What Is Green Seasoning?

Throughout season 22 of Top chefTristen Epps made it clear in every dish that his goal was to champion and highlight Afro-Caribbean cuisine. That mission was more evident than ever during the season finale in Milan, where Epps crafted dishes like an oxtail Milanese served over Carolina rice grits, earning him the title of Top Chef.

This weekend, the Top chef champion is bringing his Afro-Caribbean cooking and celebration of Black foodways to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. During a cooking demonstration for festival attendees on Friday, June 20, Epps showcased his own renditions of two Caribbean dishes: a pelau with pigeon peas, rice, duck confit, and foie gras, followed by a king crab callaloo.

Throughout the numerous culinary tips and advice Epps shared while cooking at the Classic, one ingredient frequently stood out, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a supply of it handy at all times.

As Epps began preparing his duck confit to create his own rendition of Trinidadian pelau, he tossed the shredded, tender meat with green seasoning, emphasizing that this ingredient is the “lifeblood of marinating meat in the Caribbean.”

Green seasoning is a blend of aromatics used throughout Caribbean cooking, although many regions and individuals may have their own variations of the exact recipe for preparing it. One Reddit thread features users from Trinidad, Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and other countries chiming in that green seasoning is a part of their cuisine.

While the name may vary by country — it’s commonly called epis in Haiti or sofrito/sazón in the Dominican Republic — and the ingredients might differ slightly, green seasoning typically includes fresh herbs, aromatics such as onion and garlic, and an acidic component.

For Epps, green seasoning includes “cilantro, parsley, or culantro, green onions, onion, garlic, ginger, thyme, pepper, and vinegar… and a good amount of salt.” It’s important to note that he’s referring to fresh thyme and a scotch bonnet pepper, and the Top chef winner clarifies that he uses a neutral white vinegar for this aromatic mixture.

If it’s not clear from this list of ingredients, green seasoning is a bold, herby powerhouse of flavor. Epps explains that “We use that to marinate everything. Chicken, fish, oxtail, beef,” and his mother Patricia chimes in, emphasizing that “It just flavors any meat if you let it marinate.” However, green seasoning isn’t limited to just meat marinades; Epps adds that “We will also add it to rice…. It’s essentially sofrito.”

The versatility of green seasoning was evident as Epps cooked at the Classic. In just one dish — his pelau with duck and foie gras — he mixed shredded duck with green seasoning before adding it to his pot of rice and peas, stirred green seasoning into the rice grains that form the base of the dish, coated slices of foie gras in green seasoning before searing them, and finished the entire dish with a fresh dollop of the seasoning.

Epps does note that green seasoning tends to be salty, so keep that in mind if you’re inclined to spoon it over a finished dish. However, as Patricia points out, you can adjust the salt levels to your taste.

If you start stocking a jar of green seasoning in your fridge now — which I will be doing immediately — you’ll have the perfect marinade ready for any protein you grill this summer, and you’ll soon find that you want to keep this seasoning blend on hand year round.