door’s famous currant roll. The bar spills out to a street-side courtyard, which is quickly filling with locals who know each other.

Whether they’re eating jerk chicken or pig-tail oil down, the sense of community here is palpable. United by a shared heritage, Little Caribbean seems set to build even further on the concept of neighbourhood.

THE DETAILS

A two and a half hour walking tour of Little Caribbean costs $US74 ($110) a person plus taxes. Brooklyn is best accessed by subway from Manhattan. See littlecaribbean.nyc

The writer toured as a guest of Little Caribbean.