HOME |
GALLEY |
Alternatively, we can
eat "local", which we have come very much to enjoy. We can
start our day with spicy meat pies or bake-and-saltfish
Interestingly the bakes of "Bake &…" aren't really bakes at all, but "Floats," because they are usually fried bakes (of course!) Bakes, aka Floats 4 cups flour
½ lb salt fish (alt. use smoked
fish, including herring) If using salt fish, soak it about a half hour to remove excess salt, changing water several times. Remove any bones and boil to cook. Shred or flake cooked fish (or smoked fish), removing any bone, and squeeze on some fresh lime juice. Sauté chopped onion, garlic, pepper, and chopped tomato. Add flaked fish. Stir in hot pepper sauce, scallion, parsley, cilantro and thyme. (In the islands you can buy prepared green seasoning which includes all of the above!) Split open hot bake and spread with
fish mixture. Eat ASAP!
1 lb. Shark (or any firm fish) cut
in small strips Rub thin fish pieces with lime juice and salt. Season with herbs and pepper sauce. Dredge lightly in seasoned flour and fry on both sides in hot oil 'til done, time will depend on thickness. Drain on paper towel. Split open the hot bake and add shark strips, lettuce and tomato, and be creative with such spicy condiments as hot sauce, garlic sauce, green mango kuchelas, or tamarind sauce, or stay cool with Russian dressing or tartar sauce! |
|
home
| waypoints | logbook | reference shelf
|
rinidad
is a great place for food. Here West Indian cuisine shares turf with
its ancestor East Indian cuisine, reflecting the population, which
is close to equally dived. There are also Chinese and Middle Eastern
communities that have left their mark, in addition to American in
the guise of KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut! 
After
the relatively fundamental options of the Windward Islands, not only
eating out but shopping in Trinidad is a delight. Much produce is
grown locally, but it is backed up by major shipping connections to
the States and to South America. Supermarkets approach American standards
and seem to get more familiar products every week, including such
occasional esoterica as Portobello mushrooms, artichokes and asparagus.
The
Saturday open market - with several acres of fresh, mostly-local vegetables
- is a joy to behold…especially once you figure out what to do
with it all! Fish, shrimp, and pork are cheap and good. Chicken is…well,
chicken. It is NOT Purdue, however. A whole chicken is liable to arrive
with its feet stuffed in its neck! Local beef, on the other hand,
is something best left to the locals. But, when a red meat craving
hits, imported beef and lamb can be found in the larger supermarkets.
Omaha burgers are a hot commodity. We can even get good bagels! 
lthough
we would be just as happy to eat every meal at home, as the projects
have taken over the interior, we find ourselves eating out more and
more. Joe's Pizza is our major hang-out, and Charlie (the owner) has
become a good friend. Life here without Joe's Pizza (plus pasta, salads,
hoagies, steak sandwiches) would be tough. 
bujol, or even better, when we kind find them, Doubles (little "breads"
called bara filled with curried chickpeas and various spicy condiments).
Variations on Doubles include substituting Sahina (fritters with flecks
of dasheen leaves) or Biaggone (deep-fried eggplant slices) for the
bara. Lunch might be stewed chicken and pelau (rice and peas) from
the Roti shop. Local fast food is roti (Indian paratha folded around
a curry) or Bake and Shark (fried fish in a big fried Johnny Bake!)
with lettuce, tomato and hot, garlic, tamarind or shadonbene (cilantro)
sauces, of course! 
