Pescado Pete & Charlie Chuck Travel the Caribbean
Welcome Aboard the Seadreamer I
Join Pescado Pete and Charlie Chuck as they embark on a flavorful journey through the Caribbean aboard the luxurious Seadreamer I. These two culinary adventurers find joy in tasting local dishes, meeting warm-hearted cooks, and sharing laughs at every port of call. This voyage celebrates the blend of culture, food, and friendship.
Coastal Culinary Adventures with Pescado Pete and Charlie Chuck — Caribbean Edition is more than a cookbook and more than a travelogue. Sail through turquoise harbors and bustling marketplaces where every recipe carries history and every meal becomes an adventure. Each chapter blends storytelling, humor, and local encounters, ending with Featured Dishes that link to an A-to-Z recipe section for easy cooking at home. With flavors ranging from pepperpot to rum cake, this book celebrates the resilience and joy of coastal life. Rich with food, laughter, and culture — and tied together with a gentle reminder of the need to protect our seas — it’s a journey for cooks, travelers, and dreamers alike.
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Arrival & First Impressions
The Seadreamer I slid into Charlotte Amalie’s harbor at dawn, coral light catching the pastel houses stacked up the hillside. Steel drums echoed across the waterfront, mingling with the sharp scent of fish, tamarind, and rum. Pete leaned so far over the rail he nearly toppled into the sea.
“Charlie Chuck! Do you smell that? Pepper, guava, and rum cake already in the air!”
Charlie adjusted his glasses, ledger in hand. “I smell tariffs, trade, and commerce. Every scent here is a line item.”
Pete grinned. “Then may the customs duties be spicy!”
Adventures / Immersion
1. Market Square
Baskets brimmed with guava, nutmeg, and plantains. Pete tried to barter with fish jokes; Charlie frowned at price charts. A vendor laughed and ladled callaloo into a steaming bowl: “This is who we are.” Pete slurped noisily. “Charlie, this soup is history!”
2. Blackbeard’s Castle
Pete climbed the tower waving a spoon like a cutlass, declaring himself “the fiercest cook-pirate alive.” Charlie, unimpressed, read aloud from a plaque: “Forts defend identity, not just land.” Pete countered, “Identity with rum is tastier.”
3. Fort Christian
Charlie lectured on colonial tariffs while Pete attempted to measure the walls with his apron string. A passerby quipped, “Strength isn’t in stone, it’s in stories.” Charlie nodded, scribbling the words.
4. Havensight Waterfront
Vendors poured spiced rum samples. Pete toasted every passerby until he wobbled. Charlie tried to calculate the export value of nutmeg barrels but admitted, with a sip, “Some things can’t be priced.”
5. Magens Bay
Evening brought calm turquoise waters. Pete splashed like a child, while Charlie admired the stillness. Guava-glazed rum cake appeared as the sun sank, eaten with sticky fingers and laughter.
Sidebar: Did You Know?
St. Thomas’s Market Square was once one of the busiest slave markets in the Caribbean. Today it is reclaimed by color, food, and community — a transformation from sorrow to resilience, flavor, and survival.
Featured Dishes
- Callaloo Soup with Crab
- Ingredients: leafy greens, coconut milk, crab meat, hot pepper
- Method: simmered into a rich, velvety broth
- Anecdote: Pete slurped so loudly the vendor declared, “History has never been eaten with such noise.”
- Pates (Caribbean Hand Pies)
- Ingredients: spiced ground meat or fish wrapped in flaky pastry
- Method: folded and fried golden
- Anecdote: Pete claimed his jokes were the “secret filling”; Charlie argued the joke was on him.
- Rum Cake with Guava Glaze
- Ingredients: sponge cake, dark rum, guava jam
- Method: soaked in rum, crowned with sweet glaze
- Anecdote: Pete called it “dessert disguised as diplomacy”; Charlie muttered, “The only treaty you’ll honor is with sugar.”
Closing Reflection
“Markets are memory,” Charlie observed softly. Pete raised his sticky fork. “And memory tastes like rum cake!”