My appetite for certain things have waned. I want them and feel the need to eat them, however, one serving is enough, or simply to eat it once. There is no desire to have it again. I eat, feeding the craving and feel fully satisfied. The most recent example of that was this Christmas. I did not make Pepperpot. And if you have been reading me for some time, you would know that for me, of all the traditional Christmas dishes, Pepperpot is a must-have. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I did not feel like eating Pepperpot. I didn’t make any because, as you know, Pepperpot is a big-pot, big cook, it is not a single or double serving kind of dish. And staying true to its nature, Pepperpot is eaten for days. You can understand why then, I did not make any Pepperpot. I only wanted to eat it once – on Christmas morning. Thanks to one of my sister-friends, Gillian, I received a container of Pepperpot on Monday evening, so I had my fill on Christmas morning.
I’ve had this same only-eating-once phenomenon with foods that I really like – eddoes, sweet potatoes, rice, and meat in general, including chicken. I’m not complaining though. I think that our appetite for many things, including food, changes in many ways, and sometimes, it’s just that, and nothing more. What’s the saying – the only constant in life is change.
The starch-carb I have been eating most this year has been green plantains. I’m not talking here of making plantain chips (though I have been making that). I have been cooking my green plantains as fries, tostones, and also making pound-plantains (cut into thick rounds, fried and then pound with a mortar and pestle). I eat the plantains with sauteed vegetables, stews and curries, salt fish, smoked fish, sardines, eggs, and roasts. My love for green plantains has gotten stronger. I have even been pureeing the plantains to make fritters. Remember I shared with you about those, and adding salt fish to the batter? So very good!
I am full of gratitude for the skill and ability that I have to make roti. The years of “torture” my Mother put me through to knead the dough, ensuring that the bowl is clean and the rolling of the roti round. This year I have seen so many more posts online, of people working hard to perfect their roti-making skills, particularly paratha/oil roti. And so many more willing to learn. The drawback is that as much as many are willing to learn, we live in an instant world so people want to try it once, and if things don’t turn out just right, give up. Roti-making can be used as a system to teach many things, not the least of which is patience, practice, and to never give up.
I have been eating a lot of rabbit food. That’s how one of my friends put it (lol). They were referring to my almost daily eating of salads. Don’t ask me where or how that came about. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you or happens to you. You go somewhere, say to another person’s home for a meal or a gathering, and they offer up something that you eat and are surprised at how much you like it, and say to yourself, you know what, I am going to make this (because you can and obviously enjoy it). I think that that is how my salad making and eating came about.
Because I eat a lot of vegetables as part of my normal diet, salads have never been a part of my daily meals. However, after having a simple garden salad with some ranch dressing on the side very early in the year, at a friend’s home, I found myself, buying the ingredients and making containers of salads which I eat almost daily. I eat the salads mostly on their own or with some type of meat or vegetarian protein like nuts or legumes.
You know how perfectly Baigan (eggplant) choka goes with roti, right? Particularly Sada roti? Well guess what? I have been eating mine with wholewheat salt biscuits/crackers! Oh. My. Goodness. This has become such a go-to thing for me to eat that I make a big batch of the choka and place it in containers as individual servings. I eat this whenever, and at any time of the day, or evening for dinner. It is a different type of chips and dip. There is no need to heat up the choka, eat it cold as is, or, if you want, take out the container and let it come up to room temperature (it does so quickly).
In January, I discovered some Guyanese vloggers on YouTube while browsing. I enjoy them all, however, my favourite is Mobile Wizard and Country Gyal. I like the vibe and good home cooking. Every meal is like a celebration of life and living. The other show that I like is, It’s Our Life – ARD, specifically for the visits to Mon Repos markets. What I like is that these are vloggers living in, and operating from Guyana.
Finally, after living away from Guyana for over 26 years, I still miss the food of my homeland and believe it to be the best. I miss the taste of home.
What are your foodie takeaways from 2024?
Happy New Year Everyone!
Cynthia