While television celebrity Chef Alton Brown’s book of the same title as the headline for this column is all about the science and how-to of cooking the food, I am here to tell you that for me, especially this week, I’m just here for the food – to eat and enjoy.
I want to share with you 10 things that I have cooked and took pleasure in eating and drinking in the last couple of weeks. Apart from obviously liking these things, it could be as a result of not having made or eaten them for a while. Whatever the reason, I found myself studying them as I consumed, marvelling at their simplicity and being awed by their taste, their flavour. Everyday food is to be celebrated, always.
Let’s start with the Baigan (eggplant) Choka I had just yesterday. Smoky and creamy; notes of sweetness from the eggplant itself as well as the slices of garlic, softened and sweetened from the fire-roasting. The flavour of garlic permeating the flesh as the eggplant softened while cooking and mashed smooth. The tiny bits of minced hot pepper coupled with wafer thin slices of scallion for the subtle onion flavour, rounds out the choka. Salt to taste, a light squirt of fresh lime juice to balance the flavour and a pouring of smoking hot oil to chunkay the choka and it’s done. Let that choka sit for a few minutes for the flavours to meld and then dig in. With each mouthful, I found myself shaking my head; my senses enveloped. Darn, how good is Baigan Choka…
Another day was the quickly thrown together Vegetable Fried Rice. Honestly, I believe that the best fried rice, is the one that you do not plan for. The spontaneity of putting together the dish and working from instinct rather than precision offers a certain freedom, that yields something not often replicated. Each time it will be different.
I always have ginger-garlic paste in the refrigerator and freezer; it
is a flavour base combo that I use for different types of dishes. For my hastily thrown together fried rice, it was the ginger-garlic paste, hot peppers, a bunch of pak choi, leftover rice, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Oh, I had some leftover roast chicken that I chopped up and added to the fried rice. I did not use any 5-spice powder, no soy sauce, oyster sauce, scallions, and other things that we normally put into fried rice. No carrots, or bora either. As I ate, I asked myself, why can’t I make fried rice that tastes this good all the time (LOL).
One day, I soaked black-eye peas with the intention of making rice and peas but the next day I dumped that idea. I decided that I was going to make the black-eye like boil and fry channa. Laziness crept in; I could not be bothered with the 2-step cooking process. I finely chopped tomatoes, minced onions, garlic, and hot pepper and sauteed them low and slow until softened to a paste, tossed in the rehydrated black-eye, salt, and a little water and pressure cooked it. The taste of black-eye is special and so is its natural aroma. I found myself liking it much more than boil and fry channa.
The Mauby I make is what I learned to make from my late mother. And her Mauby was legendary among those who ever had it. I made a batch to share with some friends and kept a bottle for myself. When my friends tasted it – some of them are Guyanese – they referred to it as ‘ole time Mauby’ (it was a compliment). They regaled me with tales of Mauby. When Mauby matures by fermenting at room temperature for 3 days with the daily brewing; when it is refrigerated and served cold, with or without ice, the synergy of the flavours of the bark, the spices and brown sugar, reveals different flavour notes as the drink coats your tongue. And for many, including myself, that taste can transport.
Talking about ‘ole time’ things. I had a yearning for egg and cheese sandwich. I remember these from my childhood days. Boiled eggs, mashed with grated cheese, hot pepper sauce, mustard, mayo, and grated onion. When I made mine a couple of weeks ago, I added in thinly sliced scallions. And hear this, for this sandwich, I did not want shop-bought bread that was just fluff that would flatten or tear when smeared with the spread, so, I made my own bread. Homemade egg-cheese spread sandwich is my favourite type of sandwich. The spread goes well with biscuits/crackers too.
My ground provision guy had cassava he had pulled a couple of days before he brought it to the market so of course I loaded up on cassava to make bakes, pone and an all-time favourite, boil and fry. Normally, I would boil and fry the cassava by itself to eat either or its own or with meat, chicken, fish – fresh, smoked or salted – on the side. Again, laziness was at play, so I decided to do one set of frying: the salt fish and cassava together. I call it my deluxe boil and fry cassava. That went down really well for a late Sunday morning breakfast with lemongrass tea. As I ate and drank, the sun streaming on to the patio, I thought, life does not get any better than this.
By the way, are you hungry yet?
Where am I? Oh, I’ve told you about 7 things so far. Three to go.
There are certain dishes for me that are comfort food: Bajan Rice and Peas with salted pig tails (cooked my way); Split-peas and rice with fried Bangamary; a hot, skin-fish curry and then there is the one that can rival them all – dhal, rice and achar. It does not matter what type of achar. Garlicky, cumin-y, heat from pepper, pulpy or smooth, dhal, spread over freshly cooked white rice and a heaping tablespoon of achar on the side. Hold the cutlery; I’ll eat with my hands thank you. When you mix that dhal with the rice and a pinch of achar, tell me, how are you not swooning? How are you not closing your eyes, chewing slowly, and being thankful and glad that you were born and raised in a place where this is everyday food. It is obvious that I have a thing for rice and peas in any form!
Weekend baking last week was Trinbagonian Coconut Bake. This bake represents all that is good about home cooking, and while many of us cook this bake in an oven, on the stovetop, in a heavy pot with a lid, such as cast iron, is how some people cooked it only ago. Or on a gridle like a cast iron tawah, covered with an enamel bowl creating that oven-like environment with heat all around for even cooking. This is a hearty bread-bake and while it is served with salt fish, and various types of smoked fish, my favourite way to have it is with sharp cheddar cheese. The next day, slice and toast the bread-bake and you will smile with pleasure at the toasty coconut flavour and aroma you get from the bake. Slather the bake with butter, take a big bite and down it with your favourite hot beverage.
Finally, and this is the simplest of all. My neighbour gave me half of a large watermelon she had bought. It was sweet, and it had been a while since I had had a sweet watermelon. Most that I would buy would look red and juicy but have no taste. I ate the watermelon I got with locally made herbed goat cheese. So good. The sweet with the tartness of the goat cheese along with the salt that was mixed in with the herbs balanced the flavours perfectly. It was good eats. Hmmm, I am in an Alton Brown state of mind this week with these references.
Hope you have a great weekend.
Cynthia
