The Redland Today: Reaching into the Near Far for Classic Caribbean Foods

Just some twenty miles southwest of downtown Miami but within a rural world of its own in ambiance, landscape and above all in the amazing range of the produce grown in its small farms and orchards lies the district known as the Redland.  With origins dating back to the early twentieth century, the Redland of today remains a largely intact agrarian-based region.  At the same time, it has also evolved over many decades into an agri-touristic experience for the individual to explore for a wide variety of tropical produce while also becoming a source of subtropical produce for restaurants and markets in the nearby metropolis.

A growth over time from native to diverse subtropical and Caribbean produce

During its early years in the first half of the twentieth century, the focus in farming here centered on recognizable staples of the North American world – tomato, potato, lettuce – along with standard favorites of the American south.  Originally named for “the pockets of red clay that cover a layer of oolitic limestone”, nowadays this unincorporated enclave has expanded in agriculture to include much else from other subtropical parts of the world that can easily adapt to these distinct soils. 

This diversity in produce is often found in the Redland’s longtime retail establishments, where vegetable and fruit produce indigenous to southern Florida are found on shelves and tables just feet apart from jars and containers of other produce introduced over time from points within the wider Caribbean.  For instance, at centrally located Robert Is Here Fruit Stand a landmark store structure that grew from one young man’s outdoor fruit stand into its much larger present size, the range of fresh and bottled sauces, condiments, and preserves is astounding to any first-time visitor.

“We have several that are made with items from Homestead and from Florida as a whole. The ones I like to share with others that I know are made with local tropical fruit are the mango, mamey, passion fruit and guanabana jams,” points out manager Heather Moehling.  Then again, many of these are also very familiar to immigrants from anywhere from Cuba to Jamaica and other nations of the Caribbean. 

Over at the Fruit & Spice Park, another key point to explore and take away from for either the agri-touring visitor or very dedicated connoisseur of Caribbean fruit and vegetation, a 37-acre expansive outdoor/indoor layout offers up samples of an astounding 150 varieties of mango and some 70 types of banana, to name just two of the most popular.  The ample acreage park also serves as host to festivals and events in normal visiting times.  Also on any itinerary for even a short day visit should be the collection of shops and outdoors at Cauley Square Historic Village, a collection of shops and tropical garden spaces dedicated to exotic plant life, much of it also recognizable to the visitor with a keen awareness of Caribbean flora and fauna.  Aside from all this – all along the way and at every stop, the agri-touring visitor can look forward to the occasional appearance of such Caribbean favorites as guinep, guavaberry, litchee, star fruit, not to mention staples such as breadfruit, sorrel and cassava. 

While the locally produced Caribbean foods are readily accessible at dining spots within the Redland, the produce and its proximity to dining spots within the wider Miami landscape also creates an organic rural-urban dynamic with the Redland.  One such recent addition and creative example is in nearby toney Coral Gables at Mamey, where proprietor and chef Niven Patel opened a new location that brands itself as fusion but as the name suggests, sources staples from the subtropical and Caribbean as part of that identity.  Here you find such culinary invention as corn and callalloo empanadas, lemongrass glazed grouper and of course a mamey swizzler.

Also present are an intriguing spectrum of local entrepreneurs – shopkeepers, farmers, retailers – who are of Caribbean origin themselves, and who bring along an enduring connection to the fruits and vegetables of a home country or island which adapt well to the natural conditions of this region.  One current example of such Caribbean entrepreneurial engagement within the Redland is Jorge Zaldivar of PG Tropicals, who operates a farm that focuses on the guava in its many varieties, and making guava preserves available to the wider food retail world through his online presence at guavarico.com.  Zaldivar’s Cuban roots provide him with an acute awareness of the joys of the guava, but he is careful to also acknowledge the even wider global legacy of the fruit.

“Guava is ‘owned’ by countless countries which is why the work Guavonia [Guava Grove] is cultivating in Homestead’s Redland is important, beyond the Caribbean,” he points out.  “Florida and Miami in particular have a fruitful history with guava as well, [and] our mission is to keep the loop going through anecdotes and recipes. Guava is such a ubiquitous staple ingredient – it keeps us always busy in Homestead’s Redland.”

Indigenous, transplanted and common connecting points in food and fare

Ultimately, for the visitor with a more personal awareness or roots of their own within the Caribbean, the Redland region of today can provide an often unexpected reconnection with that rare fruit or vegetable or dish not found since childhood far away.  Aside from that, it may even offer a broader view of the fascinating and often complex migration of fruits and vegetables across more than one continent and ocean to eventually be found here again. Continuing that heritage and connection is part of the daily purpose of local farmers and entrepreneurs – or as Jorge Zaldivar concludes: “Right now more than ever we need to ensure that Homestead’s Redland agricultural area is preserved as valuable farmland for future generations to value what was once the bountiful Redland district. I am here to keep agriculture in focus and an interest to our community beyond the fork.” 

And as others with a lifelong involvement with the region such as Robert Burr of the Redland Review newsletter remarked to us about its broad appeal: “The Redland Region is not Napa Valley, but it does have a special tapestry of sub-tropical elements, certainly worth an exploration. The rewards of this simple adventure are the goodies you acquire, the company you keep along the way and the appreciation you gain for some of the unique stops within the region.”  Within all this, of course, is the savoring on more than one level of the multitude of plant life to be found here in common with its close neighbors of the Caribbean.