Peanut Punch with Jamaican Sea Moss

I'm talking about yet another Caribbean hidden gem! I know, it sounds strange or depending on the person you are, fascinating but I assure you it is pure amazingness.

Peanut punch has been yet another staple of my childhood/young adulthood in the Bahamas. Where you can find handcrafted peanut punch sold in reused bottles at the local grocery stores or many times sold on the streets by da bobos. (Bobo {Shanti} which is just one group of many Rastafari.)

I remember always getting excited when seeing rastaman on the sides of the street because I knew they always had the good stuff! No, not that stuff..

They would have their coolers or wooden containers set aside of the main roads, strategically by the foot of a stop light, ready for the lights to turn red and prepare their trot through the aisles of waiting car windows selling their goods. It's the Bahamas, most of the time your windows are down anyway and if not hearing their chants, you're greeted always with good mornin, or good day good day.

(photo by Tines That Bind)

This street vendor type vybe is nothing new or specific to only rastas though as it is very common. Stop light vendors sell ev-ver-ry-thang. I kind of miss it actually. Everything from bottles of water/juices, soda, cookies, newspapers, chips, local fruits and even phone data cards. Ahh, as I reminisce, paradise :D

Every single seller, no matter how hot or how early you were in said traffic, they ova there standin', sellin', smilin' and wishin' you a good mornin' n have a nice day. Blessed.

My favourite was guineps from my rastaman and my grandmothers, decent-sized cheap brown bags filled with roasted peanuts. Royal. Again, blessed. Simple pleasures.

This brings me back to a memory of the first time I purchased peanut punch. It was from the side of the road, hot and contained in a reused aquapure bottle. Of course untagged but we all know what dem bottles look like. The new (to me) contents was thick, pretty beige colour and even saw some cinnamon sitting on the very top. I was driving with a friend of mine, and he called over a vendor he knew specifically selling the punch. Getting excited as the man ran over, my friend rushing to find silver change in the car pockets.

Again, it was warm and I wasn't sure, but after taking a sip........ Lordt!

What is it exactly?

Peanuts punch has origins that is debated throughout the Caribbean, many say Jamaica or Trinidad yet other islands will tell you various things. However, it is fair to say we can all thank South America firstly, for these healthy, tasty, amazing legumes (peanuts). Of course, you will find more debates on the place of origin of peanuts but it has been discovered that 'the oldest known archeological remains of pods have been dated at about 7,600 years old, possibly a wild species that was in cultivation.' found in Peru.

The Caribbean is such an interesting mix of bloods that it is no surprise that our indigenous people of the islands could have played an important role of distributing our now local foods and agriculture that seem native today. But the indigenous folk of The Bahamas is another post that I cannot wait to go into more detail about!

So, I go back to where the peanut punch drink originated or who actually first whipped up this bossin' concoction. Long story short, no one knows. Do we really need to?

It is a beautiful milky, smoothie type drink consisting of, you guessed it, peanuts, any form of milk, thick sweetened milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. Depending on whose making your punch, some people may add different ingredients such as fruits, granolas and even liquor.

Living in Norway now, obviously there are some differences. There are no street side vendors, how boring right?

So I went to the local international food market and got a big bag of 'red peanuts'. They called 'em red because of having the skin from the shells. Was confusing at first, thought they were a whole separate peanut but these are just your normal peanuts, smaller then the ones we have in Bahamas though which is nothing new. (Have you seen our avocados?!). I roasted the peanuts myself and began the beautiful process.

But wait.. we cannot forget about the..

Jamaican Sea Moss!

The second main ingredient to make this bombshell a complete super juice is the Jamaican sea moss! There are peanut punches out there without the moss but traditionally there is a splash of this in every punch for that extra health pow!

The sea moss is actually a red algae, seaweed or 'sea vegetable' as we call it in the Caribbean, despite is whimsical name. It is typically found off the shores in South America, The Caribbean and Africa.

It is known that sea moss has an incredible array of nutritional benefits, even stating that it 'contains 92 of the 102 Minerals our bodies need to thrive'.

Benefits include:

-Increases Energy

-Increases Sexual Health

-Eliminates Mucus

-Rich in Antioxidants

-Boost Metabolism

-Recovery

-Regular Thyroid Function

-Appetite Suppressant

-Healthy Skin, Hair and Nails

-Boost Immune System

-Weight Loss

-Aids in Digestion

-Suppresses Appetite

-Hair Growth

Being here in Norway, obviously there is the issue of snagging some Jamaican sea moss a bit

more difficult than normal. Strangely enough though, just weeks after I first thought of making my own batch of peanut punch, a company here posted saying they are now selling some! I was over the moon! What are the odds?! 'Jah watchin' ova!'

I rushed to buy the authentic sea moss courtesy of Roots and Culture! I cannot thank them enough for this amazing gift from the Caribbean. I have been following this company quite a while and they celebrate and sell local and/or primitive foods, such as mushrooms, flowers, weeds and now seaweeds!

I got my little eager hands on this amazing find and blended she with fresh water to create a gel. This gel being able to last 3 weeks in the fridge or up to a year in the freezer.

I froze mine because this is like gold to me!

I added a tablespoon of this magical gel to the peanuts, non-dairy milks, spices and fired up the blender to have the final result of the beloved peanut punch. Creamy peanutty milkshake like healthy nostalgic bazooka!

Unfortunately, I broke my phone and lovely a little photoshoot was lost but I managed to scrap up a few photos.

The recipe took a bit of an effort for me but let me know if you would like the recipe!. Perhaps to save some time and resources for the ones who aren't sure they will enjoy, I might sell some samples during the summer of 2022. Of course, true to the street vendor vybe, you will find me on the streets of Stavanger with my little bike! 😃😉

Thank you all for making it this far in the post and hope you either enjoy yourself some roasted peanuts, island sea moss or heck, give me a shout, let me know if you'd like to see the nutty milkshake featured in my little shop.

If looking for the amazing sea moss for yourself, wanting to create your own concoctions check out Roots and Culture or come find my pattie wagon this spring/summer!