Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 03:14

Drive to eat local again

As a culinary artist and someone who is entrenched in Caribbean cuisine it really does ache my heart when I see local restaurants only serving dishes made with foreign imported ingredients. It seems to me in San Fernando restaurant menus comprise of burgers, chicken and waffles and many confections made with strawberries and blueberries. As a person who would welcome a piece of grilled fresh fish with some provision fries and local cole slaw, I would need to go to Englishman’s Bay in Tobago to enjoy this. Most seafood served up commercially on this island is imported frozen seafood, and what a shame. I say this because I will not eat frozen fish and I still purchase fresh fish from the San Fernando fish market. I really think we need to bring back the drive to eat local once again, because a generation or more has become totally Americanised with respect to their eating habits and their tastes. Long live local! West Indian spinach rice with nutmeg and peppers 2 tbs vegetable oil 1 large onion, minced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 pimento pepper, seeded and chopped ½ hot pepper, seeded and chopped 4 cups fresh spinach leaves, cleaned, washed and chopped 1 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp grated nutmeg 1 cup parboiled rice 1½ cups vegetable or chicken broth 1 cup coconut milk In a medium sized sauce pan heat oil, add onion, garlic and pimento, cook for a few minutes, do not burn. Add hot pepper and stir, add spinach and combine, lower heat and cover, cook until spinach is tender. Season with salt, black pepper and grated nutmeg. Add rice and stir to combine, pour in stock and cook to boiling, when holes appear at the top of the rice cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serves 4 Baked sweet potatoes with chilli and lemon [caption id="attachment_1180768" align="alignnone" width="768"] Baked sweet potatoes with chilli and lemon. - Wendy Rahamut[/caption] 2 large sweet potatoes, about 1½ to 2 lbs ¼ cup olive oil 1 tbs minced garlic 1 tsp chilli powder salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tbs fresh lemon juice Boil sweet potatoes and peel, cut into wedges. Preheat grill or broiler Combine all other ingredients, paint onto potatoes on both sides and place into a greased ovenproof pan. Grill or broil until golden on top, turn and repeat, remove and serve at once. Serves 4 to 6 Plantain crusted fish This is a Spanish Caribbean dish and the plantain chips acts as the crumb covering before frying, very flavourful and delicious! 4 fish fillets 1 tbs ground chives 1 tsp French thyme 1 tsp minced garlic 2 cups crushed plantain chips flour 1 egg oil to fry salt and pepper Season fish fillets with garlic, salt pepper and fresh herbs. Crush some plantain chips place in a plate. In another plate place some flour. Beat an egg and pour into a plate. Dip fish into flour, then into egg and then into crushed plantain. Fry in hot oil and serve immediately. Serve with tomato salsa or tartar sauce. Serves 4 Grilled pineapple with brown sugar and rum [caption id="attachment_1180767" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Grilled pineapple with brown sugar and rum - Wendy Rahamut[/caption] There’s something to be said about grilling fresh pineapple, the fruit becomes succulent and juicy absorbing all the flavours they are infused with. Serve with ice cream or on its own for a perfect fat free dessert! 1 large pineapple ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup dark rum 1 tsp bitters Preheat grill or broiler. Peel pineapple, remove eyes then cut into half lengthways. Now cut these lengths into eight lengths. Remove centre core. Line a shallow baking pan or dish with foil. Place pineapple into this, sprinkle with sugar, bitters and rum. Grill or broil until pineapple turns brownish and sugar starts to bubble and caramelise. Serve warm as is or with ice cream. Serves 6 to 8 rahamut@gmail.com The post Drive to eat local again appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.