The Melting Pot | Immigrants Bring New approach to Rhode Island Seafood

Providence is a city of immigrants. A full third of the city’s residents are foreign-born, originating in countries as far flung as the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Cambodia, China, Laos, Liberia, and Cape Verde. They bring with them culinary traditions through which they interpret the fruits of Rhode Island’s land and waters.

Seafood figures prominently in this culinary convergence. Fishermen selling their catch at the docks in Galilee know this: they count immigrants as among their most eager and versatile customers. Tackle shop owners know this too: they do brisk business selling dip nets, hooks, and bait to immigrant day-trippers in summer.

I had an inkling of it as well, having worked in the past as a lobster boat deckhand and farmers’ market seafood sales associate. When selling at the dock or in the park, I noticed that immigrants—whether from West Africa, Central America, or Southeast Asia—gravitated  towards  different  local  seafood  items  than those  popular  among  native-born  Rhode  Islanders. Crabs instead of lobsters. Sea robins instead of cod. Scup instead of scallops. I also noticed that they preferred their fish whole. But what I wanted to know was: how did they prepare it once they got home?

To learn more, I asked a friend, Joshua Riazi. Joshua is a classically trained chef who coordinates a culinary job skills program at the Genesis Center in Providence. Many of his students have roots in other countries.

But Joshua didn’t want to just answer my question; he wanted to show me. So he brought together his assistant Alba Rabe and two of his current students, Gonya Jangaba and Alice Rivera. Alba, Gonya, and Alice went to their local markets and picked up some spices and vegetables. I went to Sea Freeze Shoreside in Galilee and picked up a box of herring, mackerel, and scup. Then we all gathered in the kitchen at Genesis Center, and we got cooking.

Gonya prepared a traditional Liberian dish with Rhode Island scup, Alice prepared a Dominican dish with Rhode Island mackerel, and Alba prepared a Honduran dish with Rhode Island herring. Each was unique, and all were delicious.

As Rhode Island’s local seafood movement continues to blossom, it may find itself propelled by something that isn’t originally local at all: a repertoire of culinary know-how learned in countries across the globe and imported to Rhode Island through the customs and cookbooks of Providence immigrants. The recipes that follow offer an introduction to those customs, applied to local fish.

RECIPES MAY BE APPLIED TO ANY KIND OF FISH SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN A BAKING PAN OR WOK. TRY THEM WITH LOCAL SPECIES SUCH AS SCUP, HERRING, WHITING, MACKEREL, SEA ROBIN, SEA RAVEN, OR SMALL BLACK SEA BASS.

+ Gonya Jangaba, Liberia: BAKED FISH WITH TOMATO SAUCE

When Gonya Jangaba left Liberia at the age of 7, she was already a practiced cook. According to Gonya, Liberian girls are trained from a young age to become wives and mothers, learning to make specialties like pepper soup, a spicy staple of Liberian cuisine, made with fish or meat, that serves as both a meal and a cold remedy.

Liberians use fish for purposes both spiritual and mundane, Gonya says. Residents of the predominantly Christian country eat fish to break their fast on Easter. They also like to eat it on the street, where vendors make it hot and fresh to-order for customers as they wait.

In Rhode Island, Gonya buys her fish at Armando and Sons Meat Market on Elmwood Avenue.