The Delights of Floridian Cuisine

Having recently joined betonwerk US as CEO of the company’s North America operations, Max Crumit has over three decades of experience in the areas of civil engineering and transportation. Outside of his work, Max Crumit loves to cook and recently enrolled in a culinary school in his home in Florida.

Floridian cuisine, from the north to the south and the Keys, is influenced by a number of different cultures, including the American South, Cuba, Latin America, and the Bahamas. There is also a distinct influence from the Asian immigrants who arrived in large numbers after the end of slavery, when they were hired for cheap labor. Florida’s culinary influences are vast, and southern Floridian cuisine is sometimes called Floribbean to recognize the local and Caribbean influences on the food.

Florida boasts a tropical climate, so fruit--especially citrus--is a key aspect of the area’s cuisine. Fish and seafood are also key elements for an area surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. A common food in the Florida Keys is conch, a mollusk that is often made into fritters by chopping and frying them into balls or into a ceviche by marinating the conch meat in lemon juice.

Florida is also known for its key lime pie. Key limes are small yellow fruits native to the Florida Keys, and the traditional recipe is an unbaked pie that thickens simply through the reaction between lime juice, condensed milk, and egg yolks. Key lime pie is often thought of as a baked pie with a green tinge, but the classical local version should turn out yellow.