Lifespan of a Chennette

This is my second ‘Id ul Adha in Guyana. At least this year my sister and niece were also here; last year sister the elder was in Trinidad, bearing the niece in her belly. I seem to be creating new traditions for myself, and these will be reflected in the recipes I will be posting soon.

The posting may take me a few days, since I am currently packing to go to Barbados. Or trying to, anyway. I celebrated ‘Id, perhaps settling into Guyana a bit more since it was my 2nd such celebration and similar routine, all the while knowing I was going to be displaced from a “home” for another time. Yes, Lifespan of a Chennette will be posting (hopefully) from Barbados for the next several weeks. I cannot be more definite about the time period since these decisions were taken during the whole Christmas holiday season and I first heard 2 weeks, then told in passing 2 months, and once people start talking in months who knows…

Anyway, ‘Id ul Adha is technically the bigger of the two ‘Ids Muslims celebrate (‘Id roughly means a celebration and is the same as “Eid”; the “E” and the apostrophe both represent the sound of a guttural letter in the Arabic alphabet) and the preference for the spelling is because that’s the way my father taught me the science of transliterating the arabic language into English spelling ). The other ‘Id is ‘Id ul Fitr, which is the celebration that comes after Ramadan (since Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar, ‘Id ul Fitr is really in the month of Shawwal, the first day of the month AFTER Ramadan). ‘Id ul Fitr is usually more recognised in Trinidad and Tobago than ‘Id ul Adha, possibly because the one Muslim public holiday is granted for ‘Id ul Fitr, and possibly also because of the public awareness of a whole month of fasting that precedes it. Guyana has a holiday for ‘Id ul Adha, while Suriname has a holiday for ‘Id ul Fitr. Guyana also has a holiday for Milad-un-Nabi, the supposed birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (s), but I am not getting into that.

More exposition ‘Id ul Adha commemorates the sacrifice of the Prophet Ibrahim (s) (or Abraham) of his son Isma’il (see the apostrophe again?). There’s a difference of belief between Muslims and Christians, where the latter believe this near sacrifice involved the son Is’haq (Isaac). Muslims who can afford it are obligated to sacrifice our best animal and distribute the meat. The usual practice in this part of the world is to sacrifice bulls, each animal being held in “shares” of an odd number. Or, if Mom gets the urge, she does her sacrifice in a sheep, and we get mutton I like mutton. One year, maybe I’ll do mine in mutton. Although it hasn’t been so many years since I have actually had money to be able to be one of those who can do the sacrifice.

My ‘Id this year, like last, was spent at my brother-in-law’s village masjid in Guyana. There were 18 animals this year, which included all 6 shares (spread over 2 bulls) of my immediate family. I didn’t stick around much after the salaah (prayer), just like last time, just a little bit longer to lime with the sister and niece, take some pictures and politely eat some vermicelli. Vermicelli is Guyana’s answer to our Trini sawine. Except it’s not. It’s made from the same ingredients, but entirely different product. There it is, what we in T&T tend to call sawine-cake if we refer to it at all, because it’s the same vermicelli noodles, milk, sugar and spices, but not in a liquid drinkable, soupy form, no. It sets into a solid substance that is cut into squares. I don’t hate it, but it’s not something I necessarily like. Although this one yesterday, was not bad. I don’t have a picture of sawine I only have a couple not so great photos of sawine, but found one on Flickr that gives you an idea of the Pakistani version – Pakistani vermicelli, although in our family we like ours to swim in a bit more milk

I also got to see them light up the firesides to cook the rice, and dhal and prepare for the kurbani (sacrifice) beef. In Trinidad, we may use the same big pots (karahis) but cook over big gas ring stoves. In my home village Cottage, I grew up with the cooking of pelau on ‘Id ul Adha, as the complete meal in a pot for all the people dealing with the cleaning and sharing of meat. There were years also with rice and dhal and curry beef (with stew chicken for those who didn’t eat beef – obviously not Hindu but not everyone likes red meat) and sometimes hot paratha on the BIG tawahs (or purchased cheaply) to go with a good stew beef (curry beef I am not a big fan of, stew on the other hand I can actually enjoy once in a while!). This time, unlike 2 Ramadans ago, I surreptitiously managed to take a picture of the firesides.

Upon my return to my flat, after catching up on some sleep (the salaah was at 7 am and I got to my sister’s to help at 6 am), I made sweet bread, and later accras. These are the traditions that I seem to be making as I made accras several times during my first Ramadan in Guyana (2nd Ramadan I ended up spending most of it, not fasting, in Trinidad with the typhoid fever) and then for my first ‘Id ul Adha, so it seems to be an ‘Id thing for me. And for that first ‘Id ul Fitr I spent in Guyana with the sister, I made sweet bread, nice Trini coconut sweet bread, spiced just right and NO little things in it other than grated coconut. No raisins, or cherries or mixed peel to ruin the taste or texture (yes, just my humble opinion, but there it is…). Last ‘Id ul Adha, knowing that I was about to receive my first share of beef all by myself, I spent some time cleaning the freezer (tiny, small flat), while I waited. What on earth was I going to do with this beef?? I don’t eat much red meat, eating beef with spaghetti and lasagne occasionally (MINCED) and not much else. I was going to be getting hunks of beef!

I had seen this and was intrigued by the recipe, so I set about to research and came up with Beef Rendang, an Indonesian beef curry with coconut milk and spices. Mmmm. I made it that first ‘Id and it was great. I had to improvise and used several different recipes to come up with one that I could manage (after all no galangal or lemongrass), but it was worth it. And I made it again later in the year, modifying it to add some bhaji (spinach). And tried it with the kurbani mutton my family had when I visited Trinidad later. Mmm. So, that’s what I am doing right now. Making a beef rendang from my recent cookbook purchase Curry, fire and spice: over 150 great curries from India and Asia (Mridula Baljekar). Of course with modifications, since I still have no lemongrass or galangal. But more exposition on that process in a later post.

For now, I must end my ‘Id ul Adha and return to thoughts of work. Suitcases rarely pack themselves, and kitchens NEVER clean themselves. Don’t get me started on the clothes in the washing machine. Sigh.