Eddoes with pork. Squash with chicken feet. Pumpkin with chicken. Chowmein with mince. There are many other combinations that I can go on to list, but it is not necessary to do so. There is something very special about how we create combinations that turn into the most delicious mash-ups ever. These are borne out of the need to stretch certain things, to make do; or, as in many cases, simply because we think the ingredients would go well together. We become truly the masters of our own meals, doing what we want, how we want to, because we can! That is what I like about home cooking. There are no rules.
The other day I went to spend the day with friends. As we were sitting chatting, I could smell coconut roasting on an open flame and it immediately had me thinking of Coconut Choka. I wondered if we were having dhal and rice too because I know for sure that Cook-up Rice was on the menu. When it was time to get our food there was the large pot of Black-eye Cook-up and a small bowl of Coconut Choka to be served with the Cook-up. I thought, interesting. I’m not close-minded about food and combos; besides, don’t knock something until you try it. I ate some of the Cook-up Rice by itself first because I really was excited about having the Cook-up, then I mixed some of the Coconut Choka with the Cook-up. As they say, shut the front door! My eyes opened wide with surprise and my tastebuds were confused, in a very good way. Never, ever, would I have thought to eat, much less serve Coconut Choka as an accompanying side dish with Cook-up Rice. Never. The food tasted absolutely delicious (it is best said simply so I am not going to look for another word to say how it tasted). The smokiness from the fire-roasted coconut, the little bits of char along with the pepper, garlic, and piece of green mango all ground to a paste to make the choka when mixed with the Cook-up Rice, offered up multiple layers of flavour. It’s like another way to enjoy Cook-up Rice and Coconut Choka. Eat them together!
Obviously, I asked my friends how this combo came about. They laughed so hard.
The wife said, “Well I know you like Cook-up, so I had planned to cook that all along”.
The husband said, “And I know that you like Coconut Choka”.
To which I responded, “Yeah, with dhal and rice”!
More laughing ensued. The bottom line is that they wanted to make things they knew I liked, so, we had Cook-up Rice and Coconut Choka. Let me tell you all now, the next time I make Cook-up, I am so making some Coconut Choka too.
My late uncle Freddy’s squash and salted pig tails is memorable to this day and I had that as a young child. What are some combos that are your favourites, or new that you have tried?
The other day Delven Adams from Backyard Café posted a dish of squash and chicken feet served with paratha roti. Man, that looked so darn good. Another friend, Maureen, posted that she had cooked eddoes with pork. Yum! When I worked at the then Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) on Hadfield Street, sometimes I would have lunch at the canteen there. The lady that ran it, Elsie, introduced me to stewed cabbage with chicken. Before that I had only ever eaten cabbage raw, in coleslaw or shredded with Fried Rice or Chowmein. The first time I had stewed chicken with black eyes peas, it was like, where have you been all my life. Bora and Beef is a combo I like very much.
A friend once told me of Callaloo Cook-up he had with Dhal.
Over the years, here are some combos that I have enjoyed:
Pumpkin, potatoes, and pork cooked together in a stew.
Fried okras with potatoes (yeah, together)
Cowheel soup made with lima beans (instead of the usual split peas)
Fish soup with pasta (think chicken soup with noodles)
Have you ever had Chowmein with plain white rice? Try it and make sure you have some good pepper sauce to go along with it. And if you are yet to try Upar Gaar, aka as Murtani, a fire-roasted mash-up of ochro, baigan and tomatoes, then you are missing out.
So, what’s on the menu this weekend? Wanna give that Cook-up and Coconut Choka a try?
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
