Hi Everyone,
“Sweet Hands means that a person is so talented in the kitchen that anything he or she makes… is like manna from the Gods.” That is how American journalist, chef and cookbook author, with roots in Trinidad, Ramin Ganeshram, explained the title of her book back in 2010 when it was published. Many of us may be more familiar with the terms: “Yuh hand sweet,” “she hand sweet,” or “he hand sweet.” What is this special talent that some cooks possess? Sweet-hand compliments are not bandied about wantonly, so what is it that elevates the cooking of one person over another? Is there a secret? Is it a talent that you’re born with? Is it something learnt?
I believe that becoming a ‘sweet hands’ cook is about patient learning, having an interest, and being open-minded. With these qualities as starting points, one can experience new things, explore the familiar, re-invent the old and create anew. Every day we witness and taste the food of a generation that was involved in bold experimentation that comes from having to make do.
‘Sweet hands’ is having the ability to transform ingredients – simple or complicated – into something that is outstanding in taste whether it is a food or beverage, although the term is usually only related to food. I believe that the true mark of a ‘sweet hands’ cook is the skill to turn the most mundane of ingredients into a dish that delights the palette and celebrates it qualities. For me, whenever I hear of ‘sweet hands’ I immediately think of the highly skilled cooks of various cultures around the world who at one time or another would have been involved in peasant cooking. Peasant cooking is preparing food using accessible, inexpensive ingredients. Back in the day, this was known as ‘poor man’s food’ and it was always about making do. The hallmark of many of these ordinary dishes was that they would have been prepared by folks who were skilled in preparation and knowledgeable about food through inventiveness, experimentation and skills passed down from one generation to