The Way To A ________Heart?
Those who know me know that I am a lover at heart. Yes, I love to love and sometimes that means I love foolishly. Sometimes, I don't even love them and they think I love them when all I am doing is being kind. I have recognized that a lot of men think you love them: want to have sex with them, simply because you share a plate of food with them. Boys...I don't.
With that said, I do believe that food is a love thing and that many of us have good memories surrounding food. We cuddle at our mothers' breast drinking life-sustaining milk. We celebrate life and death and in-between with food. The 'breaking of bread' with someone is an act of trust for me.
For the past year I've been toying with the idea of relating stories of love and associating them with a particular food. I want to relate the stories of ordinary people like myself, their tales of love, be it platonic, romantic, or agape' love. So for example, my ex-husband courted me on mint chocolate chip ice-cream and KISS Baking Company cupcakes. Kiss for a kiss, you know what I mean. Ah, those were the days when I was 'slim-t'ick', as we say in TnT (Trinidad and Tobago), so I could have afforded to eat ice-cream and cake. Mint chocolate chip ice-cream still makes me smile, although I don't eat it anymore and from time to time I must have a KISS cupcake, the original orange flavour, mind you. Nothing better! At allrecipes.com I found this recipe for mint chocolate chip ice-cream. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream/detail.aspx I feel I need to get the recipe from the KISS Baking Company for the original Kiss cupcake. One of my friends told me that her memories of courtship was driving to the Queens Park Savannah buying oysters, coconut water and warm nuts in that order, then sitting admiring the President's House. Sounds pretty nice, eh?
It always seemed to be on rainy weekday afternoons, never on a sunny week-end evening. Every once in a while my father would pick me up after school, collect my aunties,the cousins and sometimes even the great aunts and declare that tonight was going to be 'ooloo talk'. That remembrance brings a smile to my face because it meant that we were heading to the cool valley of Santa Cruz to my Aunt Elaine's house,where we would meet other relatives and she would prepare a dinner of fried bakes and fried saltfish with 'cocoa tea'. The 'piece de resistance' would be the story-telling after dinner. Here our aunts and uncles would relate stories of douens and ooloos and of seeing Mama Glo' or long dead ancestors. It was so exciting for us children. Simple food, simple pleasures, lots of love.
Fried bake,and fried saltfish still play a part in my life and still speak to me of love and care. To this day when I go visit my friend Becky, (whom I have known since university days), in South, we always have this menu. Becky makes the bakes and I do the saltfish. So here is our recipe for Fry bakes, fried saltfish and cocoa tea.
Becky's Fry Bakes
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2-3/4 cup warm water
Oil for brushing on dough
Flour for dusting
Method: Mix dry ingredients together. Pour water a little at a time into flour mixture. Knead, until ingredients are combined and a smooth dough is formed. Form a ball and brush with a bit of oil. Rest dough for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes roll out dough thinly. Cut into various shapes - diamond, circles, triangles using a cookie cutter or a glass or a knife. In a heavy-bottomed pot deep fry in very hot oil for about 3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Once the bakes rise to the top, they done. Drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag. Eat hot!
JinJin's Fried Saltfish
1 lb. dried codfish
1 large onion
3 large seasoning* or jalapeno peppers
1 tsp. black pepper
Flour for coating
Method: Remove skin from codfish by simply pulling it off. Place codfish in a pot. Cover with coldwater and put to boil. Once the water begins to boil continue for at least 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and cut onion into rings. Coarsely chop 1 of the seasoning peppers. Set aside. Drain water from codfish and leave to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, remove as many bones as possible. Coat with flour and black pepper, the saltfish, onion rings and peppers. In the same heavy bottomed pot you made the bakes, add the chopped pepper and leave so that it infuses the oil. Add the saltfish and cook until golden brown and crisp, then the onion rings and the peppers.
*http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/Capsicum_chinense_'Trinidad_seasoning'
Cocoa Tea
2 hefty tbs. cocoa powder OR 2 tbs. grated cocoa from a cocoa stick**
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 dashes of powdered cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
Sugar to taste
1 cup water/milk
1 bay leaf
Evaporated milk
Method: Mix together the first 4 ingredients in a small pot. Add water or milk, whatever you desire,along with the bay leaf. Place on stove and bring to a gentle boil stirring all the while. Add evaporated milk for extra richness and creaminess. Pour steaming into a mug or teacup.
** http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/2011/04/cocoa-story-ii-how-cocoa-is-made-trini.html#axzz1ZkQU102u
Now here is the fun part, the love part. It is the sharing of the food, the laughter, the joy of being with families and friends. Let's Eat!
I've got a few more stories to share with you over time. Share your stories of love and caring and food. Think that will be the title of my book 'Love and Caring and Food'.
Until
With that said, I do believe that food is a love thing and that many of us have good memories surrounding food. We cuddle at our mothers' breast drinking life-sustaining milk. We celebrate life and death and in-between with food. The 'breaking of bread' with someone is an act of trust for me.
For the past year I've been toying with the idea of relating stories of love and associating them with a particular food. I want to relate the stories of ordinary people like myself, their tales of love, be it platonic, romantic, or agape' love. So for example, my ex-husband courted me on mint chocolate chip ice-cream and KISS Baking Company cupcakes. Kiss for a kiss, you know what I mean. Ah, those were the days when I was 'slim-t'ick', as we say in TnT (Trinidad and Tobago), so I could have afforded to eat ice-cream and cake. Mint chocolate chip ice-cream still makes me smile, although I don't eat it anymore and from time to time I must have a KISS cupcake, the original orange flavour, mind you. Nothing better! At allrecipes.com I found this recipe for mint chocolate chip ice-cream. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream/detail.aspx I feel I need to get the recipe from the KISS Baking Company for the original Kiss cupcake. One of my friends told me that her memories of courtship was driving to the Queens Park Savannah buying oysters, coconut water and warm nuts in that order, then sitting admiring the President's House. Sounds pretty nice, eh?
It always seemed to be on rainy weekday afternoons, never on a sunny week-end evening. Every once in a while my father would pick me up after school, collect my aunties,the cousins and sometimes even the great aunts and declare that tonight was going to be 'ooloo talk'. That remembrance brings a smile to my face because it meant that we were heading to the cool valley of Santa Cruz to my Aunt Elaine's house,where we would meet other relatives and she would prepare a dinner of fried bakes and fried saltfish with 'cocoa tea'. The 'piece de resistance' would be the story-telling after dinner. Here our aunts and uncles would relate stories of douens and ooloos and of seeing Mama Glo' or long dead ancestors. It was so exciting for us children. Simple food, simple pleasures, lots of love.
Fried bake,and fried saltfish still play a part in my life and still speak to me of love and care. To this day when I go visit my friend Becky, (whom I have known since university days), in South, we always have this menu. Becky makes the bakes and I do the saltfish. So here is our recipe for Fry bakes, fried saltfish and cocoa tea.
Becky's Fry Bakes
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2-3/4 cup warm water
Oil for brushing on dough
Flour for dusting
Method: Mix dry ingredients together. Pour water a little at a time into flour mixture. Knead, until ingredients are combined and a smooth dough is formed. Form a ball and brush with a bit of oil. Rest dough for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes roll out dough thinly. Cut into various shapes - diamond, circles, triangles using a cookie cutter or a glass or a knife. In a heavy-bottomed pot deep fry in very hot oil for about 3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Once the bakes rise to the top, they done. Drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag. Eat hot!
JinJin's Fried Saltfish
1 lb. dried codfish
1 large onion
3 large seasoning* or jalapeno peppers
1 tsp. black pepper
Flour for coating
Method: Remove skin from codfish by simply pulling it off. Place codfish in a pot. Cover with coldwater and put to boil. Once the water begins to boil continue for at least 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and cut onion into rings. Coarsely chop 1 of the seasoning peppers. Set aside. Drain water from codfish and leave to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, remove as many bones as possible. Coat with flour and black pepper, the saltfish, onion rings and peppers. In the same heavy bottomed pot you made the bakes, add the chopped pepper and leave so that it infuses the oil. Add the saltfish and cook until golden brown and crisp, then the onion rings and the peppers.
*http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/Capsicum_chinense_'Trinidad_seasoning'
Cocoa Tea
2 hefty tbs. cocoa powder OR 2 tbs. grated cocoa from a cocoa stick**
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 dashes of powdered cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
Sugar to taste
1 cup water/milk
1 bay leaf
Evaporated milk
Method: Mix together the first 4 ingredients in a small pot. Add water or milk, whatever you desire,along with the bay leaf. Place on stove and bring to a gentle boil stirring all the while. Add evaporated milk for extra richness and creaminess. Pour steaming into a mug or teacup.
** http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/2011/04/cocoa-story-ii-how-cocoa-is-made-trini.html#axzz1ZkQU102u
Now here is the fun part, the love part. It is the sharing of the food, the laughter, the joy of being with families and friends. Let's Eat!
I've got a few more stories to share with you over time. Share your stories of love and caring and food. Think that will be the title of my book 'Love and Caring and Food'.
Until
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