I was checking out the blog by fellow Trini blogger Trinigourmet and she has the most delightful post about coconut sugar cake, a treat which punctuated my childhood and still continues to be a favourite of mine. I had some excellent sugar cake as recently as July when Patrice brought some over from Trinidad that were made by her Granny!
This is what Trinigourmet has to say about cocount sugar cakes; "Coconut sugar cakes are known to every school child in Trinidad and Tobago. These confections are one of several 'tuck shop' (cafeteria) staples and are also commonly available from corner stores and street vendors."
Trinigourmet also has the recipe for sugar cake, as well as recipes for pastelles and black cake too, do check out her site.

When I last made pastelles with my mother in Trinidad, I used a recipe from a brochure with Christmas recipes that we got in a Sunday newspaper. In the absence of that very good recipe, I'm using two sources. The first is a book many Trinis consider a cooking bible, the Naparima Girls High School Cookbook and the other is from the extremely comprehensive Cook's Book.
Just a note about using banana leaves, if you don't have them, use strong kitchen foil. If don't live in the Caribbean and you really want to be authentic, you can find banana leaves in Oriental supermarkets.

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If you asked the average Trini about the components of a good Christmas meal, I'm positive they’ll mention ham and turkey but their eyes will light up with delight when they mention pastelles.
Pastelles are small meat-filled polenta (cornmeal) pies that many believe were introduced by our Spanish colonisers who ruled between the late 15th and early 18th centuries. They exist in some form or another throughout Latin America and are more commonly known there as hallacas, pronounced hayacas.
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I had an offally good lunch yesterday, crisped pig’s ears and tongue, parsnip and potato puree and steamed vegetables. Yes, I know that opening line was a bit lame but I'm sure you smiled a bit.
The crisped pig’s ears and tongue were the parts I reserved from the pig’s head a few nights ago. I cooked all of the meat on Sunday with some help from my friend Anita who wore a look of bemusement through the whole process.
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Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson has been hailed as one of the best books ever written about cooking with offal. I don't have the book myself, but I had a look at it once and it seemed extremely comprehensive.
I should have bought the book then, because I really needed it a few nights ago when I was taking apart a pig's head that I bought at Borough Market.
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The BBC Good Food Show is like the mecca for foodies in the South East of England. It's one of the year's biggest food events and this is the third year I've gone.
The way to get through this huge event is to adopt a hard stance against the things you DO NOT need or you'll spend a lot of money, and when you get home, you'll be wondering why you bought half the stuff you did.
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Christmas isn't christmas for me without a big slice of rich, fruity black cake.
I don't get around to making one every year but without fail, somone comes up with the moist, fruit-laden, alcohol-sodden goods.
Even though my friends seem to like my black cake, I think it's just average. My cake hasn't hit the heights that my mother, Auntie Gloria and my friend Beverley consistently reach year after year. I know that I have to really up my game and apply myself to the entire process of cake making to get to that standard.

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One of the most precious compliments you can give a cook – especially one from Trinidad – is that they have a 'sweet hand'.
When somebody has a 'sweet hand', it means everything they cook is yummy. Of course, this makes them all the more desirable for marriage because most people dream of having a partner who could dish up tasty meals almost on command.
Several weeks ago, I was trawling the Inter-web for some new cookbooks and stumbled across Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad and Tobago by Ramin Ganeshram. Instantly seduced by the name, I ordered it.

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Hello fellow foodies.

Many apologies for my absence. It's been a while. We've been encountering some serious techincal issues but now we're almost back on track. Soon enough, you'll be reading about my food exploits. We're going to be concentrating on Christmas! It's in the air again.