Let’s gyaff! What are you thinking about for the Christmas menu? Come on, don’t pretend that you have not been thinking about it: this year, I want to make… this year, I want to buy a… this year I want to try making… And not to be neglected is, this year, I ain’t doing a thing! I am going on a cruise. I am eating out at a restaurant. It is noteworthy how at various stages of our lives, and where we are at in our lives, priorities shift and change, for a variety of reasons. I know that that is true for me.
I like all the smells of the holidays – the aroma escaping the bubbling pot of Pepperpot, the savouriness of ham mingled with the cloves and jam as it bakes lazily in the oven, and the tantalising sizzle of Garlic pork. Not to be outdone, is the fruity ginger beer that’s like a fresh breeze as you inhale before taking a sip. And the cake, yes (said in a whisper), that dark, dense, rich drunken pudding. All good. All a taste of home, regardless of where you are.
We gyaffing. Last week, as I sat in a chair at my hairdresser’s, we were both saying how we ain’t doing nothing this year. Then we looked at each other in the mirror and laughed. Shaking our heads, we shared how every year we say the same thing and then 2 weeks or less before Christmas, we spring into action as the spirit of the season swirls around us. I have made up my mind though – I am not making Pepperpot this year. Scandalous, I know. If you have been reading me over the years, you would know that more than any dish or beverage, Christmas for me is all about the Pepperpot. I don’t have to have ham, sorrel, or cake, just gimme my Pepperpot and homemade bread.
Alright, so here is why I am not making Pepperpot this year. I have found that I quickly become saturated with smells and tastes. I want things, I make and eat them but once I’ve had them at one sitting, I am good to go. I have a taste, flavour and memory to last me until the next year round. Last year, after my first eating of Pepperpot, I shared the remainder with a couple of Guyanese friends who did not travel for the holidays and I also gave some to a Bajan friend, who lives for “the dark sauce meat stew that you Guyanese make at Christmas.” The holidays are all about giving and sharing, they are also about work, a lot of work. I want to have as stress-free a holiday as possible this year. What about you?
My holiday meal menu is evolving. So far, here is what I am thinking. I am definitely getting a ham because it is versatile and there’s much I can do with it from sandwiches to Cook-up Rice (beyond the holidays). My rice dish this year is going to be Shine rice. Yes, you read that right. I am thinking that I will add some dried shrimp for that umami flavour. Cooked with lots of onions, sweated until soft and tender, flavoured with the shrimp and fresh coconut milk, this will be a rice dish that could go with a roast, stew, curry or even made into a fried rice with scrambled eggs (and/or ham). I am beginning to pick up on a theme here – making things that can be eaten with a variety of things in various ways.
The next thing I have on the menu so far is salt and pepper roast pork with crackling. Excellent quality meat often does not need a lot of dressing up with additional flavour. It is good to let the natural beautiful quality of the meat shine through. I am going to be using some flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (medium grind) to liberally season my roast, wrap it tightly and let it rest in the refrigerator for a full 24 to 36 hours before bringing it up to room temperature, roasting it low and slow until the last half hour, cranking up the heat for the skin to puff up and crisp. Like the Shine rice, the range of ways to use the roast pork are many. It is like a gift that will keep on giving.
So folks, that’s where I am at so far on my Christmas menu. What are you planning? What are you thinking?
You know the other thing I do not want to do this year is to make a whole set of things and then it becomes a mixture of playing Jenga and mastering spatial skills trying to fit things in the refrigerator. And please, let’s be honest, by day 3 we’ve had our fill and are yearning for something else. A thought just occurred to me – someone should open up a refrigerator rental business for holidays.
I’ll keep you updated on the menu and feel free to share what you are planning.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
