I won't be able to call myself a great cook until I've mastered baking and dessert making.
I know a lot of people say they don't have the patience for making bread, pastry and cake but I think it's fundamental for a proper cook to master these skills.
In the past I've made decent Christmas fruit cake, good Trinidadian bake and sweetbread but I'm not particularly confident about bread, sponge cakes and pastry. I'm not fussed though, one day I'll get it right.
I was asked to contribute a dish to a traditional British Sunday lunch that took place last Sunday, so instead of doing something easy like roast chicken, I plumped for the challenge of making a classic British dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Read the rest of this entry »

I've always been fascinated by markets. As a child, I was mesmerized by the smells, sounds and tastes of the market. I can still remember the sweet and spicy tamarind balls from the fat lady in the Central Market in Port of Spain, the crunchy khurma from the Indian lady in San Juan Market and the vivid imagery in the picong (serious heckling) between the vendors at both markets.
For a lot of people in the Caribbean, going to the market with your mother or granny is a ritual that many of us continue into our adulthood.
Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday, I was at the Billingsgate Fish Market before sunrise for a pescatorial adventure. I spent the day at Europe's biggest fish market skinning, filleting and boning fish.
For about three years, I've been thinking about doing Billingsgate's Knife Skills course but the timing was always wrong.
In January, I pledged to spend the next few years learning as much as I can about food and cooking. Ideally, I'd love to take some time off and do an intensive cooking course, but since I can't do that, the next best option is to find short courses to fill the gaps in my knowledge.
This course was near the top of my 'food things to do' list and believe me, the three-year wait was worth it.
Read the rest of this entry »

Last Wednesday, EJ announced that the much anticipated Good Friday housewarming lime was off. After a few despairing emails back and forth among the crew, I suggested that we move the lime over to my house, so Good Friday became the Great Friday lime. We stuck to the original plan of everyone bringing something for the meal. Sean and Bex said they'd bring pumpkin and geera pork with bodi. Bonnie offered channa and Khary took on his regular role of bringing drinks and ice. I cooked fish, rice, curry mango and dessert of strawberry ice cream and hot cross buns.
Read the rest of this entry »

I'm so happy today. I've scored one for me and for Caribbean cooking! A few weeks ago, UKTV Food (the British equivalent of American cable channel, The Food Network) commissioned a recipe for Stewed Mutton from me. I gladly obliged and now you can see my recipe on their website. The folks at UKTV said they'll link the recipe to a feature on mutton, which will appear around April 23, St George's Day. This feature will celebrate old fashioned English dishes, as well as the multicultural food world we now live in. I based the recipe on the traditional Trinidadian method of stewing meat which uses caremelised sugar to give the meat flavour and colour. This mutton recipe is also quite topical since there's a mutton revival, going on in the UK. Prince Charles and Gordon Ramsay are among those urging people to use more mutton. I can't blame them because mutton is a very interesting meat. Have a look at my recipe and take a look at the UKTV Food website, I'm sure you'll find lots of interesting foodie things there! More importantly, try the recipe and tell me what you think!!

I was looking at a message board on a food site and I came across a thread about 'food that evokes good memories'. Although I've eaten good food at restaurants, some of the most memorable meals I've eaten over the years has been at the homes of friends and family. The best food in the world is usually simple and cooked with lots of love. My list of great food memories is in no particular order but I have to put my mom's food at the top of the list, where it belongs.
Read the rest of this entry »

Plans are afoot for a big lime on Easter Friday. EJ and Cherise are having their long-awaited housewaming party in Finchley, North London and in typical EJ style, he's cooking up a real Trini favourite.
The last time he cooked for us, it was oxtail soup and this time, he'll be doing Curry Duck.
Curry isn't a traditional Easter option but I know EJ is desperate to cook the two ducks he got in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago.
To make the occasion more lavish, they've asked everyone to bring a dish to accompany the duck and after thinking about it, I decided that I'll make the percect accompaniment - Curry Mango.
Read the rest of this entry »

With the glorious four-day Easter weekend coming up, I'm going to take the opportunity to relax and do some special cooking. The plan is to cook a wicked fish dish at some point over the weekend, so I could feel at one with the thousands in the Caribbean who follow this tradition.
Read the rest of this entry »

Since I started this blog, quite a few people who knew me in my vegetarian days have asked what prompted me to eat meat again.
Two years ago, I began eating meat again after 12 years of going veggie. The reason was simple, I felt if I wanted to be a great cook, I couldn’t do so without knowing how to cook ALL kinds of food and that included meat.
And how can a good cook not taste what they’re cooking? So after tasty dish of venison fillet, I re-embraced the way of flesh.
This doesn’t mean that I eat just any meat. I'm still very mindful of the reason I stopped eating meat in the first place: intensive farming and its ills.
Read the rest of this entry »

My friend Pat sent me a sumptuous oxtail recipe that she's loved since she was a child. She said, "would you believe I used to clean out the pot to get the last bit of bean sauce?"
Pat insists on getting fresh oxtail from the butcher, because somehow the frozen stuff just doesn't taste the same. It sounds like a dish that'll be perfect for a rainy Saturday.
Try it and tell me what you think.
Read the rest of this entry »