If you’re  a regular reader of this blog (or if you’ve been browsing the Ramadan posts from over the years) you will realise that there’s a particular kind of joy attached to this month. Yes, it’s all about ibadah (worship) and the fasting and extra night prayers (Tarawih) can be a test, but there’s a sense of community that abounds during this month. It’s partly the feeling you get when you perform the Hajj (pilgrimage), that you’re part of something bigger that millions and millions of people are sharing in at the same time. There’s also a more simplistic reason – people tend to break fast in the mosque together, sharing the Iftar (you get blessings for feeding a fasting person so people like to sponsor these dinners!) and the Tarawih prayers are an extra nightly reason to go to the masjid for salaah in jamaat (congregational prayers). All that extra togetherness adds to the special feelings associated with this month – specialness which is almost always accompanied by great food!

Muslims also tend to spend some time planning meals during this month – for communal cooking for the Iftar, favourite delicacies to entice reluctant eaters during Suhr (the meal before the fast begins at dawn) or to stimulate the shrinking appetite later in the month. And of course, there’s the planning for Eid! What you’re going to wear of course, but more importantly, what are you going to cook and serve up to all and sundry! While the search stats for this blog reveal that people are looking for the usual suspects in the Ramadan/Eid lineup – kurma, barfi, sawine, maleeda, and ras gullah for example – that doesn’t mean that other sweet treats aren’t on the agenda.

Like this chocolate cake. Moist, chocolatey and with a lovely butter frosting using melted chocolate. So. very. good. And not too large (although I’d double the recipe the next time to get a nice high cake).

It’s from a book called “Chocolate: Easy and delicious step-by-step recipes”. It’s a British book…I need to check the publisher details. It’s a great book as far as we can tell since the few things we’ve made from it have been excellent. The children definitely like the photos and have found lots of things Aunty Chennette needs to come make.

RECIPE (modifications in brown)

Cake

• 125 g (4.5 oz) soft margarine (or butter)
• 125 g (4.5 oz) caster sugar (we used very brown sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup (we actually had this! I’d usually substitute any kind of syrup or even some thinned molasses)
• 125 g (4.5 oz) self-raising flour, sifted (see note above!) Substitute 125 grams (4.5 oz) flour plus  1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted (we used 4)

Frosting/Filling

• 50 g (1.75 oz) icing sugar, sifted
• 25 g (1 oz) butter
• 100 g (3.5 oz) milk cooking chocolate
• a little extra cooking chocolate for the top (optional)

METHOD (my method)

Lightly grease 2 7-inch shallow cake tins (the layer pans – we used larger ones, all we had, so the cake was flatter)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit)

Now, the recipe just said mix all ingredients to a smooth batter, but, I have my home ec training ingrained in me – this is a cake, to be made by the creamed-in method. This is how you get a light cake texture. I have tried recipes before that say mix everything together and the cake comes out rubbery. So your choice.

Cream margarine/butter and sugar together until the mixture is creamy and light.

Add eggs, beat well.

Add golden syrup, mix well.

Add flour and cocoa powder, fold in – mix gently to incorporate  into a smooth batter but do not over beat.

Divide mixture between both pans equally.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out cleanly (if you are using the larger pans, it will cook very quickly).

Let cake cool in pans for a few minutes then turn out onto wire racks to cool while you make the frosting.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler or gently in a microwave (microwave on medium for 20 seconds at a time and stir in intervals)

Beat icing sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate, mix well.

Spread 1/3 of the frosting on the top of one cake layer, place the other cake layer on top. (we threw in some butterscotch chips in the middle of the layers)

Use the remaining frosting to cover the cake. (I’ll admit that I made a bit more frosting than the recipe called for, maybe using 1/2 oz more butter and icing sugar accordingly). Drizzle melted chocolate over the top or top with nuts or other chips.

Enjoy!

Googni is a term I grew up using for all types of boil and fry peas and beans – so during Ramadan people would make blackeye peas googni or channa googni. Actually those are the only 2 types I can think of in Trinidad, but there may be others I do recall that as a child, when I saw boil and fry channa on the Iftar dish, I was never impressed. I didn’t understand why people just didn’t curry the channa! It went so much better with the fried kachourie or saheena, plus it was half of being a doubles!!. And not everyone can do a good boil and fry…for years I swore that boil and fry meant “hard and dry”. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Really!

I made almost a pound of blackeye peas.* Sister-the-elder was a bit surprised, but 1. I wanted to have enough for days so I could be sure to replicate some small part of my childhood Iftars and 2. I forgot how much the peas swell when cooked. But back to reason number 1! Typical things people would bring to the masjid for communal iftar – dates of course;  fried stuff like pholouri, kachourie, goolgulah or saheena; fruit like watermelon, bananas, pineapple, apples, grapes; sweet stuff like cake, sweetbread or packaged biscuits; and channa, either curried or boil and fry (googni) or blackeye googni. Chutneys to go along with fried stuff, which also tastes pretty good with channa and blackeye! And maybe some ginger, which is used to help with “gas” after a day of fasting. I cannot replicate all of that at home just for me, or even for me and the sister, but having googni around is part of that traditional meal. So I have been breaking fast with it every day since I made it, taking a little container of it with me when I go to sister-the-elder’s. When I had first made it, she wasn’t sure about it because I had omitted pepper, which she considers essential to the dish. However, come her first day of fasting, possibly feeling those reminiscing urges as well, she asked me to bring along enough for her in my container and we had it with some tamarind chutney along with our dates and cake.

I’ve spelt it “googni” but if you do a search for “ghugni” or “ghoogni” you might encounter the root of the term and how it is used in the Eastern part of India (Oriya cuisine) or in Bihari cuisine. While some versions may use different types of peas, or add potatoes, it seems common that googni consists of some kind of peas sautéed with spices and aromatics. My aunt suggested the addition of saltfish, which would seem very West Indian The combination of spices and herbs can be infinitely varied to suit your taste, compliment your peas or the accompaniments. Just make sure you cook the peas enough!

RECIPE

• 2 cups dried blackeye peas (Although you could cook canned peas, I tend not to like the taste of canned peas. Plus blackeye cooks really quickly)
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed slightly
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 pimento (seasoning) peppers, diced finely
• (bird pepper or hot pepper, diced finely)
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped bandhania (culantro, shadow beni)
• 2 teaspoons (roasted) ground geera (cumin)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for sautéeing
• (any combination of herbs and spices)

1. Boil blackeye peas in water, with smashed garlic and salt to taste until cooked. (I cooked them in a pressure cooker and they were done in 15-20 minutes). Drain the peas.

2. Use a wide, deep pan (I used a wok). Heat oil on medium-low heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté until the onions are translucent (I like my onions WELL cooked).

3. Add minced garlic and chives, stir for about 20-30 seconds.

4. Add peas, with the bandhania, geera, coriander and black pepper to taste. Stir constantly to mix thoroughly and check for salt. It’s ok if the peas get a little mashed in the process. The flavours will get to the core of the bean!

Enjoy as is, or with some chutney!

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* peas and such are sold by the “pint” in Guyana, which is somewhat less than a pound.

This year, I thought I’d share a little of how I approach these important meals, as we are near the end of the first week of Ramadan.

Day 1
Suhr – got up, thought really hard about what to eat, but had no appetite. I am NOT a breakfast person or a morning person and I settled with drinking lots of water. Bad idea! I was headachey and tired all day. One MUST plan better!**

Iftar – Although feeling miserable, I got home in time to MAKE food. I made a potato, broccoli and cheese frittata, browning thinly sliced potato before adding the egg to get a beautiful crispy bottom. I also boiled corn with garlic, chives and bandhania (shadow beni) from my little herb trough and coconut milk. Yum. Although the headache didn’t go away till I had a cup of tea. Tea has now become a fixed part of my tradition this Ramadan

Day 2
Suhr – One benefit of cooking the night before was having a Suhr all ready and waiting – the frittata and lots of water made a great Suhr and this fast was much easier, alhamdulillah. I got work done although I developed a craving for a real cheesy macaroni pie, maybe with beef in it.

Iftar – I believe I broke fast at sister-the-elder’s and I cannot recall what exactly I had…hmm…but I had tea eventually! Her oven wasn’t working so NO macaroni pie!

[man...this hard! where are my notes?? like I took notes! sigh...or PHOTOS]

Day 3
Suhr – Uhm…Toast! With…butter. Actual butter because I am out of margarine. And mucho agua. It was Saturday and as per usual I crashed after Fajr so this was an easy fast. Although I DID do laundry! AND I made blackeye peas – blackeye googni (boil and fry peas) because it’s one of the non-fried things that always makes an appearance at communal iftars and I wanted it.

Iftar – Of course I had the blackeye peas – Went over to sister-the-elder’s where her oven WAS working and armed with cheese, we made MACARONI PIE. As well as some mini oatmeal-chocolate chip-almond muffins. All with the help of the almost-3 year old and the 4.5 year old, both of whom conspired to wake up the 7 month old so we had him in there too.

Day 4
Suhr – Macaroni Pie of course. And a Kiss goodie. And the water.

Iftar – uhm. Blackeye peas. Oh, and some simply cooked Brazilian food – steak, pan-grilled then topped with tomatoes and onions, yellow rice with carrots, fried plantains (diced not sliced) and sweet potatoes. Was pretty good! [Again...no photos...]

Day 5
Suhr – This was yesterday…and I cannot remember…oh…a granola bar I think. And water.

Iftar – stayed home and had the blackeye peas. Then made grilled cheese sandwiches on the tawah. With tomatoes, chive and bandania snipped from my herb trough and a mixture of cheeses. Yummy.

Day 76(today!)
Suhr- didn’t feel like trekking downstairs, was very groggy. Had a pack of those Go-Ahead biscuits (kept in my room for just such times!) and water.

Iftar – as you can see in the photo at the top, blackeye peas (going strong I made a ‘pint’), cake and dates. Followed by PIZZA. We made a couple with a biscuit dough like crust (like the one used in my cheese rolls) and 3 from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s recipe. So of course, pizza will be my Suhr!

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*See previous post on how Ramadan starts.

** My Halal Kitchen has some tips on preparing/planning for meals during Ramadan.

[can you believe I had to edit this post because I counted the days wrong? No wonder I couldn't remember these things!]

Ramadan is a month where Muslims try to be the best Muslim they can be, in addition to the daily fast (from dawn to sunset) and the additional night prayers (Tarawih). Because it focuses on a month of fasting culminating in one of the two official Muslim celebrations – ‘Id ul Fitr** – you would find some attention to food during this month. And thus there may be activity on Lifespan of a Chennette during Ramadan especially if I manage to partake of or make some favourite childhood delicacy or experience something new and fantastic from the Muslim Ummah.

You can check out my Recipes page for some of the traditional treats Muslim Trinis might enjoy during this month – savoury ones like accra, kachourie, baigani, or sweet like halwah and sawine. Or read some of my Ramadan to see what I might be getting up to when it’s quiet on the blog!

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*The moon was not visible last night in our part of the world, but as it was announced in Saudi Arabia, Europe and parts of the USA, some jamaat (congregations) may have started fasting today, based on the ‘international sighting’ school of thought.

**‘Id ul Adha is the other celebration, and is technically the Big Eid.

Since we’re on the subject of Guyana, maybe you remember when I posted about touristing in Georgetown, I mentioned that I’d been told there were manatees in the National Park, but I hadn’t actually gone to see them. Well, that hasn’t changed.

I have, however, now seen the herd of manatees in the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown. Yup, that’s right Georgetown has TWO herds of manatees. Imagine! In Trinidad, the West Indian Manatee  (Trichecus Manatus) is only now found in the Nariva Swamp, and the size of the herd is closely guarded.

The Botanical Gardens are right next to the Zoo, and are free to enter. In the photo above, the Zoo is beyond that cute bridge. The Gardens make for a great liming spot for locals and tourists – lots of grass to sit, relax or play games. Lovely palm tree lined avenues. Memorials for former leaders if you’re into mausoleums. And manatees!

I saw about 6 manatees in that pond. If you wave grass in the water, they make their way to the edge so you can feed them. They move underwater, silently, smoothly – you can only tell they’re approaching by a small trail of bubbles and the ripples in the water. And when they near the edge, their snouts begin to emerge. And when one comes, another is sure to follow right behind.

And then there’s this big cow on the left. She was the biggest. More than 6 feet long. And calmly basking in the sun, almost entirely out of the water, enjoying the attention of her visitors. How did I know she was a cow? Ah, well, when she moved her massive flat flipper-tail, voila – see the baby manatee? Awwwww.

Did you know that the name Manatee comes from a Haitian word “manati” and their closest living relatives are elephants and aardvarks?

“Photowalking is the act of walking with a camera for the main purpose of taking pictures of things that the photographer may find interesting.”

This particular photo walk was part of Scott Kelby’s Third World Wide Photo Walk. A mouthful, I know. But it’s a great concept – on the same day (in this case Saturday 24th July), all around the world, people with cameras gather together to walk and take photos together.

Lilandra heard about it, tweeted. Marc Seyon got interested and ended up creating a walk for Trinidad (one of two that occurred on the day). And since I happened to be able to be in Trinidad on the very day, passing through, I joined up. Yes, I did. I signed up for an activity where I had to meet people IRL.

And I went!

You can visit the Flickr group for the World Wide Walk to see photos people took from all around the globe on July 24th. To be honest, it’s better than trying to navigate the main website to see the photos! The Walk is also a competition – each photo walker (33497!) submits one photo the website, and the walk leader chooses the best photo. Then the overall organisers choose the best photos from all 1111 walks that took place this year. The previous best photos are pretty cool.

Our walk started opposite the BP Building (formerly the historic Savannah hotel) and went along the Savannah up to Whitehall then back down to Tragarete Road through St Clair, returning to Victoria Avenue to meetup at TGI Friday’s. I admit I was exhausted having arrived in Trinidad 11 p.m. the night before after a loooong day of travel and delays. Plus we were all heading out to Guyana the next day for a family vacation…so after we were done with the Magnificent Seven, our splinter group headed down Maraval Road across Marli Street back to Victoria Avenue, and early consumption of appetizers and dessert

I had planned to walk with both my lenses to allow me to zoom into some of the building features, or get some nice wide shots of the Savannah or one of the Magnificent Seven. I packed up my stuff in Guyana since 30 June when I started traveling, and I carefully packed my polarising filter, lens hood etc for my 18-135mm lens. Got to Trinidad realised, I never packed the lens… Ah well, another outing with my faster Sigma 50mm f2.8, which is also a macro lens allowing me to take macro shots on the walk I’ve been using this prime for so long now that it feels odd when I use a camera with a different focal length!

I loved the photo walk primarily because I rarely walk through Trinidad, my homeland, taking photos. It’s as bad as living in Guyana and not having photos of Georgetown until I have a visitor! I got decent photos of the newly snazzy Queen’s Royal College (with which my clothes were apparently coordinated), the dilapidated Mille Fleurs and Boissiere House, the pristine Archbishop’s Palace and the gorgeous fretwork and louvres of the gingerbread houses on Marli Street.

In the end, I had to select one photo for submission – very difficult. Especially since I only put my photos on the computer the day of the submission deadline and I had almost 200 photos. Sigh. I ended up posting the one with the Anglican Church on Marli Street – something about the glass and metal and brick appealed to me. But I can never be sure if it’s my “best” shot!

Trinigourmet, Lilandra and I have started discussing a foodie photo walk in Trinidad – with ideas ranging from Debe (the market and indian delicacy vendors) to Wasamaki Permaculture.

Any takers? Suggestions welcome!

World Wide Photo Walk Trinidad Flickr Group

My Photo Walk Flickr set.

Well…perhaps not out of the blue…but at a fast food restaurant, after you’ve placed your order.

When I first came to Guyana, I was staying at a hotel-type place until I found a place to live. I didn’t fancy cooking in the little kitchenette, so I did indulge in some fried chicken and whatnot. Popeye’s was my grease of choice – the one Popeye’s in Guyana is halal and I was briefly enticed by their seasoned fries and spicy chicken strips. But I digress. The first time I gave my order, I was waiting to be told the total, but instead I was asked:

“Yuh using?”

I think I stared. I know I didn’t respond right away. She couldn’t be asking me if I was on drugs right? But that was all I could think of. She repeated the question to my blank face. And so I started to think of what else the question could mean. Was she asking me if I wanted to use a fork with my meal? Maybe she wanted to know if I planned on using my credit card and this was an idiomatic Guyanese shorthand that I should learn. My possibly lengthy internal discussions were cut short when she asked again:

“Yuh using or is take away?”

Ahhhh. I still had no idea what the question meant, but at least I was given an option I recognised. I quickly chose “take away” and left, wondering if my hearing was so bad that I kept hearing “Dine In” or “Eat In” as “Using“.

I soon found out that Guyanese “use” food. Now, I know Trinis probably have equally weird expressions that are incomprehensible to foreigners, but I still haven’t quite come to terms with this expression. To me using implies some kind of continuity of action or to use for a purpose. How can eating food be using? What are you using it for?? I suppose you do use food for nutrition when you eat it…  Does it refer to the temporary nature of eating, which leads me to wonder why would people make such a subtle reference to the…uhm…digestive and excretion process…but I’m overthinking this. It’s not like that other Guyanese expression, “drinking tablets” which makes eminent logical sense, when most people take tablets with a drink.

I am just immensely curious as to how this term arose. I had stopped thinking about it, but while my family was visiting Guyana last week, my brother and sister-in-law heard the term and had the same reaction – “what did they say? what does that mean?” – and I was reminded how you can get used to a foreign language after 5 years:)

You don’t see Ting down here in the South (Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana). At least not to my knowledge. Can’t recall ever seeing it in Barbados either. So, some time passed before I was actually introduced to this icon of Jamaican non-alcoholic drinks – Ting, the carbonated beverage made from “Jamaican grapefruit!”.

ting "from Caribbean grapefruit"

And that’s exactly what it is – carbonated grapefruit juice. Tangy, not too sweet and fizzy you can see how it could catch on. It tastes good, and like it should be good for you. All that citrusy sizzle.

Of course, this bottle of Ting was bought in St Kitts, so it actually says “from Caribbean grapefruit”. In addition to Jamaica, it is now bottled in the OECS (Carib Brewery in St Kitts) as well, and you can find the drink in more Caribbean countries (still not down here). Notwithstanding the new “Caribbean” tag, I gather Jamaicans will still call it a Jamaican drink – my Jamaican colleagues in St Kitts were taken aback not to see the “Jamaican grapefruit” on the label. At least it’s made from Caribbean grapefruit!

Now I feel like I should go track down some other iconic soft drinks…like Solo Apple J “the champagne of soft drinks!”. Although I doubt very much that was made from Trini apples…

What do you think of as “national” non-alcoholic bottled drinks in your part of the Caribbean?

Shiny Chocolatey Eggless Brownies

I wanted brownies today. Seemed the perfect thing to want during the excitement of World Cup. (Not really, I mean, I am enjoying the Group of 16, but it’s more like the “excitement” of trying to wrap up some work stuff that made me want chocolate). I don’t usually bake unless accompanied by a sibling (mostly Lilandra, who actually likes baking). That’s one way of not being tempted by sweet baked treats like brownies. Just don’t make them. But today I wanted them. Except I had no eggs (I’m out of a lot of things, but not making grocery just yet as I may be out of the country for a bit soon). Eggless diets have not stopped people from enjoying baked goods, however, so I decided to quickly try something.

I had flour, butter, Lindt dark chocolate, brown sugar, molasses…all sounds great, right? I did some quick googling and found that there were recipes which didn’t involve things like applesauce, or pumpkin puree…neither of which I had…I also don’t have any nut meal of any kind so that was another substitute option I could not use. But there are recipes which basically follow a brownie/batter recipe, just no eggs. So, this is what I ended up with (I winged it based on my quick readings and ingredients I wanted to use).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter
• 3.5 oz good dark chocolate (Lindt 85% cocoa)
• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Using a double boiler (or a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of water) melt the butter and chocolate together.

2. Mix coffee, sugar and molasses into the chocolate mixture.

3. Add flour, baking powder, salt, mix to combine.

4. Stir in walnuts.

5. Pour/spread evenly into a greased 9×13 baking pan.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until top is set but and the edges are just pulling away from the sides of the pan. If the edges look cooked but the centre is too moist for your liking, just turn off the oven and leave the pan in for another 5 minutes.

VERDICT – well, see for yourself. They were moist and chocolatey, held together very well and tasted great. When eaten hot there was smidgen of that pudding-y floury taste, but as it cooled that went away too. Although, this recipe from All Recipes uses a method of cooking some of the flour with water to deal that is apparently supposed to help this. I like chewy brownies, with a crackly top. These almost had a crackly top, but weren’t chewy. They were just dense and moist enough to not be cakey though, so overall I think it was a success. I think the molasses helps, but that has always been my secret brownie ingredient, so I am biased!

NOTE – I realise these are eggless, but NOT vegan. They were not intended to be, but I think the end result shows that with modifications, you can get a great brownie no matter the substitutions. After all, brownies are by nature more forgiving than cakes! For vegan, I would use a vegetable oil, and of course a completely non-dairy chocolate.

I can’t wait to try these again with the Lindt 99% chocolate bar! I wonder if some more butter would make it cracklier or chewier – any thoughts?

We didn’t really stop anywhere, despite the urgings of our driver, because we were short on time and needed to catch the ferry back to St Kitts for an evening appointment. But we did pause briefly at the Golden Rock Inn, one of the former plantations, restored beautifully and run as a luxurious hotel.

The driver parked under this tree, and I stood up taking photos of the cloud and sky, the lovely branches, those interesting tufts of…cotton…silk cotton…I looked at my watch – 12, on the dot.

Me: “uhm, driver? what kind of tree is this?”
Driver: “Silk cotton, ma’am.”
Me, a little louder: “You parked us under a silk cotton tree at NOON?”

By this time, the rest of my group was back in the vehicle and looking out at me – what’s the problem?

Sigh.

Now, I am not really superstitious, but still, I thought everyone knew to stay away from silk cotton trees, not just at midnight, but noon too, or jumbie will follow you. I explained this to the Jamaicans and Trinis in the bus and not a one seemed to know about this. What have people been learning??

Jumbies are supposed to live in these trees, which is why people shy away from cutting them down for fear of releasing evil spirits or suffering some supernatural revenge. I can distinctly remember my Ma, my mpaternal grandmother telling us, late at night on her porch, about how a soucouyant becomes a soucouyant by going round a silk cotton tree…and probably some other steps…I am fuzzy on the details.

What superstitions do you know about the silk cotton tree?