Traditional African Cooking

The diet the Europeans provided for their enslaved Africans consisted mostly of foods the slaveholders did not want to eat. So the Africans had to be inventive. They blended their traditional African foods with staples found on the islands. Among the foods they introduced were okra, callaloo, fish cakes, saltfish, ackee, pudding, souse, mangoes, and the list goes on.

Most present day Islanders choose a diet that is reflective of the main ingredients of original early African dishes, including cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, bananas and corn meal. African men were hunters in their homeland, and were often away from home for long periods of time. They would cook spicy pork over hot coals, and this tradition was refined by the early enslaved Africans in Jamaica. The technique is known today as “jerk” cooking , and the secret involves a slow meat cooking process. Jamaica is famous for jerk chicken and pork, and you will find jerk all over the island.

What I remember the most about my maternal grandmother Vena Narcis Francette, is her pot bake, homemade bread, and pig tail soup. I do not think any of her grandchildren was able to master her baking, but I can recall her recipe for “pig tail soup.”

Pig Tail Soup

This recipe brings back memories of my maternal grandmother’s soup which she used to cook every Saturday.

Serves about 7

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 lbs salted pig tail
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 small eddoes, peeled and diced
• ½ beetroot, peeled and sliced
• 1 ½ lbs yams
• 3 green bananas (green figs)
• ½ lb cassava
• 1 cup split peas
• 1 corn on the cob cut into small pieces
• 8 cups water
• 1 can coconut milk (about ½ cup)
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 5 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp green seasoning (blend of fresh herbs)
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 hot pepper (optional)
• 5 pimentos, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice of ½ lime

1. Cut up and clean pig tail with lime juice and water.
2. Place the pig tail in boiling water in a pot and let simmer for about 20 minutes to get rid of the
excess salt and preservatives from the pig tail.
3. Drain the water out and set aside for final cooking with the rest of ingredients.
4. Sauté the onions and garlic in oil in the soup pot.
5. Add the pig tail when the onion is soft and translucent and cook for about 2 minutes.
6. Add the other ingredients, water, black pepper, thyme, coconut milk, corn, green seasoning, butter and the hot pepper. (Put pepper whole into the pot to give it a nice flavour. Do not cut unless
you want a very spicy soup).
7. Add split peas to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, simmer for about 1 hour.
8. Peel and dice the provision into large pieces.
9. Place provision in a large bowl and cover with cold water to prevent them from going discoloured.
10. Add the provision to the pot after ½ hour, bring back to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Allow this to
continue cooking for about ½ hour or until the provision is cooked.

Note: If you think your soup needs a little salt, it should be added last.