Guyana @ 50 - Seven Curry

One of the many pleasures of living in a multicultural society is the access to, and participation, that one enjoys in many settings, especially at festivals and on special occasions.

Eating a vegetarian meal in big, broad water lily leaves at a Hindu wedding or Pooja connects you with the multifaceted food culture of the land. No cutlery, just you, eating from a natural vessel that you balance in the palm of one hand while expertly mixing the food with the other and transporting it, without spilling, to your mouth.

This type of meal is referred to as 7-curry because 7 different 'curries' are made to be eaten with rice. Some people consider dhal/dal to be one of the curries while others don't. Either way, it is an outstanding meal.

7-Curry ©Cynthia Nelson

7-Curry generally comprises a combination of the following:

• Pumpkin
• Spinach/callaloo
• Eggplant & eddoes
• Potatoes or Potatoes & channa (chick peas)
• Katahar/breadnut/chatagine
• Mangoes
• Achar

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Leftovers - A Breakfast Feast

Clockwise: sauteed smoked fish, dhal, tomato choka & sauteed pakchoy

Bear with me as I muse again about breakfast. I have really been making an effort to eat this important meal. In addition to having cereal, fruit, yogurt, eggs etc. I have been eating leftovers for breakfast and boy is that a great idea! The leftovers often satisfy my desire for something savoury in the mornings and it is filling. I am good to go all day.

The other day I made everything you see on the plate below for lunch with a friend who is pesco-vegetarian. Next morning, I feasted on the leftovers!

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A mental adjustment to cooking & eating

My friends, before I get to this week's column/blog post, I just thought that I'd clarify a few things based on some comments from last week's column/blog post - In Defence of All-Purpose Flour. I hope that I do not offend anyone.

• I was in no way advocating for the exclusive use of all-purpose flour, rather, I was making the point that despite the multitude of flour options we have available to us that there still is a place for all-purpose flour in our kitchens. And, to that I hold true.
• I specifically stated in my column, the context for my argument: "...and for this column, I am referring to cake flour, bread flour and pastry flour." I was not referring to the use of whole wheat flour etc.
• The fact is that for the majority of the world, all-purpose flour and other "ordinary" ingredients are the only options - as a result of availability and resources.

There, I've said my piece :)

And now on to the business of this week.

When I started the Tastes Like Home columm, I would cook regular "home" food and then cook "column" food. Two major things happened - I saw my food budget skyrocket and the joy I got from cooking began to wane. I had to make adjustments. I had to figure out a way to balance the time I spent in the kitchen and the time I had for the other aspects of my life, like my job and other interests. Long story short, I had to make some changes. I had to make a mental adjustment to cooking and eating. Click here to read this week's column about the adjustment and the explanation for the dishes shown below. The roast chicken recipe is included in the column.

Roast Chicken with Roast Potatoes & steamed Snow Peas

Roast Chicken with Stir Fry Pak Choy & Rice

Roast Chicken with Vegetable Fried Rice

Have a great weekend everyone!

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About Cooking Shrimp & An apology

The other day, a friend of mine threw up her hands in exasperation and exclaimed, “I love eating shrimp but I hate cooking it! It always turns out hard!” “Ah,” I said, “that’s because you are overcooking it.” “So how long should I cook it for then?” “That depends,” I said, and explained further in this week's column.

N.B. Before attempting the dishes below, please ensure that you read my notes on cooking shrimp in the column as it gives suggested timelines and other tips.

To make: melt some butter along with oil, lots of minced garlic, hot pepper and green onions and toss with hot noodles (in this case I used Chinese Longevity Noodles).

To make: see column on how to prepare shrimp. Saute onions, garlic, hot pepper and fresh thyme then add chopped spinach and saute. Add back shrimp to pan just before the spinach is done cooking.

To make: season shrimp with lots of coarsely ground black pepper and salt. Pan fry quickly and set aside. Cook orzo, dress with marinara sauce. Add shrimp and serve.

To make: read column to prep shrimp. Saute onions, garlic, thyme, tomatoes, hot pepper then add bora (yard long bean) and saute covered on low heat until cooked through. Add back shrimp to pan just as beans are finished cooking.

To make: pan-fry shrimp and set aside. Saute onions and tomatoes along with lots of sambal. Add a little water or broth to make a thick sauce. Add back shrimp to pan, toss and let finish cooking. Be sure to read this week's column about the suggested cooking times.

To make: mix together chopped shrimp, fresh herbs, an egg, hot pepper, ginger, lemon juice, bread crumbs and make into patties. Coat with breadcrumbs, rest for at least 30 minutes and then saute (almost like a shallow fry).

Recipe here.

Pan-fried shrimp in prepartion to be added and incorported into a variety of dishes. Read this week's column for the full details.

APOLOGY

Sorry for not visiting your blog lately... I've been swamped with work and some other things. I just have enough time to post my weekly post... I hope to visit you soon. Thanks for the continued support, it is sincerely appreciated.

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Can we meet on a plate?

The government of Barbados recently issued a 6-month amnesty for all undocumented Caricom nationals (citizens of the Caribbean), to apply for immigrant status. This move has been met with mixed reactions in Guyana, Barbados and across the region. For sometime now there has been disquiet about Guyanese in Barbados. It is similar to the reactions of Haitians in The Bahamas, Mexicans in the USA and the migration of immigrants from certain European countries into others like Britain and France.

This week's column looks at the coming together of Guyana and Barbados on a plate and about how the food scene has changed here as a result of international migration.

Through migration, many items once not found here are now grown, such as the drumstick. I was surprised and overjoyed when I saw this vegetable in the market. It was another example of my merged space that I now call home. Follow this link to find out more about this vegetable and its health benefits.

Top: Gilbaka (fish) curry with Saijan. Bottom: Saijan curry

Here are some other links with drumstick recipes.

Shn's Drumstick stew in a spicy-coconut broth
Deesha's Drumstick Sambar
Sailu's Mutton-drumstick Curry
Ashwini's Drumstick Dal
Suganya's Stir-fried drumstick leaves

A simple thing like pepper can now be found in many varieties here in Barbados - Thai chilies, Trinbagodian pimento peppers, cubanelle and jalapenos in more than one colour.

Jalapenos stuffed with creamed cheese, wrapped in bacon and baked

For all our differences in this region, we are similar in many ways. Here's a snippet of ingredients and dishes we share with varying degrees of adaptation.

Breadfruit
Blog post. Column

Bakes
Blog post. Column

Callaloo
Blog post. Column

Green Bananas
Blog post. Column

Salt fish
Blog post

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Lunch in the Caribbean

Breakfast we can forego, mid-morning snack, tea and dinner we can miss or have something light, but not lunch. We want it heavy and we want it hearty. We want real food.

Coming from such a lunch-eating background then, read about an invitation to lunch I had in the USA several years ago that left me hungry and frustrated.

In Barbados, Lasagna Bolognese makes a daily appearance on the many lunch-buffet tables.

Thanks Marie and Maryann for sharing your thoughts and recipes for review.

Spinach (bhajee) rice is a favourite of mine and I first had it for lunch in Trinidad. Bounjal baby-shrimp is very popular in certain parts of the region also and is served with plain white rice or alongside dhal and rice.

Recipe for the lasagne can be found at the bottom of the column. For the spinach rice and bounjal shrimp, please do not hesitate to email me.

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I've Cheated... I've been Unfaithful...

I come before you with my head bowed for I have flirted, cheated and obsessed about things other than my self-confessed true love... Here's the thing, though my head is bowed I am not sure of how ashamed I am. Does that make me a bad person? Does it mean that I need therapy? You'll have to click here to read the rest of the column.

In order not to give away anything, I'll just leave the pictures below. When you read the column, you'll figure it out. Go on, read the column. When you're done, come and share with me some of yours (don't worry, you'll understand when you've finished reading) :)

Photo credit: Eat, Drink & Be Merry

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Here is my dish that I have made for submission to the very worthwhile project being put on by my fellow BloggerAid friends. We are creating a cookbook and all the proceeds will go towards fighting hunger. You don't need to be a blogger to join us on this venture, just simply click here for all the details. If you have not heard of BloggerAid and want to know more, then come on over.

LAP CHEONG FRIED RICE

Click on the image to get all the details to this month's Monthly Mingle and your chance to win a free, signed copy of my book!

HAPPY LOVE DAY EVERYONE!

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Trini Callaloo & A Note

If you’re from Guyana, Callaloo refers to all varieties of spinach (bhaji) but if you’re from Trinidad and Tobago, then Callaloo is the beloved, must-have, soul food dish of the twin island republic. Callaloo for Trinis is a concoction of dasheen leaves (aka eddo leaves), okra, crab and or salt meat, along with onions, pimento peppers (a mild pepper), hot pepper, green onions and thyme all cooked low and slow in a bath of fresh coconut milk. Click here to read the rest of this column. And if you're salivating for some Callaloo at the end of the column, then click here and here for recipes.

I always advise people to adapt recipes to suit their tastes and to use whatever they have available, therefore, if you cannot find any dasheen/taro/eddo leaves, then go ahead and use whatever variety of spinach is available to you.

Assemble the Callaloo ingredients, chop, add to pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it cook low and slow so all the ingredients meld together.

This is so you get a closer look at the actual leaf used to make Callaloo.

The Callaloo has been cooked and is now ready for the second stage of it's preparation.

Remove the crab, whole peppers and salt meat. Look how beautifully pink the okra seeds are.

Use a swizzle stick (read column) or a dhal gutney as I did here and swizzle, blending the ingredients.

You want it to still have some texture. If you opt to use an electrical appliance, I'd suggest a food processor as it gives you more control with the pulse button. Or use an immersion blender if you have one.

Garnish with hot pepper as shown at the top of this post, or with crab as I've done here and serve.

Callaloo can be eaten with rice, ground provisions, foo foo or dumplings. Be sure to read the column to find out more this wonderful Caribbean dish of Callaloo.

Bee's post this week at Forgive Me My Nonsense... leaves me numb :(

And now to the note. For the next three weeks I am going to be unable to blog-hop and visit your delicious blogs due to some pressing assignments. While I'll still do my regular Saturday posts and my FMMN posts, I just won't be able to visit. I know that you'll understand and look I forward to your continued support.

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