It’s ‘Id ul Fitr once again, the Muslim celebration that comes after the month of fasting, Ramadhan. I haven’t posted in a while but what else is new Rest assured that there are cookings and plannings going on in the household, particularly as this year I am in la casa familial in Trinidad. Even got here a couple days before so I could be part of the planning with Lilandra and Mom.

So what’s on the menu?

I hope everyone enjoys Eid, and of course the 49th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago’s independence! Fortunate T&T with 2 holidays to celebrate Eid ul Fitr this year

Those are the women’s shoes on the sand of Cornwall Beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where a group of about 50 men and women gathered to celebrate Eid ul Fitr with the prayer and khutbah (sermon). Just look at that sky and the sand. Gorgeous.

Of course the day was not without some drama – we’d gathered at a park opposite Wexford Court Hotel, where apparently the jamaah had performed Eid prayers the year before. But the park is currently closed and not available for the public. So we had to move over to Cornwall Beach, which was better because we were ON THE SAND. Lovely. Hot, but lovely.

The delay meant that I rushed back to my meeting, heading straight into the conference room in my Eid clothes, but then I was celebrating after all!

Waiting eagerly to arrive in Trinidad tomorrow and get real Eid food though…the hotel buffet wasn’t particularly celebratory.

Eid Mubarak from Jamaica! Yup, that’s the sunset for the end of Ramadan, out of my hotel window in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Gorgeous isn’t it? And yes, I’ll be spending Eid here…at least the first day (don’t you know it’s a 3 day celebration?)

Part of my job involves travel. This is not news to my regular readers, who will occasionally see a post on a country or town when I haven’t cooked in a while (or snuck a recipe from my mother). Travel during Ramadan is so frequently the case, that I had a post on fasting in hotels – The Ramadan Business Traveler. But for Eid, I generally try to be home* with the family, or in Guyana with my sister and her posse. Celebration is best among loved ones after all.

That’s not to say that I haven’t celebrated Eid away from family. I have celebrated Eid in Barbados, Edinburghand of course Eid ul Adha for the Hajj.

There should have been 4 Eids celebrated in Barbados, for my two years of study there, but I suspect I managed to fly home to Trinidad for half of them. (Cue the Jamaicans’ and other northerners’ complaints about Trinis in Cave Hill being able to hop home during the semester since we right next door). My friends and housemates didn’t mind my flying home since my return would be accompanied with barfi and gulab jamoon. And if I didn’t make it home, homesickness would lead me to trying to make sawine myself. There was a goodly portion of the Bajan Muslim population around the Cave Hill area, and one of them would invite all and sundry including his tenants to have some biryiani for Eid. I love that biriyani – they were Gujarati and it had peas (a little too lazy to google to see if those are connected). They’d fry up tonnes of onions to layer into this humungous pot and I would snag any leftovers from friends who weren’t into spiced rice. After all, living mostly pescatarian in Bim made one really appreciated these moments of (free) meat I also recall being invited to a post Eid get-together with some other Bajan Muslims with a sort of potluck array of Indian sweets of which I only really remember the gulab jamoon type ball rolled in coconut flakes. Now THERE’s an idea.

I was also a student in Edinburgh, but a little older and surrounded by Muslim shops – the Edinburgh Central Mosque was practically across the street from my residence after all. Eid celebrating during that year was less about trying to find free food and more about finding a way to celebrate on my own. Not that there’s no free food. The Mosque Kitchen, which serves food out of a small kitchen run by volunteers and you eat on makeshift tables in the courtyard, was actually shortlisted for a national restaurant award. Cheap, hot, good Indian food. And they served up food free for everyone breaking fast during Ramadan. Yum. I love curry like that.And the mosque got lots of free dates from Saudi and shared massive packages out – I didn’t even have to collect my own; one Friday a fellow student from my floor dropped off mine I really liked going to that mosque – it was practically in the middle of campus, but was not part of the University – it was diverse and active, participated in the Festival and even if I was there for a short time among thousands of people I never met, it was easy to go and participate in anything.

But back to Eid. My first Eid in Edinburgh was so soon after my arrival I didn’t plan anything. Ramadan that year was a great way to get to know my kitchen mates, as they all watched me fast and asked questions about Ramadan and of course, experienced the Chennette-is-fasting-and-homesick-therefore-cooks phenomenon. This blog is largely founded on the emailed recipes sent by my mother during that period. By the time Eid ul Adha rolled around in February, I was more prepared. I have fond memories of going to Eid salaah with a Palestinian student from the building, and being turned around in the building as they moved the sisters’ down to the exhibition hall as everywhere was needed for extra people. People were praying outside the doors, on the steps, in the car park. Everywhere. It was such a madhouse that when I went to look for my friend’s shoes afterwards (she’s visually impaired) I was convinced they were gone and we thought we had our ‘Eid to remember’ story. Fortunately, her shoes were there after all! But I planned a dinner that week for a few friends just to celebrate and even though my wallet was stolen after I withdrew my “Eid money”, I scorched the milk for the sawine, and I didn’t have the nisab level for the Kurbani…it was great and felt like Eid…funny enough, I think I am in regular contact with about 5 of those 7 people I invited. After almost 7 years.

So, although I miss the family traditions and celebrations, and I am here in Mo Bay for work, I have to admit that I am looking forward to Eid in Jamaica. When I called to get the salaah time and place I felt a little thrill that there was a jamaah in Montego Bay and I could get all dressed up for Eid prayer and go see how they do it here. As someone pointed out on Twitter, there could be curry goat! And it would be halaal So check back for my report on Eid in Montego Bay, Jamaica – I hope I don’t stand out with my camera like a tourist…although not in slippers and beachwear.

So I am looking forward to tomorrow. Although I do admit that breaking fast by yourself on the end of Ramadan in a hotel when everywhere else people are calling and wishing each other Eid Mubarak and asking if you see the moon… well, it’s just a little sad.

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.

Falafels are that ubiquitous Middle Eastern item – savoury, crunchy, fried balls of beany-goodness. Some may say falafels are Israeli, there may be other countries laying claim to the source of these delicious vegetarian protein-packed treats, but I am no food historian, so I won’t get into the debate. You can check out Wikipedia. Falafels are great on their own, eat with a tahini (Middle Eastern sesame seed paste) dip, or as shown above with one of the chutneys Trinis serve with all our savoury deep fried goodies – in this case a boiled mango chutney. In fact, falafels are so similar to Trini kachouries (ground yellow split pea fritter), that they should be recognised as siblings. Falafels are also commonly served popped into pita bread, for a deliciously filling sandwich. Falafel like this is street food, and like the Trini doubles, or bake and shark, they’re sold with “a vast variety of ingredients and sauces to fill … falafel (pita) sandwiches” (burekaboy‘s Falafel 101 is an excellent guide and recipe to perhaps more authentic Falafel).

While the most commonly found falafel is made from chickpeas (channa, an ingredient extremely familiar to Caribbean people, especially Trinis), Egyptians traditionally made theirs from fava beans. Mom always made hers using lentils and bulgur wheat. Much more like a vegetarian kibbe actually. She says it’s because she never liked fava beans, so…lentils…after all she grew up with it in jedra!. And burekaboy noted that his Lebanese neighbours added bulgur. So Syrian-Lebanese-Trini variation maybe.

This recipe is really simple. Really. Soak beans for 24 hours, add lots of fresh herbs and aromatics. Use food processor or blender if you want a smoother texture. And fry. Voila. Don’t believe me?

RECIPE
Makes about 40
Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb dry chick peas
• 1/2 lb dry lentils (or use 1 lb chick peas)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup chopped fresh herbs of your choice (parsley, chives, shadow benny/cilantro etc)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp geera (cumin)
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• salt and black pepper to taste (taste the batter raw, go ahead)
• possibly a few tbsps of flour (or dhal flour)

optional: some fresh bird or other hot pepper to your tolerance level

1. Soak beans in enough water to cover about 2 inches over. Add baking soda. Leave for 18-24 hours.

2. Rinse beans well and let drain.

3. Put beans and all other ingredients in food processor or blender and zap away. (I like the food processor because I like it chunkier – it’s super crunchy that way and I love the texture).

4. You can store this in the fridge for a couple days, although I have noticed that it might need a little flour to bind after this.

5. Put about 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot and heat to medium high.

6. Check the mix to see if it needs flour – squeeze a golf ball sized in your hand and see if it sticks together. If it does, then take a heaping tablespoon of the mix, shape into a slightly flattened ball and fry. If it holds up and doesn’t burn, then you’re good to go without flour and the oil isn’t too hot. If the mixture breaks up in your hand or in the oil, then add a few tablespoons of flour and mix so it can be shaped easily. Until you get the hang of it, fry one at a time. Keep hands moist.

7. Fry the falafel until golden brown (lentils in the mixture will make it a bit browner) and drain on paper.

Serve with a tahini dip (maybe recipe to follow, although I relied on Mom to do this!) or a spicy Trini chutney (tamarind is really really good).

Our (sister-the-elder and I) prep for Eid started earlier in the week with discussions on menu and making lists. I’m doing Eid with her family here in Guyana and not in Trinidad. So, we basically have to cater for the mosque crew tomorrow from lunch onwards (which will NOT be curry since that’s the primary food group they’ve been enjoying all month long at the masjid). And then another big do in the week for other friends, which will be curry (alhamdulillah, because it means less I have to actually cook!). And then, super ambitious this year – I am going to have a few people over next weekend for a small Eid dinner. Haven’t done that since my student days in Edinburgh. I usually just am part of a larger family thing either at home in Trinidad, or here in Guyana with my sister. So lots of menu planning and cooking.

All 3 events will need some sweets. And after our years of experience with Mom, we try to set aside some nights in the week before Eid to make large batches of sweets. This was somewhat hampered by lack of essential ingredients (NO Nestle’s cream? Can you imagine?? I can only surmise the distributor in Trinidad just kept all there!). But 2 nights ago we made gulab jamoon – 206 of them, fried in batches of 13 and then sugared in a quick icing sugar glaze. We had planned to make one of those large cartering size sheet pans of barfi…but no cream and no desire to be creative and experimental with such a core sweet. So tonight we made halwa – 1.5 lbs of semolina halwa! All this while fending off 2 little ones and with the varying helpfulness help of a pre-teen and teen.

We also did some prep for the more savoury courses – boiled 5 lbs potato for the potato salad, ground 3 lbs of channa and lentils for falafel, cooked the 4 lbs of minced beef for lasagna, someone cut up and season the 20 lbs of chicken and made sure we had more than enough green seasonings and other ingredients. We also made a macaroni pie with lots of cheese and mustard…and minced beef (which won’t pass Lilandra’s standards because of that one little addition). It made a good dinner for the night of Eid, followed by ice cream (and goodness, the places little ones can drip and drop ice cream is amazing…and they don’t go for the no-stain coconut…no, it has to be chocolate…)

So for those who are interested, our menu (a la Lilandra’s usual style)

Eid Day

• Falafel
• Tahini dip (darn got to remember to dig out the tahini from my fridge!)
• Lasagna
• Yellow Rice
• Stew Chicken
• Potato Salad
• Green Salad
• Halwa
• Gulab Jamoon
• Sawine

(It may not sound particularly exotic, but we’re looking forward to it, so it’s festive enough!)

Wednesday
Curry – which should be roti, rice, curried meats, punpkin, bhagi…you get the idea)
Plus the sweets

Saturday Night

• Falafel
• Bulgur Pilaf
• Trout Filets baked (perhaps stuffed) in a sour cream/lime sauce
• Chicken Biriyani OR
• Chicken Kebab inspired dish (with Middle Eastern seasonings – time to break out the sumac I brought from Hajj)
• Potato, Eggplant and Feta dish
• Usual sweets (whatever’s left)
• Baklava (if I can find filo pastry)

It’s already close to midnight and I still have to sort out my clothes, so I won’t even try to put more photos in this post. You can browse my Flickr stream for Eid photos and enjoy!

Yes, I know, this is primarily a food blog, and people might think I spend a lot of time cooking, or getting food supplies, but recently, not so much. And to actually get out there on a Saturday!! Saturdays I am not usually sure I am alive, much less active. So I hope and pray insha Allah (God willing) that the focus continues. I’ve found over the years, that focus during this month makes me more efficient at work too – getting things done more quickly and getting OUT the door and home. So we can all hope for some more food talk on this blog during this month too as it relates to Ramadan of course.

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Speaking of good happenings, several weeks ago the ever-so-kind people at Amazing Trinidad Vacations contacted me to interview Chennette for their site. I took a while, but they were patient thankfully, and the interview is now live on their blog. I am very flattered that they asked me – one of the previous interviewees was David Rudder!!  The site is intended to be a vacation guide to Trinidad and Tobago, starting with the personal experiences of the hosts (a family affair, Trinis and Trini by marriage) and providing information on the destination, culture, food etc – it’s a good online resource to refer people to as a starting point. Even for locals – especially those who missed out on the family’s Maracas trips

One really popular search recently is for the “ghost of the solomon hochoy highway” “claxton bay ghost” “the story about the little girl in the white dress by claxton bay in trinidad and tobago”, leading to my post on the Haunting of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. THe popularity has resurged based on the recent reports in the Trinidad and Tobago Express on the government investigations into the “death highway” (which is apparently caused by speeding, dangerous curve and high wind, but mostly speeding – that’s the official word!) People have still been commenting on the original post, adding their bits of knowledge to the history and folklore. The T&T Express seems to have done an investigative piece on the story though, confirming that the statue and site of disturbances is Forres Park, providing input from estate workers etc. Apparently this year is 100 years since the poor girl died.

From the story -

“Maria was the daughter of a Forres Park estate overseer who died near the highway in March 1909 while on her way to warn her lover that he was about to be killed because her parents did not approve of their love affair. Shortly after her death, a statue of the Virgin Mary [by her grieving father] was erected near the spot where she died. It was some years later that the statue was desecrated by a mentally impaired woman who claimed it was not responding to the questions she had asked it. In a fit of anger, the story goes, she climbed the pedestal on which it stands and decapitated the statue.

Former workers at the Forres Park sugar estate testified to the decapitation and they also knew why the statue was erected by the overseer. …Harry Seedas, a former worker on the estate, was the last person to testify about the accuracy of the event. Seedas died a few years ago leaving behind the story of a legend that has captivated the minds of many for years. This year marks the 100th anniversary of her death and residents are planning a religious ceremony in commemoration of her death and to make every effort to have her spirit put to rest.”

Another frequent search is for the “Good Eats burger” or the “Alton Brown hamburger” or the very specific “grind your own meat burger”. I imagine there’s a great demand for burgers on the US Independence Day (Happy Independence Day to any US readers!), so I hope my AB Burger post was helpful.

July 4th is also an important anniversary for us in the Caribbean. On this day, in 1973, 4 regional leaders signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas, creating the Caribbean Community. In Guyana, it’s CARICOM Day and we get a holiday on Monday. Yay, us! (I mean the Community, not just us lucky folk working in Guyana.)

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Although I have not been blogging (or taking photos) recently, my creativity has not been wanting. It’s just all been sucked in by the exigencies of the day job. It’s a crying shame when your JOB makes you use that part of your brain you reserve for your own activities. I mean, it’s been rewarding and fun to do things that are not necessarily all about law and procedure, but I don’t know. I am undecided. After all, I have all of, I don’t know 10 faithful readers, and those eager search-engine users to serve. You don’t pay me, but that’s ok. That’s what the job was for right?  Anyway, if I get to put away the job for tomorrow and Monday (holiday!!!) then perhaps there will be more to blog very soon. After all Lilandra is visiting, and we have been cooking from time to time.