Dr, Audrey Golden ventured away from home when she left Orangeburg to attend college at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. While there, however, her world broadened and she became a global citizen.

In school, she interacted with students from almost every country, including quite a few Jamaican students in Howard's School of Dentistry.

Those students adopted her as a "sister," and the island country of Jamaica became almost a spiritual home.

The Jamaicans shared their homeland experience with Golden through their cuisine. She developed a great liking for the spices and aromatics of Jamaican cuisine, and finds its heat and complexity delightful on her tongue and, oddly, familiar.

The daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Robert (Catherine) Gordon from Williamsburg County, she is used to barbecue that is so hot, it is used as a condiment.

"My parents always bring back barbecue when they visit their hometown," Golden said. "They've done that as long as I can remember. So I got used to hot, spicy food when I was a child. My husband, Northan, likes the spiciness of Jamaican food, and my son, Little Robert, who's only two, is developing a palate for it as well."

To demonstrate her fluency in Jamaican culture, Golden prepared what is called Jamaica's national dish, ackee. She also prepared saltfish, jerk chicken and fried plantains. As we prepared the dish, the intoxicating aromas wafting from the pots inspired hunger even in a full stomach.

As we chopped the the aromatic vegetables, Golden told me that she followed in her father's footsteps when she went into dentistry. "But I veered away to my own path a little," she said. "I'm a pediatric dentist (the only one in Orangeburg)."

Golden says she does more teaching in her practice. She loves working with children, many of whom badly need dental care. Children need to see a dentist as soon as their teeth have surfaced, but too many prolong it until they are almost 10, she says.

We chopped two scallions, half a medium-sized onion and two Roma tomatoes to add to the Ackee and saltfish. Golden told me that she soaked the salt cod for about three hours to soften it and to eliminate some of the salt. She added the onions and scallions to a pan on medium high heat with two tablespoons of oil and sauteed them just until they were soft. To that, she added the flaked salt cod and stirred. After five minutes, she added the tomato and the ackee.

Ackee is a tree vegetable indigenous to Jamaica. Golden used canned Ackee in the dish, which she placed in a colander and rinsed under cold water. A yellow-fleshed vegetable that looks like scrambled eggs, ackee tastes a little like eggs too.

After the fish and onions were sauteed, Golden added the ackee and stirred to blend. She cooked the completed dish for approximately 10 minutes and then served generous portions over rice with jerk chicken and fried plantains. It was truly a delicious meal.

1 pound salt cod fish

2 cans ackee

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes

2 scallions

2 tablespoons oil

Soak codfish to soften. Remove the skin. Flake the fish and set aside. Heat the oil in the pan. Saute onions, tomatoes and scallions. Add flaked fish and saute for approximately five minutes. Add ackee and saute briefly to blend flavors. Serve hot with rice.

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