A rant: An appeal for the ordinary

I am all for creating new tastes and flavours. And I am all for convenience, but I draw the line when things have reached a stage where I am being told, "We no longer stock (insert the name of an item) in that plain form. We only carry it in the flavours you see on the shelves." Continue to my rant about this flavour frenzy that has gripped manufacturers! All I wanted was a simple can of chunk tuna in oil! Really, is that too much to ask for? You decide.

I'd also be interested to know some of the "ordinary" things you go in search of only be lucked-out because some new flavour is in. We don't have to get rid of everything you know.

My apologies for not posting yesterday (Saturday) as usual, but we were feeling the wrath of weather system Tomas.

This week on About.com, please try these cornmeal dumplings. They are hearty and nutritious, add some ground cinnamon to your mixture and you won't need anything to go with these except a cup of tea?

Have a good week everyone.

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COOKBOOK

Tastes Like Home - My Caribbean Cookbook is more than just a book of recipes, it's a conversation about food and how it connects and forms part of Caribbean identity. The book is divided into two sections - a memoir section and a recipe section. Cynthia shares personal memories which help us understand Caribbean food and lifestyle. Some of the memories focus on food, events, and special festivals, others are recollections of life in the Caribbean. In the recipe section, readers and cooks are treated to step-by-step guides on how to make roti, Conkies, Christmas cake, the perfect baked ham, Dhal Puri and Coconut Drops to name a few. Tastes Like Home puts you in the kitchens of Caribbean home cooks and sets a place for you at the table, for a memorable meal.

This book is your invitation to join in revelling in the tastes of the Caribbean!

"Tastes Like Home is destined to become an important work on Caribbean cultural expression. Food is one of the significant manifestations of Caribbean creativity. The foods we eat are homage to the creativity of our ancestors... as Cynthia Nelson has shown over the years, our ancestors created a distinctive and delicious world-class cuisine. This creativity has continued across generations, and this book is a celebration."

Vibert C. Cambridge, Ph.D.

Professor, School of Media Arts & Studies

Ohio University

FOR SALE:

Ian Randle Publishers

Amazon.com

Follow on Facebook.

PRESS

The Trinidad Guardian - For the Love of Food

Zing - Liat's In-flight Magazine - No Taste Like Home

Barbados Today - Caribbean Cookbook brings back Childhood Memories

Guyana Chronicle - Tastes Like Home bolsters Grow More Food Campaign

Stabroek News - Cynthia Nelson launches Caribbean Cookbook

Kaieteur News - What's Cooking?

Nation News - Cynthia Nelson on the Power of Food

AVAILABLE AT:

BARBADOS

All Pages Bookstores

Cloister Bookstores (Bridgetown & Sheraton Mall)

UWI Cave Hill Bookshop

Days Bookshop

GUYANA

Austin's Book Services

JAMAICA

Already being sold there. Will update soon with names of stores

TRINIDAD

Mohammed's Bookstore

Nigel R. Khan Bookseller

Paperbased (located in Normandie Hotel)

Readers Bookshop

ANGUILLA

Coral Reef Bookshop

ST. LUCIA

Sunshine Bookshop

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

Best of Books

CANADA

A Different Booklist

Selected bookstores in North America

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Meat + Rice + Spices = Tatbileh

Like many of you, I buy and eat the same things every week, particularly when I am busy. The familiar is quick and easy to prepare because we can make it with our eyes closed. In this week's column, I share with you a Middle Eastern rice dish, Tatbileh, which I discovered when reading a blog! Truly, food blogs are the best places to discover food. Thanks to Sarah Melamed over at Food Bridge, I now have another dish that I can add to my repertoire of quick tasty meals.

Read more about this dish here and get the recipe, or head over to the Food Bridge.

This week on About.com, discover how to make this delicious, creamy corn soup that is a favourite in Trinidad & Tobago.

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Raisin Bread for Mom

When you live overseas, one often thinks of their parents back home, particularly as they get older... My mom and I chat on the phone every week, and last weekend when she told me she felt like eating raisin bread, I wished I was there to bake it for her. Read this week's column to find out how I like to have raisin bread and for the recipe. My mom is not nearby but perhaps you can make it for your mom?

This week on ABOUT.com, it is not too soon to start gathering recipes and ideas for the upcoming holidays - Thanksgiving or Christmas. Try my Sweet Potato Salad recipe instead of the usual potato salad.

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Tennis Rolls - A Guyanese Favourite

Each nation the world over has its own signature bread. The same is true for the Caribbean. We have various bread-rolls with their one-of-a-kind flavour and texture. Trinidad & Tabago has Hops Bread, Jamaica has Coco Bread, Barbados has Salt Bread and Guyana has Tennis Rolls. The Eastern Caribbean islands - St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Dominica etc. each has their own bread too.

These breads, as simple as they may seem, the recipes are not easy to come by and replicating them at home is more difficult than you think. Sure you come close, but there are certain dynamics and methods employed in a commerical bakery that results in a precision that is not always achievable in the home kitchen. Read this week's column about me trying to make Tennis Rolls and for an analyzed result. The recipe for the Tennis Rolls are at the bottom of the column.

Tennis Roll and Cheese along with a cold glass of cream soda and milk is a combo that is still relished today in Guyana. We used to eat this snack in the afternoons when we'd return home from school.

This week on About.Com - the most difficult thing about cooking with salt fish (salted cod), is not knowing how to de-salt the fish. Find out how it is done here and the importance of not removing all of the salt from the fish.

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What is Allspice?

Contrary to popular belief, Allspice is not a ground up mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is a spice all by it self. Read this week's column to find out more about this dried unripe berry that is a major export from Jamaica and how you can use it.

Jamaica Pepper, English Spice, Clover Pepper, Myrtle Pepper and Pimento are a few of the other names given to Allspice.

This week on ABOUT.Com.

Want to make these Potato Balls that are a street food in certain parts of the Caribbean? Then get the recipe here. If you have left over mashed potatoes, you can certainly doctor them up and makes these babies.

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