Red snapper - eye and all

Inspired by the beautiful red snapper I bought at the public market, I decided to give our family an omega 3 boost. Here is a super easy recipe that will clean out the arteries that you clogged with that Trinidadian "oil down".

Pick a couple of pink beauties at the market. The key to choosing a fresh fish is to look at its eyes - they should not be cloudy. Ask the fishmonger to clean them and take off the scales but to leave them whole.

To prepare, wash them and place them individually on aluminum foil. Marinate with olive oil, coarse sea salt, garlic, and herbs de provence. I love this mix of herbs. You can buy many varieties, but most include marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, fennel, summer savory, oregano, bay leaves, and lavender. Make sure to rub the marinating ingredients on both sides of the fish and also in the inside cavity.

Wrap them up in their individual aluminum foil and bake in 385 degrees for about 30 mins. Cooking times can very depending on the size of the fish, so check to make sure the fish is cooked, but not dry. You can also place these on a grill.

The result will be a flavorful and aromatic white fish skin that you pick with a fork. Healthy and delicious. I served this dish with shitake and white mushrooms sauteed in butter, salt and pepper, and a side of basmati rice.

When I was little, I used to call this "pescado con ojo", or "fish with eye" - what I meant was that I wanted to eat the whole fish for dinner. You know what the best part is, don't you? Yes, the eye.

Trinidadian home cooking

Market bags full of goodies, we headed to my friend Arline's home. Arline is the same friend who challenged me to try souse - remember, the chicken feet ceviche-type dish that I couldn't bring myself to taste at the street food market a few weeks ago?


Well, I accepted Arline's challenge and oh boy, did I get a treat. She made callaloo and "oil down", which is made with breadfruit and pig tail. Arline told me that these dishes are soul-comforting for Trinis, and are the kinds of food they crave when they're away from their island home. 


Let me begin by telling you about my experience buying the breadfruit at the public market. The vendor was, well, I'll let the photo speak for itself:

Breadfruit vendor

I've seen quite a few gentlemen sporting this t-shirt style. It's brilliant, really, their bellies are cool, their lower backs get a nice breeze and a break from the 85 degree weather. It works. Back to the breadfruit, which is something I'm familiar with since we also eat them in Cartagena. They are starchy and I like to think of them as glorified potatoes. Like many fruits and vegetables, breadfruit originates from Southeast Asia. I have no idea when they were brought to the Caribbean, but it must have been quite a long time ago because Arline tells me that it was cooked by slaves in Trinidad oh so long ago. On to the next ingredient in "oil down" - pig tail. 

Pig tail

Arline tells me you have to wash, wash, and then wash it again before you start cooking it. The result is, let me tell you, DELICIOUS. I don't even want to think about the amount of cholesterol that pig tail has to offer, but these little guys are salty, savory, and little bits of pork heaven. They're a bit hard to eat, though, because they have little bones. They give dishes a salty flavor of the intensely delectable ham-like variety. They are used in many Trinidadian dishes, and I know why - so much to offer. Arline explained that back in the day, slaves had to make due with the parts of the pig (and cow, etc.) that they could afford. These included the tail, ear, feet, heels, etc. That is how these parts of the animals became important parts of Trinidadian dishes. Back then, they were dirt cheap. Now, they can actually be quite expensive. Ox tail, for example, can cost as much as a good steak here in T&T.


On to the preparation of "oil down". In a pot, Arline sauteed peppers, thyme, chives, salt, a super salty Trinidadian butter, garlic, and coconut milk. Let's pause there. Coconut milk - is there anything better for kicking food up a notch? I don't think so. Remind me to write an entry about Cartagena's coconut rice one of these days - to die for. Back to "oil down". The pig tail is added, followed by cubed breadfruit.

"Oil down" broth

Breadfruit for "oil down"

This was the end result after letting "oil down" do its thing. It got its name because the oil from the coconut milk and butter create a kind of delectable paste, complemented perfectly with the starch of the breadfruit. I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. 

On to callaloo. The first time I heard of this soup-like dish was on the Cosby Show when I was eight. It was the episode when Cliff wanted to re-create a romantic Caribbean getaway for he and Claire's anniversary. He hired a Caribbean chef, and they made callaloo. I'll give you a sticker if you remember that episode as well. Anyway, Arline's callaloo was delish. A great representation of one of T&T's favorites. Made with a large green leaf that Trinis call callaloo bush, okra, coconut milk, onion, chives, chili peppers, garlic, pumpkin, and topped with crab legs.

The ingredients were left to simmer on their own, and once they reached the right consistency, Arline blended them with a hand blender. The result was this. Simply delicious.

Finally, we were ready for me to reclaim my reputation as an open-minded eater. I received a bit of criticism for my souse entry from some readers, where I confessed that I couldn't bring myself to taste chicken feet souse. We'll, Arline is my witness - I tasted it at her house! The only difference is that instead of chicken feet, it was with pig feet. I'll say this; the sauce part is good - much like ceviche in that it is refreshing, vinegary, and cucumbery. But the pig feet, well, I simply couldn't handle the consistency. They were cold, rubbery, and piggy. Not my favorite. Arline laughed and I'm sure she understood that this dish is definitely an acquired taste. 

Pig feet souse

Arline, my dear friend, thank you. You are a wonderful cook and represented your country's cuisine brilliantly by making this delicious, soul-comforting Trinidadian meal. 

Trinidadian public market

The best way to get to know a country is to visit its public food markets. This is where you see people up close and personal - what they wear, what they look like, how they speak, how they interact with each other and with you, and, of course, what they eat. It's where you figure out where the food you eat comes from and where you can get tried and true local recipes. 

My favorite fish vendor

What's left

The pristine super markets of today have distanced us from what food really looks like. Watermelon isn't actually diced cubes of fuchsia fruity flesh - it is actually a large, hard, green oval-shaped thing that you have to chop up in order to get to the fruity flesh - and remember seeds? In most countries they are still not a thing of the past. Chicken is actually not the perfectly clean piece of pink meat that we know as chicken breast - it is actually full of veins and bones, feathers, and feet that you have to clean and cut. How long has it been since you saw a chicken? I'm talking about the whole shebang - the complete chicken that you are about to eat? A while, I'm sure.

pig snout

My point is that public food markets remind us of what food really looks like. I enjoy taking my son there because I want him to know what real ingredients smell, feel, and taste like. Of course we also buy things from a box and inevitably eat processed foods, but I believe it's important to always return to the real stuff. The original food that we, as humans are meant to eat. I often wonder if cancer rates are going up because we're eating so many processed foods. I'm no expert, but I feel better eating the real stuff. Bones, veins, and all.

hot sauce and chutneys

So, this morning, armed with my Mexican market bag, we headed to the public market in downtown Port of Spain. Here, vendors set up tables and sell everything from pig feet, salt fish, cow liver, tongue, and intestines to plantains, okra, hot pepper, red snapper, shark, bread fruit, and lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!


I love this place. People are always eager to tell you about their produce, especially when they proudly explain that they grew it themselves. Many others import produce since Trinidad imports most of the goods consumed in the country. 

Locally grown okra

My market bag full of goodies, we headed to my friend's house to cook the things we bought. Tomorrow's blog = Trinidadian home cooking.

Trinidadian flower power

It's shameful how long it's been since I wrote an entry - please accept my deepest apologies. I hope it never happens again unless I'm once again put on diaper, lactation consultant, scrubbing toilets and tub duties, and flying back home to tend to a husband and son whom I neglected in order to fulfill the aforementioned duties as a new auntie. 
*Just for the record, I've never been as happy to scrub toilets and tubs as I was for my sister and brother-in-law last week.


So I'm back full force - batteries charged with Trinidadian flower power. Not a food-related entry, I know, but the purpose is for you to feast your eyes on these images of the tropical flowers that I found this morning at the Trinidad & Tobago Horticultural Society, which sells flowers daily from 6 to 11am. 

In Colombia, we call these "baston del emperador", or "emperor's baton".

Local flower and fruit vendors bring their goodies bright and early in morning. Around the corner from my house, this is one of my favorite spots in T&T. Usually available are anthurium, heliconias, ginger flowers, orchids, different kinds of ferns, and other tropical beauties. 

Anthurium

What is the national flower of T&T, you ask? It is called the chaconia, also known as "the pride of Trinidad & Tobago" and "wild poinsettia". It grows wild in Trinidadian forests, blooms around T&T's Independence Day (August 31), and is absolutely gorgeous. My friend has a chaconia tree, which looks more like a bush, in her yard - lucky girl.

Chaconia, T&T's national flower.

Some of my fondest memories of life in Trinidad involve the long walks I take with my boys along the trails of Chaguaramas. You can walk undisturbed for miles and hear only the tapping of bamboo reeds against each other and the wind shuffling life among the bush. We walk surrounded by bamboo so large, that I can't wrap both my hands around a single bamboo reed. These green steel bars curve inward towards the trails, making tunnels and creating the illusion that you're in a sacred place meant only for monkeys and birds, but somehow you're welcome. It's a spiritual experience. Actually, one of these trails is very appropriately called "The Bamboo Cathedral". Embedded among the bamboo, palms, and other tropical flora, is a lonesome heliconia, draping red and yellow happiness, golden against the green backdrop of the jungle. If all you see is snow outside your window right now, I hope this image fills you with a little warmth.

Washington DC - Pupusas and soap operas

As promised, today I pranced on over to a pupuseria around the corner.

The Latin American soap opera playing on a TV in the corner of the restaurant helped pass the time. During the ten minutes I waited for my lunch, I witnessed Gloria vow never to love her man again because he had slept with her sister, and the man explain that his amnesia prevented him from differentiating between the two women. Oh, how I love a good, solid, melodrama of the Univision variety.

I eagerly awaited my pupusas - I love that word - pupusas, pupusas. Let's say it again - pupusas. Anyway, I eagerly awaited my pupusas watching the soap and feeling watched by the multiple "gold"-gilded Virgin Marys and plastic ivy plants decorating the walls. A nice man seated in the corner of the shop smiled and greeted me in English. "How chu? Chu happy girrrr?" I responded in Spanish, and he insisted on speaking in English. My white skin and blue eyes seem to confuse many of the Central Americans that I meet in DC. It often happens that I'll walk by a construction site and receive comments of the catcall persuasion from Central American construction workers who assume that I can't understand a word they say. When I respond something in Spanish along the lines of "Be careful - you never know who can understand what you are saying", I receive flowered apologies and looks of shame. It's ok, I think to myself, it feels good to hear compliments  - some parts of the world are so cold and rigid...

Back to my pupusas. The waitress brings my two little patties - one filled with cheese and black beans, the other with just cheese. She gives me a kind of cole slaw to serve over the pupusas made of cabbage, carrots, and some kind of tangy/spicy red sauce. Overall, I would rate them a 6 out of 10. Not the best I've had. The most delicious pupusas I've tasted were in San Salvador in a strip of pupuserias near the airport that specialize in these little patties. So yummy.

I think the best part of my pupusa experience today was the soap opera and the man greeting me in broken English. Is it terrible that I immediately thought about his residential status in the US? All I know is that he's probably working like a dog to support a family of 30 in El Salvador. He probably pays his taxes on time, contributes to small businesses in DC, and obviously loves the US and speaking English.

Washington DC - Julia's Empanadas

So I didn't get stuck in the house after all. The ice storm that's affecting much of the US spared Washington DC. Thank you, ice storm gods and goddesses!


I was able to visit my nephew, who is totally adorable by the way, and also grab lunch at another DC hotspot: Julia's Empanadas. As their website and storefronts explain, many countries have an "empanada" concept. Calzone in Italy, knishes in Israel, patties in Jamica, etc., etc., etc. In Latin America (and Washington DC), we call them empanadas. 

They have many different types of empanadas and I've tried four of them: Chilean Style Beef, Saltenas, Spinach, and Jamaican Style. My favorite: Saltenas. (I hate that I don't know how to add the squiggly line above the "n" to make it a Spanish "n" on this keyboard - any advice on this would be greatly appreciated). Anyway, saltenas are Bolivian empanadas - filled with chicken, potatoes, green peas, green olives, onions, and a hard boiled egg. Yum.

Notice the snow in the background...this little empanadita kept me warm.


The population of Washington DC is around 600,000, and is extremely ethnically diverse, which is one of my favorite things about it. The black population is roughly 56%, whites around 36%, Hispanics around 8%, 5% other, 3% Asian, and 1% mixed. 


Mount Pleasant, where I happened to enjoy my empanadas, feels like you are in El Salvador. Salvadorans are the largest Hispanic group in DC, and I believe it is safe to say that it is the largest population of Salvadorans outside of El Salvador. Salvadorans are the backbone of the service industry in DC, and, lucky for us, they make darn good food. So, my next food stop in DC...pupusas - funny name, yummy food.

Tequila recipe ?

Thinking of a DC entry to share with you, but there is a *major* ice storm approaching, and I'm afraid to leave the house in case I can't come back. If you've ever been in a DC ice storm, you know that all hell breaks loose and it's almost impossible to drive, walk, or run to your desired destination. The power and internet go down often, so if you don't hear from me, you'll know its because I'll be huddled up under twenty wool blankets and reading by candlelight. Even though that sounds romantic, I really hope it doesn't happen. 
I went from this:

To this:

Am I crazy? No, I'm here to meet my nephew...and bond with my poor frozen parents.


Therefore, in the absence of a true DC food entry, I'll share this "Tequila Recipe" with you to keep you warm in case you're also freezing in DC. A friend shared it with me yesterday, and I have no idea where it originated, so don't get me in trouble with copyright issues, ok? Thanks.


1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle Tequila
2 cups dried fruit


Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl; check the tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality.
Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.
At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is still okay. Try another cup just in case. Turn off the mixer thingy.
Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in a cup of dried fruit. Pick up the fruit off the floor.
Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters, just pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the tequila to test for tonsistency.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt or something.
Check the tequila. Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
Greash the oven.
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.