Hi Everyone,
When I originally came up with the concept of Tastes Like Home, it was because I was missing the foods from home – Guyana. Over the years, the missing of the food has changed because many of the ingredients I missed are now readily available in Barbados, even if not always in the variety and form I like, but that is to be expected. I’m not complaining. However, as much as I have the ingredients at hand, I find myself still missing my food and not just my Guyanese food, but also my Bajan food and other Caribbean dishes.
Let me explain.
It is unrealistic to cook one serving of almost anything. Like many people, I live alone but when I cook, I cook for 2 days, so on average I end up cooking 3 – 4 servings of food. That’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that, I like having days that I don’t have to cook. The problem lies when there are certain things that I want to eat but can’t cook because even making 3 or 4 servings is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable because of the amount of work involved in the preparation and to make anything less than 6 to 8 servings is a waste of time. The cooking and eating dilemma comes when you do make the dish and you are now stuck with having to eat it all week! The joy and pleasure of the first day’s eating vanishes by the third day and on the 5th day, you vow not to eat the dish for at least the next 6 months!
Cook-Up Rice – I love this dish so very much but I can’t tell you the last day I ate Cook-up Rice. Wait, I think I can recall… yes, the last time I ate Cook-up Rice was at Easter. You see what I told you? That was 6 months ago! I had to eat the Cook-Up for 5 days. I can’t possibly cook a quarter cup a peas with a cup of rice and what a half pound of meat? What is the point? If you’re going to make a pot of cook-up then make a proper pot of cook-up. And I am the kind of person who likes to have more than one kind of meat in my cook-up. Some fried Bangamary and ripe plantains are necessary accompaniments as well.
I almost never make bakes. The only time I make bakes is when I have houseguests or am entertaining. Kneading one cup of flour for bakes is bare joke; and then to heat all of that oil to fry what 3 bakes? Pointless.
Macaroni Pie is another of those things that you can’t make of one or two servings, you need to make an entire Pyrex dish. Can you imagine cooking half a cup of pasta and making about a cup of cheese sauce? Granted I have some beautiful little ovenproof dishes to bake the mini pies in, but why bother? Why heat up the oven, it seems such a waste of energy.
Chowmein – I’ve been longing to eat some chowmein for months but I have not cooked it at home because it is not one of those dishes that reheats well enough to my liking. I like my chowmein freshly cooked. I’ve sort of worked out a system though. I par cook the noodles and put them in separate containers. Cut up my veggies and parcel them off and I have my meat cooked and parcelled off. When I am ready to eat, all I have to do is stir-fry an individual serving. While this works, it is a pain knowing when I am hungry that I have to actually cook the food.
Fried Rice is another dish that requires being made in large quantities. In order to get my Fried Rice-fix these days, I don’t set out to cook Fried Rice, rather I just cook extra white rice so that I can then do some impromptu cooking and make fried rice with whatever is on hand. While wildly delicious, I still like a meal of dedicated Fried Rice; in other words, a meal in which I planned and prepared to make Fried Rice.
Mettagee – is not the same the next day, I find; neither are fritters of any kind. Roast potatoes are unappetizing the following day and so too are roasted vegetables.
I’m going to stop now because I feel as if I am just whining. Thanks for indulging me.
Looking forward to seeing you later this morning at Austin’s Book Services between 10 am and 12 noon.
Cynthia
