I miss my mother.
In preparing for this week’s column, and because it happens to be on Mother’s Day, I decided to go through the columns I have written over the years related to Mother’s Day. They did not make for easy reading, mainly because I could barely see the words through my watery eyes.
“I hope y’all learn how to mek she Mauby”
There are many things I learnt to make from watching my mother cook. Using today’s language, they would be masterclasses. From bakes to trifle, fried rice to cook-up rice, buns to breads, and many things in between, she was a gifted cook and baker. Her exploits in the kitchen extended to the making of homemade favourites like ginger beer and mauby. My mother’s mauby, I would boast, is still the best I have ever tasted and it gives me great pride and pleasure when I hear family and friends, reminisce and eulogise my mom’s mauby. As we gathered one evening after her passing, recalling favourite memories, one of my cousins said, seriously and sternly, to me and my sister, “I hope y’all learn how to mek she mauby!” It was at once an admonishment and a warning. (LOL)
Most of the things I have learnt to make from my mother I have tweaked in some way to suit my taste but not her mauby. I have never sought to include other spices that I know some people put in their mauby such as bay leaves, star anise, orange peel, allspice or aniseed. Nuh uh. De lady tell me, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and mace; and if I did not have mace, use cracked nutmeg.
I appreciate other people’s mauby because taste is personal and subjective. It is the same with cooking, everyone cooks differently and that is one of the things that makes eating and drinking exciting, it is also an education.
Some friends and I gathered one holiday morning for breakfast, after exercising. Each one of us brought stuff. I took mom’s mauby that I had made as well as coconut buns (which I learnt from her). We had fish cakes (Bajan), bakes, fried fish, granola, cheese, bread rolls, eggs, lettuce and tomatoes. One of the friends, Alls, had also brought mauby he had made. I like Alls’ mauby. It is very different but I like the kick of bitterness that hits you first with the sweet after. Alls’ mauby is made to be drunk the same day, a few hours after being made. There was one other Guyanese in the group apart from myself, the rest being Barbadian. When they drank the mauby I made, Vanessa (Guyanese) looked at me, smiled, and nodded enthusiastically and knowingly. A couple of the Bajans remarked appreciatively, “this is the ole time mauby”. When we were ready to leave, all the mauby I took was finished but there was still a bottle of Alls’ mauby remaining which I brought home. As I said, though different, I like his version too.
Patience is a part of making mom’s mauby. It is, after all, a fermented drink, and like all good ferments – piwari, kimchi, etc. – time is the key ingredient. Time is needed for things to meld, break down, grow, develop, infuse… to create distinct flavours, flavour notes and textures, that all contribute to the taste and finish of that item. Therefore, my mom’s mauby is not one of those things you can say, I want some mauby and think you can have it the day you make it or even the day after, nuh uh, you gotta plan for that mauby.
As you patiently and impatiently wait for the mauby to ripen, the buildup always leads to you thinking of what you want to have with the mauby – buns, pone, sweet bread, tennis roll and cheese… Continuing on the subject of patience, even when the mauby is ready to be bottled, you have to wait a little longer for it to be refrigerated and cold. Warm mauby diluted with ice is not a happening thing in my book and it should not be in yours either. The temperature, as in the coldness of the drink adds to the overall flavour, experience and enjoyment of the drink. Even when it is cold, be conservative with the addition of ice.
Every time I drink the mauby I learnt to make from my mother, it feels new. There is newness in the taste and the enjoyment of it. There is the impulse to overindulge because it tastes so very good. The mauby is smooth. As you drink, there is the citrus note from the mace that has married well with the bark, then there is the sweetness accompanied with the combined notes of cinnamon and cloves, neither overpowering the other, and at the very end, there is light bitterness that is welcoming and mellow. You take another sip and take that taste trip over and over.
Biased as I may seem, I am not. My mom’s mauby was highly sought after. Her mauby and ginger beer were sold out long before they’d reach the stalls of the then Sacred Heart Church fairs. All the altar servers raved and fought over her mauby and coconut buns. And as I said, family and friends too. Whenever mommy was making mauby, she’d make a large 5-gallon bucket to share with family and friends. On holidays and special occasions she made 2 of those buckets. One of my mother’s love languages was sharing.
I am raising a glass of mauby to you today mommy. Thank you! I love you and I miss you very much.
Cynthia
MOM’S MAUBY RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
For concentrate:
✿ 1 ½ cups water
✿ ½ ounce mauby bark
✿ 3 x 3-inch stick cinnamon sticks
✿ 8 whole cloves
✿ 1 tablespoon cracked mace or ½ cracked nutmeg
For drink:
✿ 18 cups water (1 gallon + 2 cups)
✿ 1 x 3-inch cinnamon stick
✿ 4 – 5 whole cloves
✿ 1 tablespoon cracked mace or ½ cracked nutmeg
✿ Brown sugar to taste
DIRECTIONS
For concentrate:
1. Add all the ingredients to a saucepot and bring to a boil over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half (3/4 cup). Remove from heat and let cool completely.
For drink:
1. Fill a large container or glass jar with the water.
Strain the cooled concentrate into the water but do not throw away the boiled bark and spices! Set aside.
2. Add the fresh spices for the drink along with sugar and sweeten to taste.
Taking a large cup, brew the mixture – dip the cup into the drink, raise your hand several inches above the rim of the bottle/container and pour it back in. Repeat this action for 3 minutes then cover tightly and set aside.
3. Add 1½ cups of water to the reserved bark and spices (that were boiled for the concentrate) and bring to a boil over medium. As soon as it comes to a boil, remove from the heat, and cover for use the next day.
4. The following day (a full 24 hours later), open the container with the mauby and strain the liquid from the reserved bark and spices into the drink and brew for 3 minutes. Cover the container and set aside.
5. Add another 1 ½ cups of water to the reserved bark and spices, cover, bring to a boil and remove from heat as soon as it comes to a boil. Leave covered and set aside.
6. The next day – 48 hours later – strain and pour in the liquid from the reserved bark and spices and brew the drink for 4 minutes. Cover and set aside. Discard the bark and spices you have been boiling.
7. Five hours later, taste the mauby for sweetness. If it needs more sugar, add to suit your taste and brew for 3 minutes. Let rest for 1 hour before straining, bottling and refrigerating. If it does not need more sweetening, then strain, bottle and refrigerate.
NOTE
If you have my book – My Caribbean Cookbook, Tastes Like Home (IRP 2011), the recipe is on pages 250 – 251.
