Callaloo

Trinidad and Tobago

Callaloo is considered a national dish in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s a dish originally created by Africans slaves. Traditional Caribbean Cooking gives you the traditional way of preparing callaloo. You can add smoked bone (smoked bone are bony parts from the pig, like the backbone etc), pig tail, salt beef or crab to add flavour. You can serve callaloo as a soup or as a side dish. In Trinidad and Tobago, callaloo is a must have on Sundays for lunch, together with red beans, stewed chicken, macaroni pie, potato salad and Spanish rice topped off with a nice glass of cold homemade

mauby or sorrel drink.

PREPARING THE CALLALOO LEAVES:

Leaves from the dasheen root are used for callaloo. The young curly, leaves are preferable. Cut and throw away the tips of the leaves. Chop and wash the leaves for cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ cup pumpkin, peeled and chopped

• 1 bundle dasheen bush (callaloo leaves)

• 1 hot pepper (optional)

• 1 green sweet pepper (bell pepper)

• 7 okras, chopped

• 2 cups coconut milk

• ½ cup full cream milk

• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped

• 1 sprig chive, finely chopped

• ¼ cup celery, finely chopped

• 1 pimento, finely chopped

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 1 tsp parsley, finely chopped

• salt to taste

1. Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in vegetable oil. Add chopped and washed dasheen bush to pot.

2. Add remaining ingredients and pour the milk over it. Add whole hot pepper. (Do not cut the hot pepper).

3. Cook on low heat until the bush is softened. Mix and ensure there is enough liquid in the pot.

4. Season with salt and Maggi cubes if desired.

5. You may add more water if the liquid dries up. Also, if you like it more like soup, add more water. When all the ingredients, especially the dasheen bush, are cooked and soft, remove from heat.

The traditional way to complete the process is to whisk the callaloo with a swizzle stick, but you can use your processor or blender if you wish.

Note: Before you whisk or blend, remove the whole hot pepper.

If you cooked the crabs or pig tail with the callaloo, make sure to remove those too. Add them again after the mixture has been blended or whisked.

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Champagne and Tarragon

Use fresh tarragon if you can get it; fresh herbs contain potent essential
oils that have much greater potency than dried ones. Also,
you can serve the same champagne you cook with while the dinner
is being prepared; after all, when champagne sits open too long,
the bubbles go away!

INGREDIENTS:
• 10 oz sliced white or Baby Bella mushrooms
• 3 - 4 shallots
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup champagne (or sparkling wine)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup fresh cream
• salt and pepper
• fresh tarragon
• sour cream or yogurt
1. Melt butter in heavy saucepan or soup pot.
2. Chop shallots and sauté in butter until translucent.
3. Add mushrooms and two sprigs of tarragon and sauté until soft.
4. Add champagne (or sparkling wine).
5. Simmer for a few minutes until steam rises.
6. Add water and milk and simmer soup for 10 minutes.
7. Remove three quarters of mushroom mixture and purée in
blender; add back to remaining soup. Turn off heat.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add cream and stir gently.

Serve with a pinch of finely chopped fresh tarragon as

Roasted Pumpkin and Garlic Soup with Almonds

This is a tasty vegetarian soup. This soup does take some time, so prepare it a day ahead of time and refrigerate.


Serves about 5


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ lbs pumpkin, skin on, seeded,

cut into large chunks

• 2 ½ cups vegetable stock

or 2 - 3 cups water

• 1 onion, peeled and quartered

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• ½ tsp vegetarian or regular

Worcestershire sauce

• 2 heads garlic

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 3 tbsp ground almonds

• 1 ½ tsp dried rosemary

• salt to taste

• 1 loaf French or other chewy bread




1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Brush cut surfaces of pumpkin and onions with oil, and place, cut sides up, on baking tray.

4. Prick garlic several times with a skewer, and place on baking tray.

Sprinkle rosemary over all.

5. Roast vegetables until tender for about 45 minutes. (Pumpkin and onion should start to look scorched around the edges.)

6. Cut garlic bulbs crosswise in half and squeeze roasted flesh of one head into bowl of food processor. (Protect hands with towel.)

7. Scoop pumpkin from skins and add to processor.

8. Purée vegetables until smooth, adding a little of the stock, if necessary, to help the process.

9. Transfer purée to a large pot. Add stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, almonds, and salt.


Heat to a low simmer.

Traditional Soups and Appetizers

A comfort food that includes a meal prepared at home means you need not complete all the courses before moving on to the dessert, Having a leisurely meal is a custom and an art seemingly lost to us in today’s busy world. Remember, comfort food is a great stress reliever, but stress is not normally conducive to healthy eating.

Dominican Chicken Noodle Soup

(Caldo de Gallina)

Every culture has its version of chicken soup. When you feel a need for comfort food or a light meal, try this tropical twist on an old fashioned favourite. This soup recipe is also great for using up leftover chicken. This recipe uses calabaza (West Indian pumpkin). If you can’t find it locally, try hubbard or acorn squash as a substitute.

Servings about 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 lbs cooked chicken (skinned, boned,

cut into small pieces)

• 2 chicken bouillon cubes

• ½ cup celery stalk (chopped into cubes)

• 2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)

• 1 tbsp dried cilantro (if not available,

substitute dried parsley)

• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

• ½ tsp white pepper (or to taste)

• 2 cups calabaza (peeled, seeded and cubed)

• 10 cups water

• 8 oz angel hair pasta

1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot.

2. Add chicken, bouillon cubes, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and dried cilantro.

Sauté for 3 - 4 minutes.

3. Add the water and calabaza. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.

4. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Break up the angel hair pasta and add

to the pot.

5. Stir frequently until noodles are tender. Remove from the heat and serve.

Shrimp in Coconut

Shrimp in Coconut

Cream Sauce

Serves about 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and pre-cooked

• 4 medium red skin potatoes, diced

• ½ cup chopped onions

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 4 mushrooms, sliced

• 1 tbsp curry powder

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• ½ cup diced tomatoes

• 1 cup coconut milk

• 2 tsp paprika

• 2 stalks scallion, chopped in small pieces

• 1 tsp thyme leaves

• 2 dried red chillies, finely chopped

• ½ cup walnuts (optional)

1. Warm oil on medium heat. Add potatoes and sauté over low heat until just barely

tender, stirring constantly.

2. Add onions, and scallion and let sauté until onions are transparent.

3. Add garlic, paprika, parsley and curry powder. Continue to cook over low heat for

3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut cream, mushrooms, thyme and

tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Stir often, to prevent the

coconut milk from drying out.

4. Add the shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes until shrimp are tenderly cooked.

If you fasting this lent, try this recipe

If you fasting this lent, you can try this fish recipe. I also include a basic Cuban cheese sauce recipe.

Tilapia in Oil and Vinegar Sauce

Guyana

Serves about 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs tilapia, cut in slices

• 1 lemon or lime

• flour

• 1 cup olive oil

• 1 large bell pepper (green sweet pepper), sliced

• 2 large onions, cut in rings

• 2 bay leaves

• 3 cloves garlic (whole)

• 2 scotch bonnet peppers (whole)

• 2 smoked jalapeños, chopped

• ½ cup vinegar

• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Remove the skin from the fish, then wash with some flour in the water. Do not use lime because it will make the flesh stiff.

2. Season and coat lightly with flour.

3. Fry in the olive oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.

4. Fry the onion slices lightly on low heat in the same used oil.

5. Add vinegar, garlic, peppers and bay leaves.

6. Add the fried fish and cook for about 5 minutes.

7. Add salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve hot or cold with lemon or lime juice.

Note: May be kept for several days if an extra ½ cup of vinegar is added. Other fish may be used instead.

Basic Cheese Sauce (Salsa de Queso)

Cuba

Every culture enjoys a good cheese sauce. You can substitute any other suitable cheese in place of the cheddar. Enjoy this cheese sauce as a dip or over your favourite vegetables.

Yields about 2 cups.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ½ tbsp butter

• 4 tbsp all purpose flour

• 2 cups milk

• salt to taste

• ¼ lb mild cheddar cheese

(shredded or cut into very small pieces)

1. Melt the butter to low heat in a saucepan.

2. Whisk in the flour and salt.

3. Whisk in the milk.

4. Turn the heat to medium and stir continuously until the mixture thickens.

5. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the cheese a little at a time, stirring continuously until the sauce is smooth and creamy.

6. Pour the hot sauce over your favourite vegetables.

Traditional Sauces, Chutneys, Pepper Sauces and Chows

Chutney or chatni is a term for a variety of sweet and spicy condiments, usually involving a fresh, chopped primary vegetable or fruit with added seasonings. In India, a chutney is often made to be eaten fresh, using whatever suitable strongly flavoured ingredients are locally available at the time. The Hindi translation of “to make chutney” is a common idiom meaning “to crush.” In traditional Indian chutneys, the use of a stone mortar and pestle is often regarded as vital to create the ideal chutney.
In the past, chutneys were ground with a mortar and pestle made of stone or an ammikkal (Tamil). Nowadays, electric blenders replace the stone implements.

History of Ingredients used in Caribbean Recipes

Caribbean cooks use spices that are unique in many ways. Nutmeg is used to flavour desserts, but this spice is often combined with other native island spices to produce an altogether different, yet somewhat recognisable flavour.

The distinctive flavour of Jamaican jerk comes from allspice, another spice we would not associate with a meat marinade.

The Cayman Islanders add spicy peppers to flavour their favourite chocolate cake.

Tamarind is another spice used for its sauce but also for its tasty flavour. Fruits such as orange, papaya (pawpaw) mango and pineapple make up the body of Caribbean sauces and drinks. Coconut milk serves as a base for many popular stews, soups and sauces.

Rum is a favourite ingredient throughout the Caribbean, and is applied liberally in marinades, soups, deserts and sauces.

Beans, rice and other vegetables absorb the flavours of any dish. Chicken, duck, goat, pork, beef and fresh seafood are the preferred meats.

The preferred ingredients for seasoning are curry, chadon beni (bhandania), bay leaf, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, chilli pepper, geera (cumin), saffron (turmeric), garlic, onions, chives and celery.

This book aims to combine the fusion of the Caribbean flavours in the recipes. Each island has its unique twist on its ingredients and method of cooking, but the end result is always tasty.