Curry, Callaloo & Calypso - Macmillan Caribbean

14
Cocoa on the tree
Peewah
Archbishop’s House
Coconut and coconut milk were both eaten raw
and used as an ingredient in their cooking. They made
dumpling soup with roasted cocoa bean, coconut milk
and cassava, and fish was especially enjoyed in soups,
hence the birth or our own ‘fish teas’.
When the Spanish came, with the arrival of Columbus,
they brought with them a more sophisticated cuisine.
They too used corn in abundance but they made
pastelles and arepas, two very familiar dishes that we
still enjoy today. The Spaniards also enjoyed wild meat
and salted fish, or bacalao.
The years 1777 to 1787 saw the arrival of the French
planters, who brought with them their slaves, amongst
whom were a number of excellent cooks. The food was
becoming more plentiful and exciting. The art of making
coconut butter was a household one, and children were
fed fresh cows’ milk and tannia as a large part of their
diet. The French enjoyed a diet rich in wild meat, roast
suckling pig, vegetables and provisions.
Salted fish and salted meats were imported mainly for
their slaves, who were fed on a mixture of vegetables
and provisions, cooked with coconut and occasionally
flavoured with salt meat. They called this sancocho,
and nowadays we still enjoy this dish as a thick soup
flavoured much the same way. The addition of salted
meats is evident today in many local recipes such as
callaloo, split pea based soups and stew peas.
The planters brought French bread with them, which
we enjoy as hops, a dry and crusty roll. In those days
there were a lot of pig farms around the East Dry River
area, enabling the French settlers to make pudding and
souse from the pigs’ blood and trotters respectively after
they were killed. These are still popular delicacies and a
major part of our culinary heritage. ‘Pudding and hops’
is a popular evening meal for many today.
As settler immigration increased, each group brought
their own slaves and in return each set of slaves brought
with them varied ways in the kitchen. At this time the
stage was set for African customs. We must remember
that the slaves did not eat the same foods as their
masters. They would make their own dishes from what
was left over by the great house. While the masters
feasted on wild meat their slaves used the dasheen bush
to make callaloo and ate this with cassava foo-foo. They
also made paime instead of pastelles with the corn and
banana leaves.
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