USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
25 FLORIDA | ST. AUGUSTINE
IF YOU GO
Catherine “Aunt Kate” Usina
Aunt Kate’s
Datil peppers VISITSTAUGUSTINE.COM (2); PROVIDED BY FRANK USINA
By Cheryl Rodewig
O
N THE BANKS OF the Tolomato River in northern St. Augustine, Fla., sits a family restaurant built in the old Florida style: metal roof, lots of windows, a broad porch punctuated by live oaks growing through it. At Aunt Kate’s, diners will find fried gator tails (served with a creamy orange sauce), fried green tomatoes and a bevy of seafood dishes. And in some choices, there’s a flavor — spicy with an almost fruity finish — that you won’t be able to place unless you’re local. That’s datil pepper. Found in and around St. Augustine, this small, very hot pepper shows up in vinegars, sauces, soups and even pastries. It’s synonymous with another little-known element of the city: the Minorcans. “Outside northeast Florida, most people don’t know about us,” says Michelle Reyna, a seventh-generation Minorcan. “We’re a very tight-knit, small community, but without the Minorcans, St. Augustine wouldn’t look the way it does today.” It started in 1768 when Scottish
physician Andrew Turnbull brought Some of the dishes are lost to history. some 1,200 indentured servants from Mullet has disappeared from the MinorMediterranean areas including Menorca, can diet and with it, the beckoning cry of Spain, Greece and Italy to work on a “mullet on the beach!” Another one-time plantation he called New Smyrna. They Minorcan favorite, gopher tortoise stew, began to clear the land is illegal. “We nearly ate (the but after a few years, their tortoises) into extinction, numbers dropped because but I grew up eating it. We “If you want of malnutrition, diseases, all did,” Reyna says. “We had to get a sense to learn to adapt and live Native American raids and harsh treatment, and the off what was available, so of the layers remaining 600 or so fled to we ate some pretty bizarre St. Augustine in 1777, where things that have become of history, they settled. entrenched in our tradiwalking is an tions.” Today, more than 10,000 descendants are still there, For Easter, Minorcans fold excellent way cheese passing down traditions and datil pepper into and treasured recipes, such a pastry called fromajardis. to do that.” as those Catherine Usina, You won’t find it at any — ANN BROWNING “Aunt Kate,” shared with her restaurant, but it’s a staple MASTERS, family a century ago. At the at the Menorcan Heritage Minorcan poet and restaurant owned by her Celebration. Part festival, St. Augustine native grandson, you can sit down part family reunion, the to a bowl of pilau (a rice dish free event in the backyard with tomatoes, onions and garden of the Llambias House meat) or a tomato-based Minorcan clam draws hundreds of Minorcans from chowder — both with datil pepper — and around the country. Llambias House experience something you won’t likely was built in 1763 and owned by several find anywhere else outside this corner of CONTI NUED Florida.
Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine This National Historic Landmark dates back to 1793. Visitors can learn about its history, including the Minorcans, on 90-minute behind-thescenes tours Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Don’t miss the statue of Father Pedro Camps in the courtyard, honoring the priest who traveled with and served the Minorcans in the New World. thefirstparish.org
Aunt Kate’s This Minorcan family restaurant on St. Augustine’s North Beach is owned by Frank Usina, grandson of Catherine “Aunt Kate” Usina. It serves seafood and Minorcan specialties such as datil pepper cornbread and a rice dish called pilau. Order a plate of fresh local oysters from October to May. aunt-kates.com Datil Rooster This food truck offers a blend of Minorcan and Southern favorites, usually with a side of datil pepper sauce. The mustachioed gentleman on the side of the truck isn’t just for looks. That’s the owner’s great-great-grandfather, Ernest Paul Oliveros, pictured with his rooster. Look for the truck in Arnold’s Lounge parking lot, 3912 U.S. 1 N., typically for lunch Tuesday through Friday and dinner Friday and Saturday. datilrooster.wixsite.com/ food