Visit at salt fish factory Vísir, Grindavík Iceland, (2023)

In the video, Whyte & Zettergren visit the saltfish factory Vísir in Grindavík, Iceland. Dried and salted fish, which can last for years without spoiling, has been an important trade item for Nordic countries since the Middle Ages when it was eaten locally and shipped to Catholic countries to be eaten during fasting.

From the 16th century, countries such as Iceland, Norway (then part of Denmark-Norway), Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland also started exporting the lowest quality dried and salted cod and saithe, deemed unsuitable for the European market, to West Africa, the Caribbean, and South America as part of the triangular trade. Saltfish became a staple provision for enslaved persons, supplied by plantation owners. Alongside salted North Atlantic cod, salted and smoked (red herring) from places like Scotland, Ireland, and Sweden formed the foundation of the enslaved's protein intake on the sugar plantations. Plantation owners found it more practical to provide imported dried and salted fish and meats like corned beef as protein sources rather than allow the enslaved to rear animals, which would require more time and space to maintain.

Saltfish and stockfish remain crucial ingredients in Caribbean, West African, and South American cuisine, continuing to be exported from Iceland and Norway. In Jamaica, saltfish is a primary ingredient in dishes such as the national dish, Ackee and Saltfish, as well as in other popular dishes like Cabbage and Saltfish, Callaloo and Saltfish, Saltfish and Rice Cook-up, Saltfish Fritters (Stamp and Go), Ackee and Red Herring, Red Herring Run Dung, and Solomon Gundy. These dishes highlight the enduring culinary influence of salted fish in Jamaican cuisine.

Video credits: Bryndís Björnsdóttir and Whyte&Zettergren

Visit to Bath Botanical Garden, (2023)

In the video, Whyte & Zettergren visit the Bath Botanical Gardens in the parish of St. Thomas, Jamaica. Established in 1779, it is the second oldest botanical garden in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest remaining garden in Jamaica.

Bath Botanical Gardens is historically significant for introducing several important food plants to Jamaica. The garden served as a nursery for foreign plants brought from various parts of the globe during the colonial era and subsequently planted elsewhere in the country. These plants included cinnamon, jackfruit, croton, mango, jacaranda, bougainvillea, litchi, Otaheite apple, China tea plant, clove tree, breadfruit, and ackee. Some of these plants came from Liguanea Garden, which contained plants brought to the island in 1782 from a captured French ship. Others, like breadfruit, were brought to Jamaica by Captain Bligh in 1793 aboard the HMS Providence. Samples of these breadfruit trees were also sent to Kew Botanical Gardens, where they are still exhibited in one of its large greenhouses.

The British Empire, like other colonial powers, had a well-developed system for shipping and distributing plants across its territories. In Jamaica, fruits and food crops that provided easy nourishment for the enslaved were particularly valuable. Therefore, trees bearing fruits that could form the basis of meals, like the ackee tree, breadfruit tree, and avocado tree, were highly desirable for plantation owners as they required minimal care. The breadfruit was seen as so important that Bligh was sent on two expeditions (the first one failed) to bring the crop to the region as a cheap food source for enslaved populations.

The garden also houses valuable plants used for teas, spices, dyes, resins, varnishes, and cabinet wood, serving as the base for the island's chief botanist. The gardens are located in the same town as the mineral-rich hot spring at Bath Fountain, known for its healing properties and used as a retreat since the colonial era. Thus, the garden served both as a depot for the distribution of plants and a retreat for the plantation class.

In the 19th century, the establishment of a new botanical garden in Castleton made the garden in Bath less important as a plant nursery. Today, the garden is smaller than its original state but is still maintained as a historical heritage site and is open to the public.

Video credits: Whyte&Zettergren

Ritual at Fish Drying Spot, Grindavík, Iceland, (2023)

In the video, Whyte & Zettergren visit a spot outside Grindavík in Iceland where cod heads and spines are dried to create stockfish for the West African Market. These heads and spines are leftovers from the production of saltfish at the factories in the area.

At the spot, Whyte orchestrates a ritual assisted by Zettergren, using Jamaican conch shells, sugar, and a conch shell trumpet inspired by Jamaican healing traditions with African heritage. This ritual honors the significant role that fish has played in the survival of Africans affected by slavery..

Shipping dried stockfish or parts of fish of lower quality to the West African market has been an ongoing trade since the 16th century, part of the triangular trade system behind the transatlantic slave trade. The fish was used to feed the enslaved at the slave castles/forts on the West African coast, as well as on the slave ships and plantations in the Caribbean.

The current export of dried stockfish to West Africa continues this historical trade. However, the significance of stockfish rose after the Biafran War in Nigeria (1969-1970), when Norway provided stockfish as aid to alleviate malnutrition in the war-affected areas. Since then, stockfish has become an important ingredient again, and Nigeria is now one of the largest markets for both ivlnadic and Norwegian stockfish exports, with Iceland also participating in this trade.

In Nigerian cuisine, stockfish serves as a flavorful fish and is used in dishes such as Egusi, Edikaikong, Ofe Nsala, Afang, Ukazi, Oha, Efo Riro, and Okra.

Video credits: Bryndís Björnsdóttir

Ackee and Saltfish Cooking, Maverly, Jamaica (2023)

In the video, Whyte picks Ackee fruit and prepares Jamaica's national dish, Ackee and Saltfish, at his home located on the grounds of the former sugar plantation Molynes Estate in Kingston, Jamaica.

Ackee is a 40-foot tall evergreen tree native to West Africa that produces a pear-shaped fruit. The fruit undergoes a color transformation from green to yellow, then to yellow-red, and finally to red when fully ripe and opened, revealing yellow arils and black seeds. The aril, which is edible, has a nutty flavor and is highly nutritious.

The history of how ackee was introduced to Jamaica varies, but it is commonly believed to have arrived on a slave ship from West Africa in the late 18th century. It was subsequently planted in the Iceland Seed Bank at Bath Botanical Gardens around 1779 by Dr. Thomas Clarke, Jamaica’s first botanist. Ackee quickly spread across Jamaica and became a crucial source of nutrition for the enslaved population. Captain William Bligh that brought Breadfruit to Jamaica also introduced ackee to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, in 1793. 

Ackee fruit contains Hypoglycin A and B, which are highly toxic if the fruit is picked before ripening and opening on the tree. Despite this toxicity, ackee is revered as Jamaica’s national fruit and remains one of the few places in the world where it is consumed.

Together with imported saltfish (salted cod or salted herring), ackee forms the foundation of Jamaica’s national dish, Ackee and Saltfish. This dish was chosen as the national dish because it provided essential sustenance to the enslaved population during the era of slavery. In the video, we follow Orlando Whyte as he harvests ackee fruits and prepares the dish with fried roasted breadfruit at his home, located on the former grounds of the Molynes Estate sugar plantation in Kingston, Jamaica.

Video credits: Whyte&Zettergren

Landos recepi for Ackee and Saltfish

Ingredients list for four servings:

- ½ pound salt fish, boiled, cleaned to remove salt, and flaked into small pieces

- 2 oz fresh ackee, cleaned, rinsed, and lightly boiled
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, julienned
- 1 tomato, chopped
- ½ clove of garlic, minced
- ½ scotch bonnet pepper, finely chopped (adjust amount to preferred spiciness)
- 2 stalks scallion, chopped
- 2 sprigs of thyme

- 4-5 pimento/allspice seed
- Black pepper to taste 

- Vegetable oil for frying

Watch the video above for cooking instructions. Serve the Ackee and Saltfish with fried or roasted breadfruit, or boiled food as dumplings, green banana and yam, or pumpkin rice.