Appetizers

I have been fascinated with party food since childhood. One of my fondest childhood memories is admiring a party table, adorned with spicy sandwiches, grapefruit with cheese and sausage sticks, and hot fritters, all of which would disappear as soon as the host or hostess brought them out. Most of those appetizers have migrated to street food status, and most are spicy. These are not the type of appetizers that would be presented as the first course of a meal; they are the snacks that people would eat at a social gathering or if they felt hungry on the way to work. At parties, they are served buffet-style. The most popular appetizers are accras, a type of savory fritter offered on toothpicks with a sauce served alongside. Many Caribbean nationals also pack appetizers for big family picnics.