Where to Start with Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau
Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau are Jamaican sisters who have spent over twenty years exploring the culture and identity of Caribbean food. As chefs and entrepreneurs based in Kingston, they have hosted the food and travel show Two Sisters and a Meal, produced the web series Island Potluck with the Jamaica Tourist Board, and written cookbooks that place Caribbean cuisine in its full historical context. Their work focuses on the plant-based foundations of the Caribbean kitchen, the provision grounds and market gardens where the region’s culinary identity was preserved and passed down.
Start here
Provisions
Michelle Rousseau and Suzanne Rousseau · 320 pages · 2018 · Moderate
Themes: caribbean cuisine, vegetarian cooking, cultural history, jamaican food, plant-based
The Rousseau sisters’ most celebrated cookbook, named after the provision grounds where enslaved people in the Caribbean grew their own food and kept their culinary traditions alive. This vegetarian cookbook presents 150 recipes built around the fruits, vegetables, roots, and grains that form the true foundation of Caribbean cooking.
Why Start Here
Provisions is the book that best represents what the Rousseau sisters do: connect Caribbean food to its history while making it feel modern and exciting to cook. The vegetarian focus is not a limitation but a revelation. By stripping away the proteins, you see the cuisine’s real architecture, the tropical produce, the spice combinations, the techniques for coaxing deep flavor from simple ingredients.
The recipes balance tradition and innovation. You will find faithful preparations of Caribbean staples alongside creative dishes like Ackee Tacos with Island Guacamole and Haitian Riz Djon Djon Risotto. The personal stories and historical context woven throughout give the cooking meaning beyond the plate.
What to Expect
A 320-page hardcover with 150 vegetarian recipes spanning the full range of Caribbean cuisine. Named one of the New Yorker’s Best Food Books of 2018. Some specialty ingredients required, but the book provides guidance on sourcing. The cooking ranges from straightforward to moderately involved, with some multi-component recipes that reward patience.