Meeting Cynthia Nelson

On Saturday April 2nd, I had the joyous experience of meeting Caribbean cookbook author Cynthia Nelson, a Guyanese native residing in Barbados, who is currently on a book tour to promote her first publication, “Tastes Like Home – My Caribbean Cookbook”. Her cookbook grew out of her eponymously titled blog ‘Tastes Like Home’ (here's the link: http://www.tasteslikehome.org/ ) where she was basically cooking the foods she loved from her childhood, and experiencing new tastes and flavours in her second home of Barbados. 

Me and Cynthia Nelson at Nigel R Khan's Bookstore in West Mall, Westmoorings.

When she began the blog, she found Caribbean natives all over the world who were in love with the dishes she talked about with such love, and they kept asking her for more. Now, after hooking up with Randle Publishing in Jamaica, she is busy promoting Tastes Like Home throughout the Caribbean. Her book tour began in her homeland of Guyana, and as I write, her Trinidad visit ends today, after which she’ll be winging her way to… oh my, I forgot to ask! Hahahaa!

Cynthia: "How do you spell your name, dear?"

Ever since I found out that Cynthia was going to be in Trinidad, I was truly excited at the prospect of getting her cookbook, and of course, meeting her. There were so many things I wanted to ask her about getting published, just so I would have an idea of what to do when my own labour of love was finally complete – and as you know, it’s been a few years well of rewrites, retesting recipes and reshaping. I long to be able to wake up one morning and go through my lists and be able to say, “Eureka, my cookbook is finished!”

Anyways, I eagerly took my lunch hour on Friday with my friend Crystal and made the trek to Nigel R Khan at West Mall to meet her, thinking that she would have been there that day, but the book signing was scheduled for Saturday instead. But I was glad that I could pick up my copy of Tastes Like Home early and bring it back to the office, where it passed from person to person, each marvelling at the mouth-watering photos of familiar local favourites such as callaloo, tomato choka, rotis and more. 

And photos like this one... Cynthia's Fried Salt Fish (page 110 of Tastes Like Home) looks so scrumptious!

My favourite section though, is the one that precedes the recipes, her food memoirs. I realised that Cynthia and I share a real love of food and the journey ingredients take before preparation. Food is more than just sustenance to us. It’s memories of home with images of Mother (or in my case, Granny) cooking up a favourite dish or two. It’s going to the market and being hit with a combination of smells and lingering odours of shopping bags and stall displays, some cloying, others so fragrant you want to do nothing else but stop and smell the fruit you’ve come to find.

Even as I type and glance at my copy of Tastes Like Home, I am filled with hope that someday I will be in her position, promoting the tastes of my own country’s cuisine and family favourites and sharing that abundant food love. Cynthia’s winning smile alone warmed my heart, just as her dishes will warm happy stomachs. I am glad I was able to discover her blog last year when I was searching for a butter flap recipe from my childhood – I’m really happy that it’s also featured in her cookbook. Even happier was meeting fellow blogger Wizzy the Stick at Cynthia’s book signing, and her own blog Breakfast Lunch, Dinner and Punch” (here's the link http://breakfastlunchdinnerandpunch.blogspot.com/ ) has joined my foodie list. (Thanks again, Wizzy!)  Ah, the joys of food writing; you never know who you will meet!

Well, I must now make my exit. Sadly, I did not do any cooking today. A happy trip to the supermarket with my girl Hazel and her hubby (thanks again, guys) yielded some wonderful finds and inspirations for new blog posts, but after putting everything away, the old knee decided to revisit me with some stiffness and pain. So, I am resting it atop my feather cushion while my boy is off to collect some Sunday Lunch from his sister for the two of us. But worry not, there is still more to come from the ol’ Halcie yet, so stay tuned. In the meantime, everyone enjoy your Sunday and like I always say, doh forget to mind de pot! Much love and many hugs! :-)

When you’re sick, eat Mashed Potatoes

Hi all. I wish I could be greeting you in the best of health, but for the past few days I have been fighting with a very strange cold virus that has been bumping about the office. The fever was the worst part, and it’s taking more than my prescribed meds to keep it in check and presently I’m also the not-so-happy owner of a lingering cough that has me sounding like a refugee from the old Caura hospital in T&T.

My precious appetite has also decreased. My diet for the past few days has been Lucozade, tea, cheese, toast, Dixie biscuits and the odd egg. I forced myself to eat some sada roti with a scrambled egg for lunch yesterday, but today, I’m at home with some leftover fried shark, and I’m desperately seeking some accompaniment for it. It was just then I happened across a can of lentils on my kitchen shelf and my fridge yielded up a few (still firm) potatoes, which brought back memories of Granny mashing some hot potatoes to feed me whenever I felt ill. (I know, usually sick people want soup, but not the members of my family!)

Therefore, today calls for some of my Granny’s Snuzzy mashed potatoes to make me feel good. So, let’s get started.

First, get yourself a handful of potatoes.

Peel them well. I like to cut mine into sixes, just so they cook a bit faster. Don’t forget to take off any black bits you find.

Put them in a pot of cold water and add a good pinch of salt to them, or my favourite thing, a couple of Maggi cubes. It gives the water an extra punch of flavour and potatoes are great at sucking up whatever seasoned liquid they happen to be cooking in.

Let them boil for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender – that means it doesn’t give any resistance when pricked with a fork or the tip of a knife.

Drain them well.

Get your potato masher and start to mash them while they’re still steaming.

Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of Blue band butter.

Let the heat of the potatoes melt the butter as you continue to mash them.

Next is Granny’s secret ingredient, condensed milk. I know, it seems weird to bring something sweet to a potato but paired with the saltiness of the butter, it works a strange kind of magic. A couple tablespoons should do the trick.

Continue to mash... Now taste… and voila! Just like Granny used to make it.

Now for some lunch… this is just a saucer-ful. Told you, my appetite isn’t what it’s normally been lately, but I am happy because it’s comforting. Oh, you want the recipe? Here you go…

Granny’s Mashed Potatoes

About 5 or 6 medium potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into six or eight pieces each

6 to 7 cups water (for boiling)

2 Maggi Vegetable cubes or 1 large pinch of salt

2 to 3 tablespoons Blue Band butter

1 or 2 tablespoons condensed milk

1. Boil the potatoes in the water flavoured with the 2 Maggi Vegetable cubes (or salt) over a medium high flame for 15 minutes or until fork tender.
2. Drain the potatoes. Mash while hot, using a potato masher.
3. Next, add in 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter and continue to mash.
4. Add in the condensed milk (start with one tablespoon first) and mix it well until the potatoes become nice and creamy, yet look firm.Taste.( If you like, another spoonful of condensed milk can go in.)
5. Serve warm and enjoy.

 

One of the main things I love about these potatoes is that you can do even more with them, including adding some roasted garlic to them, or sprinkling in a few chives… don’t worry, we will try more potato magic as my blog continues. For now, I will be remembering Granny as I eat and relax. With any luck, they just might bring my appetite back, hahahaa!

So you all take care, have a great day, and like I always say, doh forget to mind de pot. Much love and many hugs. :-)

When Callaloo leads Sunday Lunch

Living in Trinidad and Tobago means that you will inevitably either partake or create a Sunday Lunch, which is always a highly structured affair.

Almost every household – cultural differences aside – has some component of the Sunday lunch on their plates (once time and energy permits). Meat is a must, unless you are a vegetarian. I’ve seen people gorge on stewed or roasted (or barbecued) chicken, pork, beef, lamb and various types of fish. However, for a Sunday lunch to be called just that, it usually has three main components: (1) macaroni pie (a casserole of boiled macaroni that’s baked in a lovely mix of flavoured cheese, milk and eggs), (2) potato salad (which we love to create from boiled, cubed potatoes, green peas and carrots and tossed with flavoured mayonnaise) and (3) callaloo, a unique blended dish made from the leaf of the dasheen plant (or taro), ochroes and coconut milk and sometimes cooked with crab (a regular treat in Tobago).

Today was no different in that I’d planned to have all three parts to accompany my Sunday lunch of rice, boiled ripe plantains and stewed chicken (helped along with a little cucumber salad). The potatoes and carrots were waiting in the fridge. The macaroni was ready to be snapped. The callalloo bush and extra ochroes were on standby. However... I did not feel the vibe to do all this work. Maybe if I had done my usual Saturday prep of cleaning and seasoning, grating and pre chopping … but no. I was left with a decision to make, and I decided that there would be no pie and no potato salad today. Thus, I cleaned and seasoned half a chicken, placed two plantains to boil and washed the rice and started preparing the callaloo with as much love as I always did. Question… would it still be a "proper" Sunday lunch with only callaloo? You tell me…

Now this is how I usually buy my callaloo, pre packaged to save time. The leaves are already cut, so all you have to do…

Is wash the leaves well...

And put them into your pot.

Cut up the pumpkin pieces and add them in,

Then slice half a large onion and chop 10 large ochroes…

Add two whole cloves of garlic (as you can see, this one was beginning to sprout),

Two pimento peppers, cut into thirds...

followed by three crushed up Maggi stock cubes (your preference; I’m using vegetable cubes here) and a hot red pepper! (Doesn’t that pot look pretty?)

Next comes the coconut milk powder, another time saver. Though we live in the tropics, we can’t always find a coconut to grate and extract our own milk now, can we?

Just mix it according to the package directions and POUR on the LOVE!

Cover, put the pot on a medium flame and let it cook for 8 to 10 minutes to start.

After the first 8 minutes, the green leaves at the bottom will wilt a bit as the coconut milk bubbles away. Give it a good stir and cover again.

About 10 more minutes after that (and a reduced flame) the pumpkin begins to break down and the hot pepper begins to deflate. A word of caution; resist the urge to flatten that pepper with your spoon… the HEAT will be crazy! Taste for seasoning and add a little salt if you like.

Five minutes later, we have a cooked callaloo! The liquid is thick and leaves nice slimy trails when dropped from your spoon. The ochro seeds have also changed colour, which is one of the things my Granny always told me to check.

Now for the blending. First, take out the pepper, for obvious reasons…

Get your blender and pour in half of the callaloo...  (Don’t worry; I grew up using a swizzle stick to blend my callaloo back in the day. The blender saves time and is less stressful… trust me!)

And always remember, when blending hot things, remove the centre cap from your blender's cover and place a cloth over the opening so the the steam will go into it. This way, there won't be a build-up of steam inside.

Pulse it until the texture is to your liking. I like mine a bit chunky in parts, so this is good for me.

Pour into your serving dish...

and place the hot pepper back in. All Done!

Here’s my happy plate of stewed chicken with baked beans, white rice, boiled plantains, cucumber & tomato salad and my lovely callaloo, which I polished off with a glass of LLB. Yum!

Here's the easy recipe...

 

Simple Callaloo

Ingredients

One callaloo pack from your local grocery. (Note: These have pre chopped bush, 2 pieces of pumpkin, 4 or 5 ochroes and 1 hot pepper. However, you will have to purchase extra ochroes… they never pack enough.)

¾ to 1 cup peeled and cubed pumpkin, cut into cubes

8-10 ochroes, sliced into ½ inch pieces

1 medium onion, sliced

2 gloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic paste)

1 or 2 pimento peppers, sliced

2 stalks chive (optional)

1 red, yellow or green hot pepper (left whole)

1 packet coconut milk powder (mixed with 2 cups warm water)

2 Maggi stock cubes, your preference

Salt (optional)

Black pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Wash the callaloo bush and place into your cooking pot. (Do not add water).
2. Add the cubed pumpkin, ochroes, sliced onion, garlic, pimento peppers, chive and to the pot.
3. Crumble the Maggi cubes and sprinkle them over the vegetables and place the hot pepper in the middle.
4. Prepare coconut milk powder by mixing it with 2 cups of warm water and stirring until dissolved. Pour slowly over the vegetables.
5. Set the pot on the stove, cover and cook for 8 to10 minutes, stirring the pot and making sure not to bruise the hot pepper. Taste for salt.
6. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until the callaloo bush is tender and the ochro seeds have changed from gray to a pinkish colour.
7. Remove the hot pepper and process the mixture in a blender by pulsing it. Do NOT liquefy – the mix must still have some “bite” to it.
8. Pour into your serving dish and enjoy with your Sunday lunch!

Now you tell me, was that a nice simple Sunday lunch or not? I mean, from the looks of the plate alone, I doubt that a macaroni pie and potato salad was necessary here at all; it would have bordered on gluttony, hahahaa! My point was that a Sunday Lunch is whatever you make of it, whether you have all three items or just one. Once the food is made with love and enjoyed, there’s no way you can go wrong.

So, I hope you enjoyed a peep into my Sunday cooking and I look forward to hearing your take on the Sunday Lunch phenom. Take care of yourselves and families in the meantime and like I always say, doh forget to mind de pot! Love and hugs! :-D