It seems almost obligatory as the year ends for us to look back as we look forward. Here are my 12 takeaways as I reviewed the Tastes Like Home columns for 2023.
● There have been many news stories, commentaries, policies written and spoken this year about childhood obesity, food security, and the importance of labels.
In all of the reporting, the finger pointed to the role and responsibilities of parents in feeding their children.
My appeal is this: parents and guardians, embrace your role as influencers. For many of us our first encounter with food and drink is at home. It is where we learn to taste. Therefore, wherever possible, whenever, from early, and as often as you can, as parents or guardians, use the sway and authority you have to coax, cajole, and influence what your children consume when they eat and drink.
(Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
● There are some pairings that no matter where we roam, will always be a taste of home, among them are:
○ Tennis roll & cheese
○ Cream soda & milk
○ Puri & sour or puri & fish cake with lots of sour
○ Plantain & eggs
○ Buns & mauby
○ Cane juice & egg ball
While I love a good cow heel soup and the fact that cow heel is a must have in Pepperpot, I had never had it prepared any other way. I was excited to try it in a curry with lima beans as the Jamaicans do.
The curry was lovely – the morsels of softened tendon and gel-like meat balanced well with the chew of the beans along with the rice. It was a different curry vibe for me and I enjoyed it. I ate it with white rice; it made for a filling and satisfying meal.
What I would say, is that unlike some curries that you can see being a weekly thing, I don’t think curry cow foot/heel could be that way for me. Cow heel is a texture thing so I’d make it when I am feeling for that kind of thing. Unlike soup where there are other “obstacles” such as ground provisions, vegetables, and dumplings, with the curry, the cow heel is front and centre so there is a lot of it.
● Guyana welcomed Starbucks – it’s 23rd in the market in the region and 85th globally. There were long lines outside the store. It was a similar scene here in Barbados in 2021. As the region changes and embraces new players on the food landscape, we must think of the central role that food plays in the cultural identity of any nation.
We in the Caribbean are a proud group of nations and often boast about never having the need for cookbooks and recipes. We cook by instinct, we make do, and we take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. We have successfully fused the cuisines of our forebears to create a singularly dynamic range of food. The secrets, methods, and techniques have been passed on from one generation to the next placing our food identity on a firm setting. For the past several years, however, we cannot in all good conscience profess to be on such firm ground because, like I said, we live in a different time. Home cooking and the passing down of food knowledge has been placed on the back burner and in some cases, altogether forgotten. Or some bastardised version is being made and passed as the real thing.
I am not calling for a return to the days of old and to do things like they were back then. I do, however, believe that there are lessons we can learn, processes we can adapt and merge with our modern day way of doing things. Let us not in our quest for advancement and acceptance, lose sight of who we are and the stock from which we have come. After all, it is that weaved tapestry of cultural influence and way of life that’s made us who we are today.
● While you are busy preparing for your Old Year’s Night Cook-up Rice, what about some Bakes and butter for the early dinner? Come on, you know you want to. You can have it with some ham, cheese, eggs or some of that fried fish you are making to go along with the Cook-up Rice.
In my Love Letter to Bakes, I talked about how it is the type of food that screams nostalgia. It is a food that people like to eat with specific accompaniments, and drink with particular hot beverages. While Bakes are made for breakfast, it is the making and eating of Bakes at dinner that they seem to fit best. Whether you are making Drop bakes, Float bakes, Pot bakes, School Girl bakes or any of the other many types of Bakes found in our cuisine, they round off that final major meal of the day in a way that comforts and soothes the stress of the day.
● Markets are a place of discovery and education. They are also a place of intimidation. However, focusing on the former, it was a delightful surprise to find purple-flesh sweet potatoes here in the market in October.
Purple sweet potatoes contain two times the daily value of vitamin A, half the daily value of vitamin C, as well as vitamin B6, iron, dietary fibre, and potassium. While purple potatoes offer a bonanza of nutrients, the standout health quality is the powerful antioxidant content linked to reducing inflammation. They are rich in anthocyanin, the type of flavonoid (a class of compounds with antioxidant effects) that provides many plants, such as cherries, grapes, and strawberries, with their natural red, purple, and blue colouring.
That’s it for me for this year. What are some of your takeaways?
All the very best for 2024!
Cynthia
