Caribbean Food Emporium - Carnival and Caribbean Food

The Chair of the Association - Caribbean Cuisine Consortium (CCC) - Richard Simpson takes us on a journey with Caribbean Cuisine, at carnivals and other celebrations.

Such colour! Such energy! Ah, the sound of enjoyment!

That smell! That smell? Yes the food of Carnival.

Just as the music, the food of Carnival brings out our

emotions and makes our senses prick up.

Take in a deep breath. You know you have arrived!

Richard Simpson was born in Lewisham and has been part of the borough’s community ever since. He was a member of Lewisham’s first community radio station, FIRST LOVE (now FUSION 107.71 FM). Married with six children, he is a loved and respected family man. As proprietor of CUMMIN UP, a chain of Caribbean take-aways and restaurants, he is well aware of the interwoven union of celebrations and food.

Roti wrapped around goat, chicken or vegetarian curry - derived from the shores of Trinidad and Guyana.

Rice and peas, if your perspective is Jamaican, or peas and rice if it’s not, has as many methods of production as there are cooks. You use red peas (kidney beans), black eye beans, cow peas, crab eye or gungo peas (pigeon peas). You use coconut cream for speed or grate the coconut and wash out the milk if you’re not in any hurry. You add onions or escallion and pimento if you’re a connoisseur and if your pot meets the test, you’ll be able to eat it so-so (on it’s own).

Curry anything! From lamb to fish and anything in-between. Goat curry for the meat eater is the festival dish. Carnival is the place for sampling. So much time and effort in the preparation! Seasoned at least a day ahead with lots of onions, garlic, hot scotch bonnet pepper and curry and then slow cooked, but devoured quickly with some white rice.

Pholourie, saltfish fritters or accra. What could they have in common? Well they are versions of a theme, made in a batter. The former you add jerra (cumin) and the latter you add fish to the flour, water, black pepper and onion base before frying. Both are lovely, on the move snacks, but don’t forget the sauce or chutney to finish it up!

Pattie; there is the open Guyanese tart version or perhaps the better known Jamaican Pattie originally beef filled, but now there’s a veggie, a lamb, a chicken, a saltfish, a ackee & saltfish, a calaloo & saltfish…You must try a few vendors to see “who is saying one” (the best!).

And there is roasting or barbecuing, reminiscent of the great, hot out door life of sea and sand. There is roast corn, plantain, sweet potato or yam, roast fish. But you will never be far from a jerk pit - the Jamaican speciality of heavily seasoned meat, extremely hot once the scotch bonnet peppers got a hold, then thrown on the coals.

Bakes, fried dumplings, jonny cakes or journey cakes, if we momentarily forget the evolutionary process that corrupted its name, by definition a bread. Yes, only flour, but the know how! Round crafted ball with a golden appearance, with a slight crunch, thin skinned with a soft almost fluffy interior, no cracks, oil laden when the temperature of the frying oil is not hot enough, or dark and tuff when the oil is too hot…Yes, the know how! Certainly a treat on the move or a welcome accompaniment to a well-deserved side walk meal as you replenish your energy store.

Escoveitch fish, the colour of the garnish alone is a spectacle, goat fish, snapper fish, red bream or coley; first fried then left to marinate in vinegar immersing red & green sweet peppers, lime onions and pimento served with hard dough bread!

Just as you select your dancing partner the “borra” (round discs of pastry) needs the channa (chick peas) for the carnival sandwich, ‘Doubles’. Served also with a hot chutney. Your feet will not be the only thing dancing, as your taste buds get excited with this simple Trini marvel.

As the evening progresses soup may be the thing for the Ital (vegan) palette. Any bean can start a good broth but there must be lots of spinners (snake looking dumplings), Yam, sweet potato, cassava and even pumpkin. This represents a well balanced meal and not necessarily heavy to continue to wine into the sunset.

For the vegetarian; stew peas (kidney beans) cooked in coconut milk with lots of ;Spinners’, tiny dumplings that are torn from a lump of flour held in one hand towards the fingers whilst the palms roll it and then tossed into the bubbling pot rhythmically. Veggie curry laden with carrots, chocho, Irish potato (to differentiate from the sweet potato) garnished with fresh coriander.

If you’ve had enough of rice or always wondered what sweet potato tastes like, you’ll not have to go too far. Provisions like yam, boiled or roasted, green banana, cornmeal, boiled dumplings, even boiled plantain and if you search out the corners you may find some cassava. All of these will make an excellent accompaniment to any meal but if you have budgetary restraint then a little gravy over it will certainly fill one up fast!

Entering the spirit or freeing the spirit is what Carnival is all about, or how about getting the spirit into you. There’s a thirst quencher every few yards. There are alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. Peanut punch - fresh milk, peanut butter, condensed sweet milk and mixed spice with a dash of vanilla. Exchanging the peanut butter for pineapple gives pineapple juice. Or the extracted juice from carrots foe West Indian carrot juice. Sour sop, banana or mango pulp all provide an excellent drink. Then of course add spirit (normally rum) to taste! All of these punches have an ital version by substituting the milk with water, the condensed milk with sugar and adding a twist of lime. Traditional “sorrel” will always be on hand - a drink made from the leaves of the Hibiscus flower that, as you might imagine has a deep red colour but is light and refreshing. Another is “mauby” made from the bark of the carob tree, which in itself is extremely bitter but is then sweetened and spiced up with some cinnamon or cloves. All bitter drinks are said to be good for toning the blood, but if your inner health is not paramount at this time the latter option may take a bit of getting used to! But the real thirst quencher for those who are intent on dancing away is traditional lemonade, just lemon juice water and sugar, a long glass and lots of ice! If you’re out to disguise your bevy, then grab a rum punch. Any mix of fruit juice, lime water, sugar, syrup and of course, this time plenty of rum but you’ll still need a long glass and plenty of ice.

As there are delightful colour schemes and designs in Carnival, the same must be said for the confectionery, a welcome end to any street side meal to give an extra energy boost. Coconut drops - pieces of chopped coconut boiled in sugar with a hint of ginger, peanut cake substituting the coconut foe peanuts. Pawpaw balls and tamarind balls, the flesh of the fruit boiled in sugar then formed in balls. Angel’s food, simply segmented oranges with a sprinkling of coconut. If you have had your induction then try some cowfoot jelly! The gelatinous stock produced from the boiling of the cow foot when making stew is strained, sugar added, of course rum, milk and strawberry syrup for colour, tastes far better then it sounds! Sweet potato and cornmeal puddings are two, which are very deep-seated in tradition. There’s also spiced bun served with cheese, plantain tarts and gizzarda, desiccated coconut boiled with sugar and spices in a pastry coat. To further demonstrate the diverse cultural mix and amalgamation, there is one which is as Afrikan as they come. Dokono Gemi Gemi or Blue Draws Cornmeal prepared in coconut milk, sugar, currants and cinnamon mixed and enveloped in a banana leaf, or in our case foil, then boiled. They come no better than that.

If fruits are your thing, you’ll always find a sugar cane vendor on the corner, not only offering sugar cane but also water melon, mangoes, sweet sop as well as the more common banana, pineapple, oranges and possibly many others.