Oil Down - Grenada's National Dish

Throughout the Caribbean one can find dishes similar to Oil Down. In Guyana, Mettagee quickly comes to mind. In Trinidad and Tobago, they make Oil Down too, the colour of their dish coming from the use of annatto seeds/achiote. In Jamaica, Run Down, a stew made of salted mackerel or fresh fish, and yams, cooked with fresh seasonings in lots of coconut milk, is served alongside dumplings and boiled breadfruit. Regardless of where you are in the region, these dishes are different yet similar; they are familiar but distinct, like us. To read more, about this dish and for a recipe, click on this link; the recipe is at the bottom of the page. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions.

Read more...

Barbados @ 50 - Pigtails

Salted pigtails play a key role in Barbadian cuisine. It is mostly used to season and flavour dishes such as the famous Rice & Peas and to season boiled ground provisions. In addition to seasoning, salt meat (which includes salted beef) is also cooked as the protein in some dishes, for example, Privilege,  stews, and soups. It is excellent when stuffed in whole roasted breadfruit. Stay tuned for that later.

One of the more popular ways to enjoy pigtails is barbecued. De-salted, this most delicious part of the pig is grilled, charred, and glazed with the house barbecue sauce of the vendor selling it. You can find BBQ pigtails at lunch buffets, at pork limes (fetes), or as part of the street food scene.

Read more...

Pumpkin & Pea Soup with Salted Pigtails

I'm back. I had a great time in Florida and got the chance to meet and chat with some wonderful folks. It is so easy at times to think that you are working in a vacuum, especially when a lot of it is online. Sure, people leave comments and you chat via the social network sites and email, but there is simply no substitution for the live human interaction when you can look at facial expressions, share a laugh and engage in a conversation in a way that is not limited by number of words to type, and, you can delve deeper into an issue in just a couple of minutes. Of course there is that amazing feeling when you just "click" with someone like you've been friends all your life. Those are some of the encounters I had last weekend. Thanks! An added bonus is that all the books that were taken to the two events were sold out. Thanks to The Bishops' High School Alumni Association, (Florida) Chapter and to The South Regional Broward College Library!

As soon as I download the photographs, I'll share them with you.

On to this season's best - again. Yep, pumpkin is still very much in season in many parts of the world. For those of you up North - Calabaza Squash. Butternut squash is a good substitute for this recipe though you may not get the richness of the colour and the natural sweetness.

Rather than using regular salt, I used salted pigtails to season this soup. It adds a lovely flavour with its cured porky-ness :) Of course if you cannot put your hands on salted pigtails then try some thick-cut pieces of bacon or pancetta.

Often when people make pumpkin soup they tend to put in heavy cream to give it body and creaminess but I urge you to try putting split peas, red lentils or split yellow moong dal instead. The combination of the pumpkin, peas and cured pork will have you going back for more. If you are serving this to company, make a large amount. Having some crusty bread on hand is not a bad idea either. Click here for the recipe.

Read more...