The Centre has a main house, restaurant, overnight accommodation and picnic areas for day visits. You call ahead to book a tour and guided hike through the forest trails, with the knowledgeable guides showing you the flora and fauna – we saw squirrels, bell birds, white bearded manakins, purple honeycreepers, corn birds, LOTS of hummingbirds, large lizards, and some semi-tame agouti! The main trail (Discovery Trail) they take all visitors on is fairly easy – going gently downhill (so unfortunately, the route back to the house is uphill, but gentle…). There are many other trails, but I think you have to arrange a special tour in advance for these…also if you are in a large group, school tour etc. But if you are really into eco-tourism and hiking through nature, I think you might want to look into a longer, more expansive hike/trail, so give them a call (or email) to find out what’s possible.

I think I first went to Asa Wright as part of a UWI Biological Society visit in my first year on campus, where we did go beyond the main trail and passed over some streams and near a waterfall. That certainly is not on the usual path – although there are a couple waterfall rock pools within easy access which visitors are allowed to use. The Centre is a hotspot for birdwatching in particular, and the main house has the greatest verandah set up to see the birds…many species…not to mention the view of the mountains and valley!

There are bird feeders strategically located around the verandah, and the hummingbird feeders are hung right around. The day we visited in December, there were 2 humingbirds in particular who had both set their sights on one particular feeder, notwithstanding the 5 or 6 other feeders around and the fact that there were no other hummingbirds around. So for the duration of our visit, we were treated to these 2, alternately commandeering the desired feeder, while the other waited on a nearby tree, and then swooping in fast to scare off the one at the feeder. Over and over and over. It did give me lots of chances to get some action shots of these super-fast birds though, plus the entertainment factor!

Asa Wright has facilities for overnight stays, in the main house, or in cottages on the grounds. In fact if you want to see the oil bird habitat, you have to be staying at least 3 nights, since it’s an night trek, and they try to limit the number of disturbances for these birds. The restaurant is on premises, but if you are just a day-visitor you need to order a meal in advance. Otherwise you are limited to ordering food from the verandah bar (mostly sandwiches, but not bad at all). They serve coffee which they grow on the grounds (remember, a former coffee estate!) and make use of the fertile lands to have a kitchen garden for their restaurant use.

As with any service, things are dependent on the people involved. My previous visits have all encountered super friendly and informative persons at Asa Wright. It was always a bit of a hassle to make arrangements in the days before cellphones and email as you had to call a number in Arima (no phones up the mountains) and wait for confirmations etc. These days it’s much easier although you still have to call or email the day before to book the tour/trail. They do normal tours at 10.30 am and at 1.30 pm, which is included in the visitor’s entrance fee.

The day we were heading up there, we were early, until we hit unexpected and awful traffic in Maloney. Snail crawling through Arima. We called ahead to let them know we were running late but were trying to make it on time. The call kept dropping (which is why we weren’t able to reserve lunch) but at some point they told us, well the guide will wait for 10 minutes and then leave with the tour and we might have to be taken to catch up. Ok…no problem. I used my best skills to drive up the mountain and we got there JUST on time. Paid etc, went to find the guide and realised…it was just us for this tour. Only us…the guide would have been setting off on the trail all by herself? Small blip though, and the lady serving us our sandwiches afterwards was super nice. Even though we didn’t get our coffee.

After our relatively short hike, we came back and limed on the verandah for a couple hours at least. I do know we were still there when people came for their 1.30 tour. It’s just so very relaxing to sit on that verandah and look out at the beautiful Northern Range mountains. One day, I think I must stay overnight to fully take advantage of that place.

We had to leave eventually, since we had reservations for Tea at Mount St Benedict! All the way down this mountain above Arima and up the mountain above St Augustine More on that in the next post… (although you can see Chookooloonks posted about her visit there recently).

Slideshow of my Flickr set on Asa Wright

For more of my touring the homeland, you can see these posts -

• Caroni Swamp and Bird Sanctuary
• Gran Couva and La Vega Estate
• Helpful links for Visiting Trinidad and Tobago

In case you don’t remember my post from about three years ago, Hops is a type of bread in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s a fluffy on the inside, shattering-crust on the outside, ubiquitous roll that is a staple of Trini bakeries. A few weeks ago I came across a Tumblr post from Trini Like Salt, expressing his love for Hops and therefore French Bread. And it has had me thinking since then of the ways I eat hops. The classic childhood memory is of course picking up hot hops from the bakery on evenings (the parents always got an extra half-quart*) and pulling them from the brown paper bag, devouring the fluffy insides (shattering the thin crispy crust all over our school uniforms), and then savouring the yumminess of the crust. Ohhhh….

I have yet to master a wholewheat hops that shatters in quite the same way but I am getting there. I use Mom’s recipe, posted here by Lilandra. I know some people are probably purists who don’t like anything but white hops, but you know what, to each her own. I love the extra nutty taste of whole wheat.

Crix has been marketed as the Vital Supplies of T&T but hops bread could be also be given that nickname! I scoured my files and found some examples (from left to right) -

• Hops and melted butter
• Hops and cheese – good old new zealand cheddar
• Hops and sardines (with pepper sauce, bandhania, onions etc) and cucumber
• some fanciness – Hops and Eggplant Parmigiania!

Some other Trini faves -

• Bread and channa (hops filled with curried channa, like a non-fried doubles alternative)
• Bread and chowmein – yup, chowmein (noodles and veggies) in bread is a popular schoolyard lunch I remember when my younger brother started school – but personally I never took to it

So, how do you like your Hops? Links to photos are welcome!

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* Hops bread is sold by the quart, which used to be 12, then 10…

But to start from the beginning.

Due to my schedule, I have some weekly help at home and I very recently worked out an arrangement where she’d make some bread for me from time to time. The bread you buy here is sooo sweet and soft and I can only manage to bake bread on weekends. And lately, I’ve been on the road and in the air on weekends. Knowing that I do cook, and having seen my mother at work in the kitchen, my helper knows that we care about the food we make and eat, and that we don’t necessarily make things the way she would. So she made to sure to find out how much salt, sugar etc I wanted in the bread and the first time was pretty good.

However, today I get a call from home. She’s mixed the flour with a bit of shortening, the sesame seeds I left on the counter, whole wheat flour etc and then realised there was no yeast…I’d forgotten to stock up. (Another reason I can’t always manage to bake on my limited free time…) No problem though – I have baking powder. So I tell her, ok use some more shortening, add some milk, and mix it somewhat “soft”. The problem came when I started to explain how to bake it. Because I wanted to turn it into bake. Bake bake. But she didn’t quite get it. I tried explaining that it shouldn’t be rolled up like a bread loaf, but flatter. Not rounded, but flat, like a flat bread. And then while I was trying to describe bake over the phone, I realised I’d never seen a bake in Guyana. Fried bakes sure – they make those here, often a bit softer and sweeter than my taste, but it’s here. But not a bake like coconut bake (or for that matter saltfish bake, as my mother will probably comment).

In the end I asked her to knead it and put it in the fridge. While I was waiting for it to bake this evening, I continued reading through the impressive and gorgeous piece of work that is Cynthia Nelson‘s book, Tastes Like Home. And it confirmed my suspicions – there is no bake bake in Guyana. Ahhhh.Of course, I could probably have done a better job of explaining, but there are some things you never think you’d need to explain. Plus, I was in the middle of explaining legal stuff and writing opinions and apparently I couldn’t switch gears into food talk.

I think I shall demonstrate coconut bake and hops in some direct cultural ambassadoring. Plus, I’ll get to eat them

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* I could call it “roast bake” but I never grew up with that term, plus “bake bake” is so much more fun!

Since I am still posting on some of my recent visits to lovely destinations in Trinidad, I thought I’d share some helpful links if you’re planning a trip to T&T, or better yet touring the country you live in!

The Official Travel and Tourism site – marketing T&T as “the True Caribbean” is not actually a bad place to start if you’re looking for registered tour companies, accommodation, background on the people, food, culture and events. I don’t think the Government is maintaining visitTNT.com anymore, but the  Visit Tobago site is still up and running.

Discover Trinidad and Tobago -”the definitive guide to the islands”  - is an annual publication highlighting the country and its attractions. (The same publishers as Caribbean Beat, the magazine for Caribbean Airlines, which has been featured on this blog a few times). But the website for Discover is also an excellent updated resource for visiting the twin islands. They’ve got informative and descriptive posts for example, on the Top 10 Things to do and see in Trinidad, Top 10 Things to do and see in Tobago, as well as an 8-part (so far) visit to different parts of Trinidad and a similar but shorter series for Tobago (smaller island, that’s all). You can visit the companion blog by MEP Publishers where their contributors have reported on the usual suspects in T&T tourism as well as the not-so-usual but very interesting, like the water taxi ride!

Amazing Trinidad Vacations (who you may recall interviewed me about a year-and-a-half ago) also has some good information and photos, along with a few interviews of famous Trinis like David Rudder, Kees Dieffenthaller (of Kes the Band)…and uhm me?

Outlish Magazine is a relatively new online magazine by Trinis for Trinis, founded by Karel McIntosh, as a “weekly, online, lifestyle magazine that celebrates individuality, passion, and innovation.” It’s published every Monday and the contributors and articles just get better. One recent issue proposed a Trini Bucket List: 10 To-Dos for Trinbagonians which while identifying places to go like Toco, Icacos and Down de Islands, also includes essential experiences like a Hindu wedding, or sitting in Parliament.

So, if you haven’t been to T&T, or you live here but think you have nothing to do, browse any of the above links and get busy. There are only so many days to enjoy life and see the beauty of our world. If you know any other great online places to get information, go ahead and comment – I think I’ll keep this post updated, and perhaps turn it into a permanent page for T&T travel eventually.

Just let me get on to posting about the rest of my Trinidad touring…

I had the good fortune when I was in Brussels a couple months ago to happen across a Valrhona store. It was actually on my last night there, and it was cold and raining and I was holding a cup of Godiva thick hot chocolate and bags, just waiting to get back to the hotel. And I peered out through the hood of my coat, through the rain and saw it. I’d never had the opportunity to find this elusive Trinidadian fine-flavoured cocoa from these fancy European dealers – we don’t actually get them back in T&T. And there it was in the window – a bar of Gran Couva 2010. Yay!

I went in and immediately sought out the single estate bars and asked for 5 bars (I figured the family members might want some too). She poked around, went into the window and emerged with 2. That’s all they had. She was unfortunately so busy trying to figure out if I was Arab, Indian or Pakistani, that she kept ignoring my telling her that I was from the Gran Couva place. So no, I didn’t want Venezuelan chocolate, not this time. As I was cashing though,my eyes alit on a “Caraïbe” bar, of which there were lots more, and I packed up quite a few of those. The Caraïbe bar, is still trinitario cocoa beans (T&T developed these particular fine-flavoured, pest resistant beans some time ago) but made from cocoa sourced from different islands of the Caribbean (including Trinidad), so I am assuming at least from Grenada and Tobago. I like the words on the Caraïbe (which Valrhona calls “Balanced and Velvety”) -

“Dans les îles et sur la côte de la mer des caraïbes, les hommes ont cultivé depuis des générations les cacaoyers Trinitario sur de riches sols de limon argileux surnommés “terre à chocolat”. L’assemblage de ces cacaos donne à Caraïbe un nez exceptionnel prolongé, à la dégustation, de doux arômes de fruits secs.”

“For generations, cacao trees have been grown in the shade of banana trees in the Caribbean, on rich clay loam soils often referred to as “chocolate lands”. A unique blend of Trinitario beans gives Caraïbe its exceptionally long nose and sweet aromas of dried fruits.”

The grand words for the Gran Couva bar?

“Nous sommes dans les caraïbes entre Venezuela et Grenade. Le soleil de Trinidad se lève sur Gran Couva. Les hommes de la plantation ouvrent à la machette les cabosses et en extraient les précieuses fèves de cacao. Le premier “chocolat de Domaine” est né.

The Trinidad sun rises over Gran Couva. Harvesters from the plantation open cocoa pods with a machete and remove the precious cocoa beans. The first “Chocolate de Domaine” has just arrived.”

Ah, chocolate It was lovely!

Of course, Gran Couva is not just a site for cocoa. Although you should try to visit a cocoa estate (it’s still on my list, so let’s say it’s something we ALL have to do for 2011!). The Central Range is a beautiful place to drive through. It’s not all rolling hills of (abandoned) sugar cane fields down here – although I find those just as beautiful. As you venture away from the coast, the hills grow higher and the cocoa trees start appearing along the sides of the road. In addition to some teak (much of the centre of the island were teak plantations – tall broad-leafed trees which provide excellent shade and strong furniture). If you’re used to the rugged lushness of the Northern Range, driving into Gran Couva and beyond will be a little different in parts, but it’s well worth a drive.

And if you want a day out in the Central Range, you could consider stopping into La Vega Estate, which is a big nursery and recreation park, with man-made ponds/lakes and gardens for picnics and whatnot. All in sight of some of that lovely Central Range scenery.

I have no affiliation with La Vega, mind you. It was just part of the recent whirlwind tour I took my friends on last month. It was a beautiful sunny day, to enjoy the scenery, the butterfly garden (small and we passed it twice before realising…), the bamboo grove, rivers and meditation garden. And it’s open 7 days a week.

More photos from La Vega in Gran Couva (and in my Flickr set)-

There is another Swamp in Trinidad, which is the Nariva Swamp on the East Coast of the island. That’s the place where it’s rumoured to still be home to manatees. Visitors to the Caroni Swamp sit on slow-moving boats with (hopefully) informative tour guides, through the mangrove-lined waterways, keeping an eye out for caimans, mudskippers, herons be they blue or white, boas, large iguanas, mangrove crabs and oysters and of course the star of the show, the Scarlet Ibis. The Scarlet Ibis is one of the national birds of T&T (more or less representing Trinidad, while the Cocrico represents Tobago). The Scarlet Ibis, the Cocrico and the Humming Bird are all represented on our Coat of Arms.

From Wikipedia -

The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is a species of ibis that inhabits tropical South America and also Trinidad and Tobago…Adults are 56–61 cm long and weigh 650g. They are completely scarlet, except for the black wing tips. They nest in trees, laying two to four eggs. Their diet is frogs, reptiles and crustaceans. A juvenile Scarlet Ibis is grey and white; as it grows the ingestion of red crabs in the tropical swamps gradually produces the characteristic scarlet plumage. The life span of Scarlet Ibis is approximately 15 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity.

The Scarlet Ibises nest in the Caroni Swamp, and late evening is the best time to see them returning to roost, filling the mangrove clump of choice with red splashes of colour, rather like a humungous hibiscus bush. The White Ibises also roost there, in the same mangroves but they’re not the main draw.

There are several private tour companies that can give you a boat tour of the Caroni Swamp – Nanan’s is usually recognised as the oldest, but there are others which you can find listed on the official T&T Tourism Site. I can only speak about Nanan’s. They have a website and email address, although I found that they only answered my emails after I called them…Cost per adult is US $10 or  TT $60. Children 12 and under are half price.  Residents get a special discounted rate of TT $50. They seemed really friendly and they have many boats so they can almost always fit you in even last minute, and even if you turn up late (they use a smaller boat to ferry you up to the rest of the tour). However, their boat-drivers aren’t necessarily the best tour guides. Our guide had been trained, but it seemed clear he was reciting from a script. He had to be prompted to provide any other information, and in fact our first 20 minutes of the tour we didn’t hear from him at all, even when we stopped to see the caiman, the mudskippers or heron. It was odd.

Fortunately I was with friends – the visitors from the US as well as a couple good friends I’ve known since I was 10 or 11 (not saying how long ago that was). Good company can trump strange service any time Especially when we’re willing to provide our own commentary and information.

That being said, I love being on boats – it’s calming. And the gentle ride of a boat tour through a Swamp is particularly so. Throw in the fact that you get to see wildlife, get great views and a lovely sunset…what more could you want?

Visit the Caroni Swamp virtually, through my Flickr set -

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* This is the highway that runs from Port of Spain in the West to the East of Trinidad.

** No comments from Guyanese required…

Sweet Hands is by Ramin Ganeshram, a trained chef, journalist and teacher. Her claim to Trini cooking is from her Trini father, visits to his homeland and growing up with the food and the stories. The book has much of the expected traditional Trini recipes – Indian delicacies like phoulourie, doubles, aloo pies; the classics like pelau, pastelles, shark and bake, various curried meats; drinks such as sorrel and cocoa tea; chutneys and other condiments; and of course desserts that are derived from all our cultures, barfi, sweet bread, sugar cake etc. You can look for Ramin on twitter, or on her Sweet Hands blog. And I so want to make her Cocoa Tea Cakes posted in this NPR story here.

Since we were on the topic last week, Sweet Hands, in introducing the reader to Trinidad and Tobago, also provides information on the history of T&T and traveling to the islands. She lists some essentials for visiting Trinidad, even suggesting an Indo-Trinidad tour day among others. So what made her list?

• The Hanuman Temple, the Indo-Caribbean Museum in Waterloo, Temple in the Sea
• La Brea Pitch Lake
• The Beaches
• Asa Wright, Caroni Swamp, the Wildfowl Trust
• Turtle watching (leatherback turtles during nesting)
• Grafton Nature Sanctuary and the Tobao Rainforest Reserve

But now, onto the recipe for beef stew with dumplings. This appears to be a Trini dish – it also appears in the Naparima book (see Trinigourmet’s recipe and post) – but not one I’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong, at the core this is an authentically Trini stew beef recipe, completed with the browning of the sugar, (green) seasoning of the meat, soy sauce etc. I’ve just never eated stew beef with dumplings. I’ve seen recipes online for Irish, or English Beef Stews with dumplings, and certainly these Trini recipes also include the beer element (which I obviously have to substitute). But, never let it be said that I have not had a Trini dish (one that can be made halaal of course).

I have some very very nice Qurbani beef (from the Eid ul Adha sacrifice) and was waiting to use it. I modified the recipe somewhat – of course, I needed to replace the beer…and not with ALE as suggested on some sites – so I looked around my kitchen, saw something also “brewed” on the stove, and threw in my Dominican Republic coffee. Yes, COFFEE. I have no idea what beer or ale is supposed to take like and I didn’t want to use up my rare productive-awake-Saturday time googling. While it smelled very much like coffee when I first poured it in, and I was worried, the dark coffee flavour blends very nicely with the stew adding to the rich, dark flavour. I also haven’t used oil for stews in a long time. The sugar browns just fine in a hot pot just like that, and beef especially will have enough fat on its own. This also gives me the freedom to add a bit of salt butter in a stew if I feel like it

Oh, and I only had chicken stock (but homemade) not beef stock. And I used my pressure cooker to cut down the simmering time. Of course my pressure cooker is a tad wide/big for my portions, which means that I had liquid-depth issues when it came time to drop in the dumplings, but I managed. There’s enough flavour in this recipe to add some more water at that point. Just don’t oversalt the dumplings since they pick up the seasoning from the stew.

Stew Beef with Dumplings (as modified by me noted in red)

Beef

• 1.5 lbs stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons green seasoning
• 2 tablespoons Canola oil (I didn’t use this)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I use brown for almost everything)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup brewed coffee (instead of the beer)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt (I used sea salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 cups beef stock or water (I used chicken stock)

Dumplings

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• pinch of coarse or kosher salt

1. Mix beef with green seasoning and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can do this overnight.

2. Heat pressure cooker, and add the sugar. Let the sugar caramelise until dark brown. Add seasoned beef and stir well to coat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes more.

3. Stir in the coffee, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, salt and hot pepper sauce. Add the stock, making sure it covers the beef, adding additional stock or water if necessary. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook until the meat is tender, about 1 hour, adding the dumplings as instructed in step 5. OR Close pressure cooker, add weight and cook as usual until tender, then add dumplings.

4. While the stew is simmering, make the dumplings. Mix together the flour, cornmeal and salt. Add 6 tablespoons of water and knead to form a stiff dough, adding more water if necessary. Knead until smooth and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

5. Pinch off 1-inch pieces of dough and roll between the palm of your hands to form ovals. Pinch both ends, then flatten the oval between palms or against a cutting board. The dumplings should resemble small flat footballs. Drop them into the beef stew in the last 15 minutes of cooking. (You may need to add more liquid to get a good depth of liquid to cook the dumplings…just let the extra liquid come up to a boil then lower heat) Adjust the seasonings of the stew to taste.

Serve hot.

So, in case you are a new reader to this blog, I am a Trini – I come from Trinidad and Tobago, and specifically, born and raised on the island of Trinidad. Trinidad is the most southern island of the Caribbean, right off the coast of South America. Being that close to the continent we were once part of, means we are blessed with rainforests and moutains, flora and fauna not always found on our fellow Caribbean islands further away. In addition to being the land of the hummingbird, with the Scarlet Ibis being one of our national birds, we also have a species of deer and an ocelot. They’re a bit smaller on the island than their relatives on the mainland, but that’s normal since we’re a smaller landmass. The human Trinis haven’t made it any easier for the forest-dwellers by dissecting their historical connections between the Northern, Central and Southern Ranges and making their habitats that much smaller. And don’t get me started on the forest fires…Papa Bois must be constantly vex…

I live in Guyana, more or less consistently for the past 5 years. There are things to explore here – Georgetown, Kaieteur Falls, the massive rivers like the Essequibo and the islands in the rivers. And their wildlife is certainly impressive (even if I’ve only seen certain species in the zoo as I am not a jungle explorer). But home is home, and the beauty of the place where I still consider my permanent residence is always at the forefront. So I was extremely excited to host a couple friends from foreign last month, when they visited Trinidad as part of their honeymoon (they stopped in Grenada first). I’d met Jess while I was studying in Edinburgh years ago, and we’ve seen each other since then in California, where she now lives, Toronto and back in Edinburgh for our first reuinion. She was the first of my friends I made in Scotland to visit T&T and I’d been planning for about a year to figure out essential things to see over a few days. I’d exposed her to Trini food back when we shared a kitchen, and her new husband got his taste in Brampton, Ontario when we were attending a wedding and I found a Trini roti shop that did good work. So scenery and food. Must-haves on this tour of Trinidad. I had must-sees and must-haves for Tobago too, but they didn’t make it there this trip.

So, if you had 6 days to show people Trinidad, what would you choose? My list  ended up being -

• Caroni Swamp/Bird Sanctuary
• La Vega Estate
• Asa Wright Nature Centre
• Mount St Benedict
• Temple by the Sea (can’t believe I forgot – we made it for sunset too)
• Maracas and Las Cuevas (beaches on the North Coast)
• Port of Spain – downtown, the waterfront, the Savannah
• Chaguanas or any other market town

I had more on the list that couldn’t be done, like -

• San Fernando Hill
• Toco
• Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust
• Down de Islands
• Chaguaramas
• Mayaro/Manzanilla stretch (on the South East coast)
• Leatherback turtles (during nesting season)

And there were specific food tours or foods that had to be eaten -

• Doubles
• Bake and Shark in Maracas
• Debe for Indian delicacies
• Roti (including a roti-making lesson from Mom)
• Sunday Lunch food (stew beef, callaloo, green fig pie, red beans)
• Pastelles
• Dining on the Avenue (Ariapita)

It was an intense 6 days of driving around, mostly through green and beautiful Trinidad but I think my guests enjoyed it And that was in spite of the dire warnings they got in Grenada about Trinidad…(tsk tsk, and Grenada is my favourite non-home Caribbean country too…) My friends even made it from Long Circular Mall to West Mall by MAXI-TAXI on their own (i.e. without me) and then back to their hotel, in the NIGHT…and found people were willing to give them information and direct them all along the route. And all for US$1.  They even found a panyard. We’re not all thugs and predators in T&T.

So what would make your list of must-see or must-do (or indeed must-eat) in Trinidad?

Mom's black cake texture

A few months ago I got a request for a Halaal Trini Black Cake recipe. Those of you familiar with the permutations of the traditional Caribbean Christmas black cake (whether you call it black cake or great cake) will know that this cake is generally viewed as inextricable from its alcohol content. In fact, a visitor to this photo on Flickr felt compelled to tell me “the call it rum cake because theres some rum in it“. Grammar and spelling notwithstanding, I understood the sentiment although I had never called Mom’s Black Cake “Rum Cake” for obvious reasons…but maybe some people will think it’s sacriligeous to make this cake any other way than reeking of rum or other spirits That’s ok – I just won’t eat it that way. And this cake that Mom makes, which she agreed to share the secrets, is so rich, and moist that it is appreciated by rum cake lovers and Muslims alike.

The traditional way of making Black Cake involves mincing and soaking the fruits from up to a year before baking. Soaking in alchohol. People pride themselves on getting the fruits together earlier than their neighbours so they get the right flavours and textures. No alcohol ergo no need for soaking. We’re not fermenting anything here. The cake is supposed to be moist, dense and dark. The fruits get the moistness into the cake and Mom’s secret, from her mother, is the addition of condensed milk, which maintains helps maintain the right texture. There are NO leavening agents used in the cake – the eggs will do the necessary – and bake on low heat. With plenty browning, the cake is supposed to be black, remember.

The other notable difference between a regular Black Cake and the halaal version is the timing of its baking. We (my family) don’t celebrate Christmas, so we don’t make the cake for Christmas. (That’s not to say that there aren’t Muslims who might make it around Christmas time, just not us). Mom will make it for special occasions indeed (it is a rich cake) such as Eid, or to send with me to Guyana so I have a taste of home. In fact, we still have some cake that she baked for Eid ul Fitr a month ago, that stayed, just like the alcoholic version, in the cupboard, getting moister and lovelier by the day.

Without further ado, onto the recipe.

Halaal Trini Black Cake Recipe

Ingredients

8 ounces margarine/butter
2 ounces shortening
8 ounces brown sugar
14 ounces flour
6 eggs
14 ounces condensed milk (1 395 gm tin)
1.5 cup browning
Minced fruits – 8 ounces  each of prunes, raisins,  dates and black currants; , 4 ounces mixed peel, 2 oz cherries
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease cake tins with shortening and line with parchment or waxed paper – line bottom and sides. Mom likes to use the old Danish Butter Cookie tins, since they have covers for storage after baking.

2. Mince fruits in blender or food processor until as fine as you like it (I like it almost to a paste – I don’t like discernible bits of fruit).

1. Cream butter, shortening and sugar till fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time, beat well between additions.

3. Add fruits, mix well.

4. Add browning, condensed milk and cinnamon, mix well.

5. Add flour, about 2 ounces at a time, mix between each addition.

At this point, Mom will put a tablespoon of the cake batter on a saucer into the microwave to cook. Taste this to test for sweetness and of course look at the colour. Determine if you need more condensed milk or browning, or if you are in a really humid place (more than here? whew) more flour. If you think it has too much flour, addition of a little condensed milk or more browning can help balance it out.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

7. Bake in the oven for about an hour – until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Notes on Soaking the Cake

Traditionally, the Black Cake is soaked in alcohol after baking and “topped” up ever so often, which keeps it edible and moist long after the normal shelf life of cake. Mom used to soak her cake in grape juice or apple juice to mimic this process and texture. However, this won’t keep the cake. You’ll have to store it in the fridge.

However, this cake is naturally moist and it tastes better and moister after a few days. In fact, without soaking it stays moist and keeps out of the fridge for weeks. Mom currently has the cake from Eid (whatever’s left) in a container and it hasn’t been refrigerated yet. For safety, you could choose to refrigerate and then just bring to room temperature before eating (if you microwave it before eating it gets a little soft and the sweetness can be a bit over the top – but maybe you like that).

“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.