Floribbean Cuisine Near Disney World
Authentic Floribbean cuisine is a blend of Spanish, Latin, Native American, and Caribbean.
Anand Srinivasan contributed this guest post.
I didn’t know something called “Floribbean cuisine” existed until I visited Disney World a year back. I was on a six month business trip to the United States and prior to this trip, the only “American food” I had ever tasted was at the KFCs and McDonalds back home in India. So it came as a pleasant surprise to be suddenly introduced to a new cuisine I had no idea about.
Floribbean cuisine, I later learned, is something that started getting popular in the 1980s. However, it has taken over 500 years to evolve. This distinct food traces its roots back to the time when the Spanish were exploring the New World and they were introduced to the fruits and vegetables that grow in the region. The Native Americans who, until then, cooked mostly fish were introduced to cattle and pig. Later, with the influx of people from the Caribbean, South American countries, and the Pacific Islands, Florida started to get its own unique cuisine which we now know as Floribbean.
The restaurant that I visited was named MoonFish. It is located on West Sand Lake Road midway between Kissimmee and Disney World. The restaurant does not restrict itself to Floribbean food. However, the seafood offered here is so unlike what I had tasted until then. We were a group of four and, while our order included a couple of non-Floribbean foods like Pan Asian Crab Cake and a Hawaiian Chicken Breast, the food I enjoyed most was the toasted coconut shrimp. Floribbean cuisine frequently contains ingredients like coconut, banana pepper, avocado, so the shrimp that I ordered was a great introduction to Floribbean cuisine.
Our waiter was extremely well-trained to explain the various cuisines and the specific ingredients in the food that made them authentically Floribbean. While I did not get to taste the other items in the menu, he also recommended the grouper and sea bass with Maine lobster tails. If you are looking for ‘Latin-Floribbean’ cuisine, this is something that you must definitely try out. Overall, it was an amazing experience getting to try out something that I had never tasted before and something I know I will not have too many chances to try again.
What was supposed to be an exciting vacation to Disney World also turned out to be amazing for other reasons. If you are planning a trip to Florida, do look out for restaurants offering authentic Floribbean cuisine on their menu. You do not want to miss out on something that is truly a melting pot of so many different cuisine cultures.
Anand is a software developer by day and an aspiring travel writer by night. He lives with his family in Bangalore, India.
Category: USA Southern States
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