Combining the Best of Jamaica, Louisiana, and Belgium (The Ultimate Fusion!)

Some people might say that if you're making soup it would be best to use meats that have had the bones removed. To those people I say, "To heck with that!"



I cooked up a little red bell pepper, celery, and okra with some Old Bay seasoning until they were tender then I added the remainder of the oxtail that I made last week. I also added a generous amount of water as I remembered it being quite spicy.

In another pan I made a very dark roux then I thickened the concoction to make this makeshift gumbo. I also made some jasmine rice.

Leaving the bones in was an odd choice. For some reason I felt leaving the bones in would be more interesting, kind of like last year when I turned leftover osso bucco into osso bucco pie. The result was very good, but far spicier than I remember the original dish being, even despite cutting it with a lot water.



One of the bones reminded me of something so I zoomed in for a closer look. Then it hit me.



It looked just like the food that Link needs to buy in Legend of Zelda. Except instead of using this tasty little bit to bribe a Moblin into letting me pass I was able to eat it myself. I found this to be preferable.



For beer I was enticed to try this Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (or Stone Cali-België IPA) depending on if you believe the text on the bottle or the text on the website. Stone Brewing Co.'s website describes this as using a Belgian yeast to make an IPA.

I was intrigued by this beer because I generally don't like IPAs and I generally like Belgian beers. I was intrigued by how I could combine my least favorite and most favorite beer types into one beer. The result was extremely interesting and quite good.

If you ever turn Jamaican food into Louisiana cuisine I recommend pairing with Belgian beer. But you probably already know this. It's pretty common knowledge.