mexican themed reception

[banqueteer]

I'm doing a wedding reception in May and they've requested a Jamaican theme, after being married in Jamaica. They want the food stations throughout the hall . I'd love your input on a few unusual ideas for food and decorating. thanks..

[shroomgirl]

Mexican is different than Jamican.....Babalu's was a super Carribean restaurant in the central west end.

***I 'd find out how hot they wanna go.....5 being jalepino.

jerk chicken
Shrimp for sure....
conk is unavailable , but a seafood fritter is good
Pinapple boats with pinapple salsa served with fish
rice and beans...can be salad
Do they have plantain chips if so an avacado dip and plantain chips
Sweet potato chips seem tropical also.

[Suzanne]

ALSO:
Miniature "patties" -- flaky turnovers of spiced ground beef, or chicken, or vegetables. Color the pastry with annato.
Bean fritters, made from mashed black-eyed peas.
"Stamp and go" -- codfish cakes.
"Escovitch fish" -- similar to the Hispanic escabeche -- cooked than marinated/pickled.
Ginger mousse.
Anything with mangoes.
Beverages: ginger beer; sorrel (made from dried hibiscus blossoms), RUM!

Music: Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, any other reggae artists.

[shroomgirl]

Bue Mountain Jamican Coffee!!!!! do I hear coffee flan?
How does mango go with coffee?....seems to me that combo is sublime, but I've not had it.

Pork rolled in finely ground coffee and grilled...works...Jimmy's on the Park had it when Kathy Schmidt was chef...she used beef though.

Sounds like a fun party, I hope the hosts are not afraid of fun food.....check out Yemanja for interesting combos with spices in St. Louis.

[marmalady]

You could serve on big, huge, leaves, like Ti, banana, etc. Also, big bold flowers with lots of color. This sounds like a blast!!!

Jerk fish cooked in Ti or banana leaves, with an orange rum drizzle.

There's a fried bread, kind of like beignets - can't remember the name - think it's 'festival bread' or something similar. A banana beignet with a chocolate rum sauce.

Coconut sweet potatoes.

Peanut crusted salmon with a hibiscus/cream sauce - sauce is a gorgeous pink color; could also be an ap, serve salmon on skewers, thicken sauce a little more as a dipping sauce.

Jessica Harris has written several great books on Caribbean food; worth checking out.

[catciao]

I did a similar theme last summer although we went more "tropical" than strictly Jamaican. The Ti leaves are a great idea and can be purchased through your florist at a reasonable price per bunch, I served sushi on them; grilled tropical fruit on or off kabob with a peanut dipping sauce, macadamian cornbread stuffing with pineapple, rice & peas is very Jamaican, curried chicken salad served in a carved pineapple.