Recipe of the Week: Rum Punch

With a cuisine so similar to the Bahamas, and such a tropical location (where the heck are you going to get conch outside of the tropics?), it’s tough to find a recipe that you can make at home from the Turks and Caicos (TCI). Thus, poor us, we must settle for a typical TCI Rum Punch.

Rum is practically a staple in the Caribbean, and the TCI is no exception. It’s used not only in drinks, but in cooking as well. Though no rum is actually made in the TCI (the desert-like soil doesn’t allow for enough sugar cane to be grown for rum production), many brands are bottled and labeled there, so they are considered to be local.

Rum punch can be found anywhere in the TCI, from restaurants and hotels to beach-side stands and bars. There are different variations, but the one below is a common, basic recipe. Feel free to switch it up with other tropical juices, bitters, or different types of rum until it’s just how you like it. Try to stick with bitters from the Caribbean so the flavour suits the drink.

Turks and Caicos Rum Punch
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 ounces golden or dark rum
1/4 oz. lime juice
2 oz. orange juice
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 dash of grenadine
1 dash of bitters
Nutmeg, lime slices for garnish

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a large glass half full with ice, stir with a stir stick and sprinkle nutmeg on top. Garnish with a slice of lime if desired.

Next up on Food Freeway: the Cayman Islands! Have you ever been to the Caymans? If so, what did you think of the cuisine there? Any favourite dishes? Last but not least, for more tasty reading material, check out Wanderfood Wednesday.