Last month the Jamaica Gleaner had an interesting look at a pooja that was hosted there recently. Titled Vishu’s pooja it gives readers a glimpse into what occurs at these religious yet festive occasions.

Although I wish they had paid a little more attention to the foods (I admit I’m a bit biased there) there was this little bit mentioned.

Excerpt: “In olden times, the food was served on banana leaves, but buckets were able substitutes. There was no meat or alcohol and after each set of guests finished dining, they would get up for the next set to have their meal.”

I’m sure that barfi, parsad, were shared by all. What other foods have you enjoyed at a pooja?

Read “Vishu’s pooja” in its entirety.

Long time patrons of Trinidad’s first national airline BWIA, and its more recent incarnation Caribbean Airlines, are familiar with its highly respected inflight publication “Caribbean Beat”. However did you know that before that there was the “Caribbean Beachcomber”? A joint effort between BWIA, LIAT, Air Jamaica, the Jamaica Air Service, the Caribbean Travel Association and the Hilton International Company, Caribbean Beachcomber took a distinctly ‘connoisseur’ approach to Caribbean life and activities. Its pages a clear reminder that this was a time when air travel was still not a regular occurrence for many.

As the daughter of a man who spent most of his life committed to Trinidad’s aviation efforts I have been surrounded by BWIA memorabilia all of my life. This particular 1969 issue of Caribbean Beachcomber was devoted to the food of this region and for that reason I thought more than a few of you would enjoy a look back at a time which is now relegated to nostalgia, as well as the recipes (both classic and forgotten) of that era.

Since 2010 I have been sharing bits and pieces of this issue, as I cook my way through it. A round-up post of the entries to date, is long overdue!

Posts To Date In The Caribbean Beachcomber Series

• Caribbean Food Overview
• Caribbean Kitchen Magic: A Food and Drink How-To Introduction
• Vichyssoise Creole (recipe)
• That Big Fat Banana Is A Plantain! (recipes)
• Bluebeard’s Rum Custard Pudding (recipe)
• Fruit & Vegetables: A Succulent Variety (page 1)
• Pepperpot at the Barbados Hilton
• Sebastians On The Waterfront, St. Thomas
• Bridgetown Market, Barbados (video)
• Rumona Liqueur
• Broiled Banana Cake (recipe)
• Ackee

Belly full now? Sit back and enjoy this classic commercial for that now defunct part of our aviation history. It really brings back the memories!

This post was originally published August 9, 2010. It has been updated once since then.

Last month, Sunrise Bakery a UK-based Caribbean food firm, celebrated their 45th birthday by launching an authentic Caribbean Rum Cake based on their original recipe. Founded in 1966 by Herman Drummond and William Lamont, to service the demands of the growing Caribbean community in Birmingham and the surrounding area, Sunrise Bakery has expanded significantly within recent years. Their full product range is currently in more than 90 Asda stores and 60 Tesco outlets across the UK, as well as more than 250 independent retailers. No small achievement!

Current CEO Errol Drummond, was kind enough to participate in the first installment of my new 2012 series “Five Questions”. He is also going to send a Paradise Estates Rum Cake to one lucky blog reader. More on that though, after our interview…

TG: Dear Errol, first of all let me thank you for allowing me this opportunity to ask you a few questions about yourself and Sunrise Bakery! According to your website you are “the leading producer and wholesaler of Caribbean Hard Dough Bread, Spiced Buns and Cakes in the UK”. I’m sure my readers would love to know a little more of the human story behind your company’s founding. Who started Sunrise Bakery and why?

ED: Sunrise Bakery was established in 1966 by my father Herman Drummond, and his partner William Lamont, to supply the growing Caribbean community that settled in the West Midlands. For the first fifteen years our market was concentrated within a thirty miles radius of the original site in Bearwood, but in the early 1980s we developed new markets nationally.

TG: How has the original vision for Sunrise Bakery changed or evolved since its formation?

ED: Our original vision has remained consistent in that we have always striven to be the premier supplier of quality Caribbean products throughout the United Kingdom, and to bring Caribbean cuisine to the wider market.

TG: What does Caribbean food represent to you?

ED: Caribbean food is an amalgamation of many cuisines from around the world which includes: Native Caribbean, African, European, Chinese, Indian and some Middle Eastern. It is this fusion that has created the great Caribbean taste. Given this historical journey through time and taste, plus our large variety of root vegetables, Caribbean Food is crying out for a larger audience. The challenge for those of us engaged in the industry, at whatever level, is to market and sell effectively.

TG: What are 3 of your favourite Caribbean dishes?

ED: I love Caribbean style soup, it doesn’t matter what the meat is, or whether there is meat, as long as there are plenty of dumplings. I am also quite fond of fish with anything. Stew-peas and white rice tends to hit the spot. I can go on but you did say 3.

TG: in closing, what is one piece of advice you’d like to give readers who may also have dreams of opening a Caribbean food-based business in the Diaspora?

ED: My advice is quite simple. Look at the other cuisines that have achieved success in the marketplace and learn lessons. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. For those looking to go into the Restaurant or Takeaway side remember that you are effectively the gateway to Caribbean Food and as such you need to focus on your core market and the market you are trying to attract and always exceed your customer’s expectations.

TRINIGOURMET’S JANUARY GIVEAWAY – SPONSORED BY SUNRISE BAKERY

One lucky reader will win a Paradise Estates Rum Cake this month. YUM! Will it be you?

HOW TO ENTER:

1) ‘Like’ Trinigourmet’ on Facebook (click the ‘Like’ button below)

2) ‘Like’ Paradise Estates’ on Facebook (click the ‘Like’ button below)

3) Post your favourite Rum (Black) Cake memory to Paradise Estate’s Facebook wall

A Winner will be announced on January 27th. Best of Luck!

Last month I was invited to participate in the blogging collective “Kwanzaa Culinarians“. Linking writers throughout the African diaspora it includes such heavyweights as Chef Bryant Terry, as well as known foodies like Sanura of “My Life Runs On Food“, Courtney of “Coco Cooks” and Chrystal & Amir of “The Duo Dishes“. Needless to say, I took it as quite a compliment to be included and didn’t hesitate to confirm my willingness to ‘rep’ our region!

Like many of the participants, I had little prior knowledge of Kwanzaa. My assignment of “Umoja” was a journey of not only self-reflection but also deeper research into what the festival embodies for today’s celebrants. I invite you to take a look at my essay which also includes my recipe for ‘Ochro Rice’.

Excerpt:
The idea of a regularly shared dining space with family and loved ones may seem archaic or impractical in today’s fast-paced world, however I think the need for emotional and intellectual connection, ‘breaking bread’, is something that Umoja seeks to highlight. Although in some ways we are more connected than ever before (Facebook, Twitter), these tools often reduce us to ‘surface sharers’, something that communal mealtime seeks to eliminate.

Few things are as healing and unifying as truly hearing another person’s story. I have found that in front of an array of good food and drink generation gaps can dissolve, romance can be rekindled, and cordial acquaintances often discover previously unknown commonalities. As we prepare meals together, and sit and share, we strengthen our homes. As we make more educated food choices we create a ripple effect that strengthens and nourishes our communities.

Read the rest…

While you are there do take in some of the past essays and recipes as well. There’s nothing like combining food for the mind with, well… actual food!

Visit Kwanzaa Culinarians on Facebook
Follow Kwanzaa Culinarians on Twitter

In the mood for more Ochro Recipes? Check out my Fried Okras and Spicy Ochro Melée!

The following article appeared in the 24th December, 2006 issue of the Trinidad Express.

It’s hard to believe that BWIA was still active then! Will you be spending the holidays where you want to be this year? I hope so! If not, hopefully the recipes posted so far (and still to come) will help

HOME is best for the holidays, at least judging from the number of Trinis flying in for Christmas and the not-so-happy ones who are leaving.

“When you live in a different country you die a little bit,” Robert Mooking, home for his first Trini Christmas in 37 years said.

“There is nothing like being in your own country, back with your roots. Its a feeling you can only get at home. That feeling of completely belonging. I come home to eat some black cake and re-live old times.”

Mooking has lived in Venezuela for the past 37 years where he has married and has a family.

“Everything is not so different. In Venezuela there are pastels and parang, but there, New Year celebrations are more important. Still there is no place like home for the holidays.”

The two major airlines flying in to Piarco have both reported heavy in-flow passenger traffic and far fewer people departing.

American Airlines country manager Ernesto Quidgley said flights coming in have been full starting from two Fridays ago. American has two daily flights from Miami with one flight a day from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“In-bound traffic is full. We expect departures to pick up after the holidays from about December 30.”

BWIA’s corporate communications manager Dionne Ligoure said that the airline has had a “quite healthy” number of passengers coming in with full flights from North America.

“There is just no comparison,” Wayne Goitia Snr said.

Goitia is here for Christmas for the first time in 25 years and has brought his 13-year-son to experience his first Trini Christmas. The Baltimore resident says he hates feeling cold and has gladly left the snow behind.

“I feel like something was missing, something that I had to get back in touch with. There is nothing like being home. I can’t wait to drink ponche de creme and souse and meet old friends.”

Odette Athanas is one of those “sad Trinis” leaving the island for the holidays.

She has been living in Toronto, Canada for the past 32 years and came home for a village reunion.

“My mother is ill so I want to go back to Canada to spend Christmas with her. It saddens me to leave,” Athanas said.

“I wish I could stay. I was so happy to see people still fixing up for Christmas, painting and baking. I want to parang and be in all the bacchanal. In Canada it so different. Nothing can compare to being home for the holidays.”

Point Fortin resident Lystra Grant is looking for something different this holiday season. She is leaving for a three month stint in New York.

” I am looking for something a bit different this Christmas. To get away from the noise and rum drinking.” One Irishman working here for the past year and on his way to Dublin said he would never take sides as to which Christmas was better, here or in his home country. “I enjoyed my Christmas here very much last year but this year I am going home to spend the time with my family.”

This post was originally published on June 21, 2006. It has been updated three times since then.

First they were good for you. Then they were bad. Then they were good again. Trying to keep up with the ‘experts’ is a dizzying game sometimes! Still, when my mother expressed concern over my consuming an egg a day I decided to find out what the most recent consensus is.

Up until 2006, when this post was first written, the general consensus appeared to be that egg consumption should not surpass 3 to 4 times a week.

From a no longer available post on Yahoo!Health:

Q: Should a person avoid eating eggs entirely?
A: Health experts advise limiting cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams or less daily. One large whole egg yolk contains about 215 milligrams of cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends limiting egg yolk consumption to three to four times weekly and focusing on the total diet instead of just one food. The cholesterol in eggs is found in the yolk portion, so you can use as many egg whites as you want. Eggs contain B vitamins, iron and other minerals and are a good source of high-quality protein.

Still, even then there was some wiggle room. The American Heart Association’s clarification on recommended egg consumption guidelines states that an egg a day can be accomplished within the context of an overall low-cholesterol diet.

“In order to fit an egg a day into a healthy diet, an individual needs to be conscious of dietary cholesterol from other sources, including baked goods. Individuals need to make choices in the context of their total diet, which should be low in saturated fats, and abundant in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, poultry and fish”

This latter finding seems to be in keeping with a 2010 British study which also found that an egg a day may actually be good for you.

Excerpt:

A paper to be published soon in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin has found that cholesterol in eggs has only a small and clinically insignificant effect on blood cholesterol. While people with high blood cholesterol are at increased risk of heart disease, only a third of the cholesterol in the body is attributed to diet.

Other factors linked to high cholesterol levels are smoking, being overweight and lack of exercise, and the main culprit from food is saturated fat, not cholesterol found in eggs.

Read the entire article here

So for all the visitors who reach this site by searching for “how many eggs should you eat?”, there you have it! Eggs can be a regular part of a well-balanced diet and lifestyle plan. Enjoy an omelette on me!

The below Julia Child video revolutionized my own omelette-making and I’m sure you’ll pick up a trick or two as well

Did you know that omelettes come in many varieties, including dessert? The Omelette Book (mentioned in the above French Chef episode) is another must-have for any egg aficionado!

Gnocchi Pomodoro (recipe linked below)

Shavuot is an annual Jewish festival of dual significance. Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, historically, it also celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. To mark Shavuot I always prepare a dairy-based menu that incorporates honey in some form or fashion.

This year Shavuot is being observed from sunset May 7 – nightfall May 9, I don’t think I’ll be holding an actual seder but I will be cooking up a storm. Here is this year’s menu

Shavuot Menu 2011:

Olive Paste Bruschetta (from Gluten Free Italian)
Italian White Bean Soup (from EdenFoods.com)
Gnocchi Pomodoro
Caramel Sweet Potato & Honey pie
Sweet Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

For more kosher holiday recipes check out the Jewish Cooking section of Veni Mangé – The Trinigourmet Amazon Bookstore!

As you can tell from my title, I am a huge fan of soups. Whether clear, creamy, or chunky, there are very few soups that do not meet my favour. Yet, when it comes to weddings, I have rarely seen them on the menu locally. Why is this? In many other cultures a soup course before the actual entrée is standard, and even local buffets for business luncheons and social events usually liberally offer soup and rolls. Yet, once that event is a wedding there is, too often, only silence where a delicious soup could have been.

For me, the virtues of a soup course are many. They are often the first hot dish that your guests will receive, and the warmth creates a feeling of relaxation and goodwill. On top of that the slow pace which it must be consumed encourages conversation while preparing the stomach and palate for the other courses that are to come – heightening and guiding the culinary expectations that are yet to be fully realized.

A soup course can also play the role of a light (and cost-effective) entrée at a breakfast or luncheon reception, especially when paired with warm crusty rolls and assorted savoury sandwiches. So, instead of jumping over this humble starter, why not take some time to consider that course that no one seems to want to shine a light on, soup. I promise, you and your guests will be quite glad

Tomorrow I will highlight several rolls and sandwiches, that will partner delightfully not only with a soup course (should you choose to have one) but also with the entrees that are still to come

Until then!

Set the tone of your wedding reception the minute guests start filtering in, with your appetizers.

The inspiration for the above menu came from the actual wedding menu of one of my best friends who presented pholourie and other bite sized Trini street foods on platters carried by cocktail waiters! A move that was quite delightful and unexpected by the majority of the guests at the Miami-based affair. Even better? The ingredients for these dishes are affordable, easily scale upwards and are equally impressive served buffet-style with toothpicks. Let your décor choices and tableware determine how formal or informal you want your event to be, but consider no food ‘inappropriate’.

Speaking of surprises, my friend also brought in a troupe of tassa drummers, something that caught many off-guard before eveyone broke into smiles and dance
.

If you’re not familiar with tassa drums, check out this short video, and you’ll see how hard it is to resist

So,what mark will your menu be making? Think it over and tomorrow, we’ll talk soups! In the meanwhile, browse the following images and recipes for some traditional Trini favourites that make ideal wedding appetizers!

Trinidad Saltfish Accra (click for recipe)

Trinidad Pholourie (click for recipe)

Trinidad Saheena (click for recipe)

How do you all feel about the upcoming Royal nuptials? Bored? Annoyed? Giddy?

The range of sentiments in my Twitter feed have definitely skewed towards sophisticatedly cynical, intellectually jaded and openly hostile. Unfortunately, if this describes you, you’re not going to find any of that sentiment here. I guess my own inner romantic prevents me from having any withering retorts or acerbic asides where the event is concerned. If anything, like most wedding-related affairs that flicker across my screen with regularity (thank you reality TV), the media coverage only shifts my thoughts towards my own unknown/maybe one day/who really knows “big day”.

I’ve never particularly craved a large wedding or lavish ceremony, although I’d probably like something slightly more celebratory than my parents’ own perfunctory Red House civil service. In my ideal world it would be a day (or evening) of a few close friends, good food, and good music. This idea (especially the emphasis on small) strikes many as off when I explain it, but in going through my treasured 1960 edition of Emily Post’s “Etiquette: Blue Book Of Social Usage” (snagged as a young teen when my high school library was getting rid of old stock), my ideas are more retro than revolutionary. Believe it or not, back then Post described the “typically perfect” wedding as one that seated 50-100 guests!

One of the reasons I enjoy the concept of a smaller gathering is because of the financial flexibility it allows for greater personalisation. The services and receptions I have attended that really stand out in my mind invariably were those where the bride and groom tailored the day to reflect their distinct preferences and personalities (one mountaintop handfasting ceremony in Massachusetts, immediately comes to mind).

Locally, I am seeing more and more young budget-conscious couples opting to direct the monies that would have gone into a lavish wedding and reception towards the downpayment on their home, or other more practical long-term goals. In such cases a parental home, or the home of a trusted neighbour, friend or relative (basically the one with the largest backyard) becomes the reception venue. Indeed, on occasion my childhood home played host to such festivities and there is something truly deeply personal about incorporating locations important to one’s own story that becomes part of the overall memory later on.

And, speaking of memories, what about the food? I am sure that you and I would both agree that wedding food is often hit or miss. And, though the focus of the day is the happy couple, a beautiful, delicious spread does much to relax and enhance the overall joy experienced by all. The fact that this is sometimes less successfully executed is often the fault (in my mind) of location-based package deals that prioritize the business’s profit over true culinary pride. One can hardly blame budget-minded couples, often already over stretched at this point for making compromises.

Some couples though, not willing to compromise, and knowing that a caterer of their standards would not be financially practical have opted to self-cater their own wedding receptions.

I can imagine at this point many of you may be wrinkling your brows in a mixture of shock and wariness. Surely, one can’t expect an imminent bride to be standing over a stove with a spatula on her wedding day? Doesn’t she have enough to oversee? And you’re right! For many self-catering means not only greater control over the wedding budget, it also means creating the custom menu of their desires. It also doesn’t mean getting one’s own hands dirty. Instead, the savvy self-catering bride has an army of well-meaning assortment of friends, family and independent culinary professionals ready and willing to follow her template of demands. The results, many have attested have been quite outstanding, and speaking for myself I know that those weddings where family and community prepared and offered the bulk of the fare have consistently been some of the most enjoyable to me both in flavour and spirit.

Self-catering may not always be desirable or practical but if it is an idea you find appealing, or currently have under consideration, here are a few links to some online resources that really stood out!

• Save Money: Cater Your Own Wedding (Forkable)
• Do It Yourself Wedding Catering (TWIS Weddings)
• Self Catering Your Wedding or Event: The Steps Before the First Step
• Cater Your Own Wedding: Easy Ways to Do It Yourself in Style (Book)
• The Wedding Catering Cookbook (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks)(Book)
• How To Cater Your Own Wedding Reception (Book & DVD)

Whether you are wholly overseeing the affair, or handing out the nitty-gritty to a sea of carefully chosen helpers everyone’s first question will be “What’s The Menu?”. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some of my own ideas. Stay tuned!