Why Brooklyn's Little Caribbean Feels Like Home
How a Rainy Saturday Grocery Run Reminded Me Why Community Matters
SHARING WITH MEL
Melissa Rose Cooper
7/30/20263 min read
When I first moved to New York, I wasn't living in Brooklyn. I was in Yonkers, but I found myself making the trip to Brooklyn all the time to visit family. It wasn't long before those visits became something I genuinely looked forward to happening, and once I finally moved here, I understood why.
One of the biggest differences wasn't just the food. It was how familiar everything felt.
I'll never forget walking into a neighborhood supermarket on a rainy Saturday with a basket full of cassava, pumpkin, sweet potato, and plantain. As I got to the register, the cashier smiled and said, "Everybody making soup today?"
I laughed because she was absolutely right.
If you're Caribbean, you probably understand that moment immediately. A rainy Saturday and a pot of soup just go together. What made it special wasn't the conversation itself. It was the fact that I didn't have to explain anything. She already knew.
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That's something I never really experienced growing up in Boston. Even when stores carried Caribbean ingredients, they weren't always easy to find. Sometimes they were called something completely different, and other times they weren't available at all. Grocery shopping often meant asking questions or visiting multiple stores just to find what I needed.
Brooklyn has been a completely different experience.
Within just a few blocks, I can find Trinidadian, Jamaican, Guyanese, Haitian, Grenadian, and other Caribbean-owned businesses. If I'm craving roti, doubles, patties, bake and saltfish, or fresh Caribbean produce, I usually don't have to search very hard. It's simply part of the neighborhood.
But what makes Little Caribbean feel like home goes beyond the restaurants.
It's hearing familiar accents while walking down the street. It's finding ingredients without having to explain what they're are. It's seeing businesses that proudly represent different islands throughout the Caribbean. It's those everyday moments that remind me just how rich and connected our culture really is.
That sense of familiarity is something I don't take for granted.
Recently, I stopped by De Hot Pot, one of my longtime go-to spots in Brooklyn's Little Caribbean. They're well known for their doubles, but I was craving a beef buss-up shut instead. I grabbed my food, picked up a banana Solo, and walked over to Prospect Park to enjoy lunch outside.
It wasn't just about satisfying my appetite. It was another reminder of why I love living here. Sometimes home isn't defined by where you were born. Sometimes it's the place where your culture is understood without you having to explain it.
And for me, Brooklyn's Little Caribbean has become exactly that.
Watch the video below to see what I ordered from De Hot Pot and why this meal continues to be one of my favorite Caribbean comfort foods.