Yes! I’m back! A day late for the proper Tuesdays with Dorie post but back nevertheless. Thanks so much for the inquiries and well wishes, I have been dealing with some chronic health issues that flare up from time to time. But now everything seems to be under control again And just in time too! I’ve been working hard lately over the last few months to begin losing some extra pounds that have accumulated so I was really glad to see this recipe was this week’s …

1. Trinidad Corn Soup with Cornmeal Dumplings (recipe)
Corn soup is a street food favorite here in Trinidad, especially at carnival time when vendors ply large pots of it that they spoon into styrofoam cups outside of fetes and clubs. It’s also popular as a Saturday lunch.

2. A Beer Is A Carib (video)
Ask any Trinidadian to complete the following phrase. A beer is a … and you’ll instantly hear a loud uproarious ‘Carib’. For over 50 years the Carib Brewery has been producing Carib beer to the delight …

1. Trinidad Saltfish Accra (recipe)
Accra is a puffy fried dough ball, made of a highly seasoned dough into which shredded saltfish has been mixed.

2. Fried Bake ‘n Fish (recipe)
‘Shark n Bake’ is -the- ultimate beach food here in Trinidad (although it can be bought in other places as well). Its epicentre (where i’ve been told the dish was also first created) is Maracas Bay (which is also the most popular beach on the island). Many beach seekers who are going to other beaches on the North Coast will …

This recipe is a staple side dish of mine that I’ve adapted and modified at length through the years. Both colorful and flavourful I think it creates a texturally interesting background for spicy curries and other East Indian flavoured entrees.

Coconut Rice with Lentils and Cashews
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb. basmati rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 teaspoon urad dhal or brown lentils
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon madras curry powder
2 ounces fresh coconut, grated
1 ounce unsalted roasted cashews
salt and pepper
METHOD:
1. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold …

Do you trust your oven? A lot of times I get questions from readers criticizing how a recipe came out and demanding that I change the instructions or details It always somewhat amuses me that clearly -I’m- the one to blame if -their- attempt comes out wrong One simple suggestion that I make, and I make it from my own experience, is to always keep a thermometer in your oven.
“But what I need a thermometer for? The recipe says x degrees and I put the …

Call it nostalgia but it’s hard to convince me that the local commercials of the 80’s and 90’s didn’t have a certain ’something’ that the current set lacks. There was something very magnetic about the hooks and taglines back then. Lion’s Baking Powder had a long running advertising campaign that really drilled home that not only would they make your breads lighter, you would also somehow now be magically linked to an unbroken family tree of local culinary traditions. I’m not sure how that worked but it did. To this …

As previously mentioned, Malta Carib was actually posited as an integral ‘educational aid’ I don’t know if it ever helped me in my exams, but I certainly loved (and still love) the taste. Yum!
Please visit my earlier post for more information on Malta Carib.

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Corn soup is a street food favorite here in Trinidad, especially at carnival time when vendors ply large pots of it that they spoon into styrofoam cups outside of fetes and clubs. It’s also popular as a Saturday lunch. Chopped pieces of corn on the cob are often included, however in the variation I prepared below I have left them out. Feel free to add them back in though if you want the added texture
This post was originally published on February 14, 2007. It has been updated …

I am definitely in denial about the High Holidays this year. I barely scraped into Rosh Hashana and am now getting ready for the start of Yom Kippur (I am writing this before it has begun). This year I am prepping my ‘break-the-fast’ menu as much as possible beforehand and am focusing on no-cook recipes.
Coconut-Raisin Challah
Easy Vegan Spicy Peanut Soup with Fresh Mung Bean Sprouts
Open-Faced Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Sandwiches
Challah, Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
Banana Mylkshakes
Hibiscus (Sorrel) Granita

Not only does this approach relieve a lot of post-fasting stress …

I hate.. hate… HATE when a recipe gets the best of me. It’s a control thing, I freely admit it. But after 3 valiant attempts I must grudgingly, and rather apologetically confess that this deceptively simple dessert beat me bad.
The first time I attempted it, the dough was an utter disaster. Via several google searches I learnt that this problem seems to be a common one for bakers in hot, humid climates. Well, anyone who’s been in Trinidad over the last 2 weeks knows exactly how HOT it has …

This blog is on the brink of entering it’s 4th year and I’ve never done a Republic Day post! For shame! This is probably because Republic Day comes so quickly after Independence Day and is by its own nature quieter in terms of pomp and circumstance. It is so nondescript that it was even removed, from 1999-2001, from the list of national holidays (it was reinstated in 2002). Still, a public holiday is a public holiday. And any time off is a good reason to cook. This vegetarian menu …

Image courtesy Chennette
Today is Eid-Ul-Fitr and it is marked tomorrow in Trinidad & Tobago by a public holiday. Like most religious holidays in Trinidad it is marked not just by strong community observance but also with warm interfaith participation. Because so many communities share this small space of land it is not unusual to have many religions represented on one street and neighbours at the end of the day are still neighbours. This year I haven’t been able to accept any of the Eid invitations I’ve received (or the Rosh …