“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.

I am home* for a couple weeks – vacation, then to vote.** So, taking advantage of being at home with Mom (who did the beef and beans), I present to you our Sunday Lunch today! Cornmeal Coucou, stew beef and red beans! Sunday lunch is a big thing in the Caribbean. It’s the time to break out the sometimes labour-intensive dishes, to make a special meal that is not easy to prepare during the work week. Lunch is sometimes later than usual, because of the work involved and also because having a big Sunday lunch is part of the enjoyment of the whole day. The heavy meals with macaroni pie, or coucou, leading to post-meal-paralysis are also ok, since you’re supposed to be relaxing before you start the dreaded Monday. Well, that’s my take on it

Coucou and flying fish is the national dish of Barbados, but it is also a traditional national dish in Trinidad and Tobago, eaten with callaloo and/or stew beans. Cornmeal coucou is ubiquitous, but it can be made from breadfruit as well. It’s like a Caribbean polenta. Some people like it a bit soft where it is spooned out of a dish – others prefer it to be set and firm enough to slice, although it should never be dry and chewy – that’s not coucou…maybe that’s cornbread. 15 years ago when I was studying in Barbados, I was surprised at the number of Bajans who tried to “introduce” us Trinis to coucou…I mean, I knew their national dish, how could they not know we have coucou and callaloo? I think things have changed over the years – we are more aware of our Caribbean neighbours food and culture – at least this is my hope!

Growing up, I was never sure I liked coucou. I knew I didn’t like ochroes, not just because of the slime, but the skin itself had a texture that I was uncomfortable with, even though in most preparations (callaloo) it melted away on the tongue. I was a picky vegetable-eater…But then somewhere in my teens, through food courts in those little malls on Frederick Street, in having to get vegetarian foods, I grew to love this thing called coucou. After all it is better than rice in soaking up stew gravy!

Coucou is traditionally a bit labour-intensive, because it involves an hour or more of stirring at the pot, while the cornmeal gets heavier and heavier and harder on your arms. So I hear, anyway. I never made it that way…my first attempt at coucou making was a couple months ago when Cynthia (of Tastes Like Home) posted a microwave coucou recipe. That was the quickest I have gone from reading a blog to cooking. I made the coucou that weekend, even though I had no ochro…I substituted baigan (eggplant) since that’s what was in the fridge, and I figured…hmm…eggplant also gets kind slimy when cooked… I was already craving stew chicken and red beans, and this would have been a perfect accompaniment. The proportions and recipe were really easy to remember too – 1 cup cornmeal to 3 cups water, salt, ochroes…stir, microwave, stir, microwave…eh, voilà!

There were some problems though…which I thought I should share if you want to try microwave coucou, so as to avoid my pitfalls!

• eggplant is not bad in coucou, but the skin can be bitter and inedible – if forced to use this, PEEL it
• after stirring, let the mixture sit for a while to let the cornmeal completely absorb the liquid – this way you won’t get hard cornmeal bits at the bottom of your bowl cooking well before their time – I don’t know what I was thinking, putting in a bowl of essentially water with cornmeal floating around…
• if the liquid is fully incorporated, you may not even need the stirring process in the middle of cooking!

Using Cynthia’s recipe was great – and I enjoyed a few meals with my coucou. However, I think there are differences between Bajan coucou and the Trini version. I remembered more colour in the Trini coucou I was used to eating – colour representing peppers and seasonings. It seems Bajan coucou, or the versions I have eaten and seen online, stick to cornmeal and ochro. I checked with Mom, and reinforced by Wizzy of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Punch, I realised that Trini coucou does indeed have more things, including coconut milk. Any Barbadians reading this can confirm whether this is true, or if I have just experienced a basic coucou.

So, here’s my version of the microwave coucou recipe (hope Cynthia doesn’t mind)

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup sliced ochroes (nice thin young ones)
• 3 pimento/seasoning peppers, chopped (these are not hot peppers)
• diced hot pepper (optional, to taste)
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon (or more) chopped shadow benny
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic (we like garlic)
• salt to taste

Prepare all ingredients
Mix all ingredients except water and coconut milk, together.
Add liquids (warm water will make the cornmeal absorb faster and come together very nicely.
Stir well so there are no large lumps of cornmeal.
Pour or spoon out into a greased microwaveable dish and smooth the top.
Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Check the coucou – it should not need stirring.
Microwave again on high for another 2 minutes.

The coucou will still appear jiggly and soft at this stage, and Mom ate it like this, but it will continue to firm up and by the time I ate, it was sliceable.

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* home is always Trinidad.
** T&T elections are on 24 May 2010

Café au Lait by Liane Spicer

As with most things not related to my work, I am very late on posting about Café Au Lait by Liane Spicer, an author and blogger from T&T who is also a reader of this blog. Aka_lol reviewed the novel  a year and a half ago for example. Liane, I apologise…

But I can rectify this now. Easily.

Café Au Lait is a romance novel set in Trinidad and Tobago, with real Trini characters and best of all, T&T scenery. Apart from the well-written drama of a romance, the book takes you on a virtual tour of both islands – with its characters smack in the middle of Carnival (albeit at an acknowledged unusual time of year), going to see the scarlet ibis at sunset in the Caroni Swamp (an absolute MUST for any visitor to Trinidad) and liming on the beach in Tobago.

Two things in particular struck me about the novel.

Flash flooding in Port of Spain is a vital plot device, spurring a key development in the romance between Shari and Michael Floods in town! Imagine that. In a book. Anyone who ever work in Port of Spain, or went shopping or running errands in town, at some point must have encountered sudden floods that stalled your car, prevented you from leaving the store you popped into on Henry Street for 5 minutes, or caused mass chaos at City Gate (public transportation hub). So, I was highly entertained by the characters having to drive up and down and through all kinda back road to avoid flood. Made it so real.

I also loved that, although the dialogue is written in “standard English” the rhythm of the speech still flowed naturally with a Trini accent. (I read parts of the dialogue aloud to ensure this – I don’t read many romance novels with Trinidadian characters so I wanted to make sure.) I thought that was brilliant, and evidence that Liane can really capture the way real people speak. It’s a bugbear of mine, with any kind of literature, when the characters don’t speak like real people.

So, whether you’re “into” romance novels or not, if you want to read some Trinbagonian fiction, well written and with beautiful scenery, don’t delay like me – go get your hands on a copy of Café Au Lait. You may also enjoy visiting Liane’s blog, where her most recent post illustrates her love for and the beauty of our homeland, in an homage to El Tucuche.

Georgia Popplewell of Caribbean Free Radio posted today (with the absolutely perfect title “photos don’t take themselves“) about two Trinidad and Tobago publications using one of her photos, without permission and of course without credit (Newsday even placed their watermark on the photo!). TriniGourmet, with her usual alacrity, updated her Dem Tiefin’ We?!? post (another stellar title! you’ll have to settle for my pedestrian one). This happens at an opportune time for me to write some more on this…since it was just a couple weeks ago that I finally sent the Express formal pre-action letters via my lawyer.

My first post about this was outrage when I discovered the Stabroek News in Guyana had used my photo of Guyana cocoa to illustrate a story. Further outrage when I realised that the story and photo was from an official press release from the Guyana Government News Agency (GINA). This led to further discoveries of photos on the official Guyana tourism page, where my Trini pelau was featured for Guyanese cookup. Argh. Fortunately, I have a lawyer in the family (apart from myself) in Guyana and we wrote to all 3 violators. Stabroek News was the only one who responded, apologising and offering to publish appropriate credit, noting that they were officially provided with the release and photo by GINA. The Government agencies promptly pulled the photos from the relevant sites, but never responded, either to the letter nor the phone calls.

Then, back in October 2008, the Trinidad Express used a photo of Lilandra’s roti and curry for the front of the Lifestyle Magazine (no permission, no credit), for EID no less…and then less than 2 weeks later there was one of my pelau photos (again, no permission, no credit). We emailed promptly and got what are essentially holding responses from the Editor, admitting nothing and stating that the matter was referred to their lawyers. And then silence. We were going to make Hajj a month later and so I compiled the information, correspondence and proof and sent it to my lawyer for action. Due to some technical problems, the letters were not sent and I will admit that when I returned from the Hajj, pursuing action was not foremost on my mind. I did, however, start watermarking my photos. A watermark had not occurred to me back then in late 2005 when I first started posting photos to Flickr. First of all, I like an anonymous presence online and secondly, who on earth would want my photos?

The issue returned to prominence when the Trinidad Express (AGAIN!) used my photo of doubles in September 2009, without permission or credit. This time the response was truly classic, revealing the Express’ lack of understanding of copyright and the internet -

“I have investigated your claim and I’m forwarding the response from the reporter for your information. While we understand and respect your copyright claim, in this instance, the reporter did not source the photo from your website although I checked both websites and the photos are the same.

Meanwhile, I am forwarding your letter of complaint to our attorneys for their comment and guidance.”

With the usual referral to their lawyers…

What the response did NOT include was whether they had requested permission from this other site. I contacted the other blogger about my copyright, who promptly apologised and with my permission to use the photo credited me. Now, these particular doubles photos proliferate the internet, particularly Facebook and it’s flattering that people seem to think they’re good to use. However, a media house cannot simply poach images from the internet because they are there. Clearly they never bothered to ask that other blogger for use of the photo. And the fact that the Editor believes this is a reasonable response to my copyright claim is beyond shocking.

It goes without saying that when I explained the legal nature of copyright and permission, my email went unanswered. And so I revived the issue of taking legal action. Or threatening same to get a response.

The delay should not suggest that I don’t pursue the protection of my rights. I post my photos to Flickr, even where I haven’t written a post, because I want to share the views captured in my photos. I had been enthused with the idea of a digital camera partly from my own discovery of Flickr and the great resource it is just to see the world and experiences. Even better to learn about photography! I had considered the options and originally posted my photos with a Creative Commons license to permit use for non-commercial purposes, provided I was credited, and no derivative works were made without my permission. I changed that, to All Rights Reserved, not because I was averse to sharing, but because I wanted to know where and how people were using my photos and at the time, preferred that I be asked. There are others who may not need or want this request and that is fine. The point is, the photos belong to me and unless I release it into the wild for legal capture and free use, I am entitled to retain control over it. That’s the nature of property. It’s a personal choice and maybe it’s linked to some idiosyncrasies of mine about ownership and control, but right now, when photography and blogging are very much personal commercial-free endeavours for me, this is the path I have taken.

What annoys me about the theft of the photos by big media houses in Trinidad and Tobago and the region, apart from revelations of ignorance of the law governing their particular environment, is the disrespect for the online community and the role we play in recording and sharing our history and culture. Complete disrespect. The small Caribbean food blogging community for example has a dedication and generosity that has produced, in a relatively short period of time,* a wealth of information, stories, recipes and photos that rival the archives of local newspapers with its focus on local foods and traditional recipes. And do you know why we do this? Well, for me, it’s the same reason I started collecting recipes from Mom. I wanted to record the foods which are part of my life and history. Food and recipes which may not be easily found online for those Trinis abroad (like I once was). I first started taking photos of food when Lilandra and I were back home after studying abroad and our first Eid back, our older sister and brother were not in the country. We wanted them to share in the usual preparations even though they were not there (no Mom, not just to torture your eldest and youngest children, they appreciated it). This blog is like that, but on a public scale.

The attitude of the more traditional media seems to be that we are nobodies even though they want our product. Prime example – during my first year of blogging and posting photos, an advertising agency in Trinidad contacted me wanting to use my photos for free, since “it is very difficult to get good images of indo-trini food unless we hire a photographer.” I was upset on behalf of the pro-photographers in T&T who actually know what they are doing, but at least they asked. So I am not that mad at them…. But…that’s the POINT. There are certain foods you cannot easily find photos of – I couldn’t illustrate my Bread Van post last month because there are no photos of biscuit cake, jam tart, currants roll etc freely available – not even any I could link to. I had to go out and buy  these items (ok, Dad bought them), take my camera (which cost a bit) and my lens (also expensive for me) and actually take the photos myself. I am fine if people want to use these on their own blogs and other non-commercial sites, but just ask.** And if you are making money from the use of these photos – why should you get them free? They were not free for me – I have invested time, money, effort, lost brain cells to try to take better photos, learn about processing them and then share them here – I also pay annual fees for this site and Flickr. I have thought about what it would take to fill this gap of food photos on a professional level, commercially, but I am not a pro, have no real equipment or training and I already have a demanding job. This is not to say that I have not granted permission for possible commercial use of some photos, with/out payment but with credit. This is my choice and not to belabour the point, but my right.

I salute those publications who make the effort to showcase food and culture (hail out to the current Caribbean Beat food issue!), and create or pay for original content, including photos. From my brief interactions with the Trinidad Express, it seems clear that the food related content is hurriedly put-together with limited planning and thought, and as galling as it is to my ego, with no realisation that there is a world of people online who do a better job. At least we look out for each other!

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* TriniGourmet and I first started in 2006 – I am not sure who preceded us.

** One reason it’s good to require permission – people using my photo of say, Trini pelau to illustrate a Guyanese cook-up recipe. Or I am looking right now at a bara recipe on Facebook with my Doubles Bara photo (which was made from a specific recipe that is very different). These things annoy me.

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The featured item in the last post, the Biscuit Cake is up there at the top. And to your right, you can see the insides of this cake/biscuit/cookie. I did not get a chance to make it (from this recipe posted at Celnet.org.uk) over the past weekend, but I did enjoy this one from a neighbourhood bakery. “Biscuit cake is so named, possibly because it is shaped like a big biscuit (American terminology=cookie). While it may appear firm and hard on the outside, it should have a softness to the bite with a milky mild sweetness, and appears almost unleavened? Of course those dryness-czars have attacked this delicacy as well and many bakeries had versions that were dry and tough and unappealing unless dunked in tea.”

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Jam Tarts

“flaky layered pastry, twisted into a big triangle, with bright red jam of unknown (to me) origins, warm so that the jam oozed out when you bit into it, with the top of the pastry glistening with its light layer of crystallized sugar. The pastry would be so good, you’d eat the dry ends even if they didn’t have a speck of jam!”

Sadly, this is NOT a traditional jam tart, which uses FLAKY pastry. I gather that more and more places are making them like shown in the photo, with PUFF pastry. Sigh. Same jam filling I remember, but why mess with the pastry??

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Currants Roll

“this is a Trini classic – similar flaky pastry as the jam tart, but rolled out and sprinkled with currants and sugar and rolled up, baked and sliced diagonally creating that recognisable shape with layers of pastry and currants rolled around inside.”

This is not the greatest currants roll example. I will replace it with another when I get to another bakery! Too few currants and not quite enough layers. But still, decent pastry.

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(Coconut) Rock Bun

“This is like a drop bun, with coconut flavour, and the “rock” really refers to the rough hard exterior – the inside should still be soft. It’s scone like, not rolled out smooth, but dropped onto the baking sheet, so it looks like a rock I suppose. I used to eat all around the outsides before the middle – the hard outsides were my favourite part.”

Cynthia posted a recipe this past Saturday, for Fruit Rock Bun, which you can try out as a variant of the rock bun. The recipe linked to before is Trinigourmet’s.

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Coconut Turnovers

These were not in my post, but aka_lol mentioned them, reminding me that they are “the bread and butter” of bakeries (his pun).

These are lovely yeasty soft, slightly sweet and spiced bun dough rolled around a sweet and spiced coconut filling. The Guyanese have their solara, we (and the Bajans) have these turnovers. And as for buns and hot cross buns, check out Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Punch and Tastes Like Home.

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Cassava Pone

This wasn’t in my original post. I think largely because as a child I did not like pone. The squishy texture, spicing etc, were not appealing to me. Now, however, I love it. When it’s done right of course. Moist and sweet, with spices and a slight crunch of coconut. That’s the way I like it. I don’t mind if it is cassava pone, or pumpkin, or sweet potato or a mixture. Just get the right balance of sweet and spice with the perfect moist-with-a-bite texture and I can enjoy.

Recipes on Trinigourmet and Simply Trini Cooking.

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The photos I took this weekend of the bakery haul are all in one set on my Flickr.

But this bun was different. It was yellowish yes, but smaller and didn’t have the characteristic smooth roundness of a yeast-leavened dough. I had no expectations of it other than I was a little peckish and wanted something to go with my cup of tea. And with my first bite, I was transported. It tasted like biscuit cake! Biscuit cake in GUYANA! It looked nothing like the round, pale inch-thick disks, big as your hand and lightly covered with white specks of granulated sugar, which I know to be biscuit cake. But the flavour was there. I couldn’t believe my sister had never told me I could get this in Guyana.

Now, I love biscuit cake. It was always my requested item when we did a bakery stop during my childhood, and because it was usually the cheapest thing in the bakery, I could get 2, or biscuit cake plus half a currants roll. I have tried looking for a recipe online, but it doesn’t seem to be one of the things anyone has posted. If anyone has a recipe, let me know (and Mom, if it turns out you have a recipe I will forgive you if it’s in my inbox before you comment ). [I did a little googling and came across this recipe for Trini Milk Cake - is this it?]

Biscuit cake is so named, possibly because it is shaped like a big biscuit (American terminology=cookie). While it may appear firm and hard on the outside, it should have a softness to the bite with a milky mild sweetness, and appears almost unleavened? Of course those dryness-czars have attacked this delicacy as well and many bakeries had versions that were dry and tough and unappealing unless dunked in tea. I think my parents indulged the biscuit cake requests, not simply because of the price (30 years ago they might have been 50 cents and then later $1 – any idea how much it is now?) but also the fact that it wasn’t in fact sugar-laden. While most bakeries in Trinidad would have had this item, I cannot remember the last time I saw it. Of course it’s better to ask someone who lives in Trinidad…or in the case of Trinfood someone who lives in London but knows her stuff – she advised that Chee Mooke’s sells them and Bread Basket in St Ann’s has a good one. I remember my best was in a bakery we used to stop by on our way up to Santa Cruz – was it St Mary’s? – it had the best pastries.

Since I had that flashback I have been going further down memory lane, remembering all the associations with bakeries and buying pastries such as biscuit cake. [Photos in this later post]Of course, there were the times when during the week, on our way home from school we’d stop at the bakery to pick up hot hops (how many bakeries have flashing lights “Hot Hops Available Now”?) – one quart for home, half quart for the family of six to devour on the way home. And if we were due for a treat, Mom would bring back some pastries to the car for us.

But the best bakery times took place, not at the bakery, but with the bread vans. I’ve seen bread vans in Barbados – as students, we were introduced to Bajan specialties from a van that stopped at our student apartment. I cannot recall what they were called though. A bread van is a small minibus vehicle,** where instead of seats, the main cavity of the vehicle was stacked with shelves and trays carrying fresh bakery goodies. The vans belong or work for particular bakeries and they would drive through our village every afternoon selling their wares, getting customers who would otherwise not have transport to get into the town or main road to get to the bakery. Unlike ice cream vans, which play stretched out taped music through loudspeakers, or the fish vans which call out their goods on mikes (“Caaaaareeet! Fresh Caaaaaareeet! Fry Dry! CroCro! Red Fish Caaaaaareeeeeeet!”), bread vans generally announce themselves with quick tooting of the horn every few metres. What more do you need when you’re selling hot and fresh baked goods?

The best time to buy from the bread van was on the weekend. Everyone was home and hearing the horn from the round the corner was like a signal to put on the kettle. Pastries in the afternoon from the bread van meant we would stop whatever we were doing, and all sit down around the table and have tea! I wasn’t a fan of tea itself then, but the milk and sugar that went into it But the memory of those weekend afternoons, with the fat round brown teapot (sadly broken for some years now) filled to the brim with hot tea, and our choice of delicacies from the van laid out on the table, are part of the golden years.

As a scaredy-cat child it was torture, however, to be given the assignment to stop the bread van, although the promise of the purchases made that chore more successful than waiting for the vegetable or fish van! I lived in fear of embarrassment or doing the wrong thing and the thought that I might not wave the right way, and the van driver would sense my fear, know I was somehow an inadequate village child and sneer; rushing past me on the little village road, leaving me with my arm awkwardly waving at nothing, with all the neighbours seeing my failure (yeah, I know… had/have issues…). However, for the bread van I would brave it. I could even muster up the courage to make the purchases myself. After all I knew full well the contents of the bread van and could make an informed selection -

Jam tarts, flaky layered pastry, twisted into a big triangle, with bright red jam of unknown (to me) origins, warm so that the jam oozed out when you bit into it, with the top of the pastry glistening with its light layer of crystallized sugar. The pastry would be so good, you’d eat the dry ends even if they didn’t have a speck of jam! Jam tarts were a favourite of sister-the-elder and my father. I liked them well enough, but I didn’t usually request them.

Currants roll - this is a Trini classic – similar flaky pastry as the jam tart, but rolled out and sprinkled with currants and sugar and rolled up, baked and sliced diagonally creating that recognisable shape with layers of pastry and currants rolled around inside. I don’t have photos and I have never made it myself, but to get an idea, look at these photos from my Flickr friend Reya. Currants rolls are I think my father’s favourite. Wherever we go someone would say “get a currants roll for your father!”. Of course he wouldn’t turn down a good jam tart either. And since he doesn’t overindulge, he’d have half of each, leaving his half of a currants roll to be snatched up by his children at the first opportunity. Probably why he, the ever-thrifty, would buy a couple extra so we’d leave his alone.

I remember in the late 80s/90s when there were import restrictions and we couldn’t get currants in T&T. So people made currants roll with raisins, bad enough since they resemble raisins but have a tang and moistness that do not match the currants! Worse yet was when they used those bright coloured pieces of what used to be part of a fruit, which the TriniGourmet once aptly named the “rubiks cube bits” Currants roll should have currants. We even had a currants roll lady in the village (have I mentioned the Dahi Lady and the Channa Lady?) who would make currants roll for every event in the mosque and for Eid. Of course I knew her name, but I think she’d be pleased we remember her for the pastry only she made in the village.

Madeleines are not the cakes you’re probably thinking of. The madeleine found in Trini bakeries is a small light cupcake, completely covered in a red jamlike substance (see jam tart above) and then rolled in grated coconut. Absolutely lovely. Very sweet outside, light and fluffy inside and the little added texture of the coconut. I would look out for that and hated the vans that didn’t bring it and had bellyful cake instead (I do not understand the allure of this).

Rock Cake/Bun – This is like a drop bun, with coconut flavour, and the “rock” really refers to the rough hard exterior – the inside should still be soft. It’s scone like, not rolled out smooth, but dropped onto the baking sheet, so it looks like a rock I suppose. I used to eat all around the outsides before the middle – the hard outsides were my favourite part. And rock cake shouldn’t have things in it as far as I am concerned, but people will always find a way to add their raisins and bright coloured things…

Of course bread vans would also have sweetbread and regular cakes. Maybe some savoury stuff. I don’t really remember. Trinifood had posted about some of these traditional sweets a few years ago. Since I am not often in the homeland to stop a bread van or take a poll of the bakeries, I’d love to hear from you about these faves of mine. Recipes welcome. Recommendations as to good traditional bakeries appreciated!

And now that I am pausing my reminiscing and that you (hopefully) have read all the way down here without a single photo to break the prose, let’s go have some tea. And if you’re not in a hotel, look out for the bread van for me!

UPDATE (24 March 2010): added links to TriniGourmet’s recipes for the Trini yellow bun and Coconut Drop where mentioned above.

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*I know…this isn’t really an Ode. There’s no lyric poetry here…maybe some other time!

**The minibuses that ARE minibuses are called bread van maxis if they’re this small size. Maxi-taxi being the Trini (and Turkish) minibus

On a flight from Guyana to Trinidad last week, the passenger behind me seems to be in possession of exciting new technology.

Pilot: Good afternoon from the flight deck. We are just awaiting air traffic control clearance and should be taxiing off in about 5 minutes, so we are on schedule to arrive on time in Piarco. Flying time is estimated to be 55 minutes this afternoon.

Purser: usual spiel about closing doors, turn off all electronic devices, turn off cellphones etc

Passenger: on the phone Yeah, ah have to turn off the phone now, so call me back in about 20 minutes. Yeah, yeah, I going change the chip, but call me back in 15 minutes, I have to turn off the phone now for takeoff.

I would have thought that in 20 minutes we would have been high above the earth, over waters. He must get excellent reception with that other chip.

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Please remember that the people of Haiti are still in need of assistance. My previous post gives some information that may be helpful.

Now, I don’t celebrate Divali, but it is a tradition to receive the goodies Unfortunately, in my small compound in Guyana with mostly itinerant ex-pats I don’t think anyone will be ringing my doorbell to drop off treats tomorrow night. Mind you, I did ring a couple door bells for Eid, and one of the Trinis was oh so happy since she grew up in a village like me where even though she wasn’t Hindu or Muslim she was used to these little deliveries. So…no opportunity to sample the different styles of saheena and sweets tomorrow. Ah well. At least I know that my blog is serving the needs of those last-minute “Indian delicacy” makers, especially the ones outside who look forward to the reminisces at these times.

So, what are people searching for? Ah, well, Kurma tops the list. Barfi is very close behind, and as I left work this evening they were actually dead even, but Kurma is back on top. After all there are 2 types to look for I guess, fat and thin. Gulab Jamoon was 3rd, but only half the number of hits as Kurma. So readers, you know what you going to get this Divali!

This might be a good time to point out that I am trying to organise my Recipe page. I have actually collected 24 recipes! Didn’t really want to separate the categories into different pages, but who knows. It’s a work in progress.

Of course, as with any food, people have their preferences, and the Rules result in sawine made the way Mom (and her family) enjoy it. Following your own rules gives you sawine the way you want it. Just don’t hold me responsible for the consequences. Now, no angry emails or comments, please. You know this is not really meant to consign all other sawine recipes to the bin or somehow malign your Naanee or Chachee or whoever taught you how to make your sawine. It’s just that any dish steeped in tradition comes with rules held over your head by a matriarch (or patriarch) as she (or he) forces you to adhere to the rigorous standards and elaborate methods to achieve the same results that generations before you enjoyed. To do anything less would be unthinkable. Part of that tradition is muttering about how the people down the road does use ghee instead of butter or them next door leave it on de stove too long or how your Aunt (by marriage of course) too own-way and look, you eh see how nobody eat she food last year?

The rules are also especially important when it’s a dish like sawine, where your version is going to have to compete with a dozen others on the same day, many many more during an Eid “season”. Sawine is traditionally made in huge quantities on Eid day so that you can share to everyone in the village or in the office and every single visitor – if it is one thing you have at a Muslim household on Eid day, even if you made some yourself at home, or if you have 20 other houses to visit later, you MUST try their sawine. It is very much a Trini tradition. Growing up the Eid schedule was: Mom wakes up earlier than anyone else and starts the sawine; then we go to masjid for salaah (prayer); come back change nto cooler clothes; pack up sawine in jugs and containers; join the other neighbourhood children to start delivering the sawine to each non-Muslim household while it’s still relatively cool in the morning. Special households would get some other sweets, but everyone would at least get sawine. And so, all our neighbours would get sawine from quite a few houses. And you want to know that yours can compete! The same way we wait for just the right parsad on Divali night, or sweet rice from the neighbour up the road. You don’t want to hear how anybody throw out your sawine or leave it for the least favoured family member to eat! (And in a village, somehow you hear these things…). Heck, for years, I’d always go across the road for their sweet bread (sorry Mom, but the recipe you gave me now is just the way I like it, so it won’t happen again).

Making sawine, with all that pressure, always seemed like a big, involved process. It is surprisingly a lot easier than you would think, especially if you are making for 10 people, instead of 200. No need to pull out the big gas ring stove, and huge masjid iron pots to patch (parch) humungous amounts of vermicelli days in advance etc. It is relatively straightforward and can be done fairly quickly in your own kitchen on a regular, or even small stove-top.

First, the RULES:

1. Never patch with butter (oil, ghee or any other fat) - this will make the sawine greasy and gloopy and it will spoil quicker.

2. Boil the sawine separately from the milk – or else the sawine will be gloopier and and it will spoil quicker.

3. Don’t boil the sawine or milk with raisins or cherries or any fruit – only with nuts – add those other things after it’s cooked, or else the milk will split or sour faster

4. Only mix milk into sawine in batches as required. – or else…well you get the idea!**

Recipe after the jump

You probably gather by now, and certainly from the photos, that we like our sawine to be not-gloopy… the vermicelli should be free flowing in the milk, which should be thicker than regular milk, sure, but nothing approaching a pudding texture. We even add a little regular milk on top when we take it from the fridge to keep it loose. It is just our way.

Now, some of you might not know what “patching” is. I write it that way because that is how I hear it pronounced. We patch vermicelli noodles for sawine, flour for halwa etc. It means brown in a heavy pot (with or without butter) and perhaps comes from “parch”? I do not know.

But now, the RECIPE
(this makes a decent pot for a small dinner event, or for the family with leftovers in the fridge – it all depends on whether you are a big bowl sawine-eater or a little serving…it should make about 2 – 2.5 litres)

Ingredients

* 1 cup vermicelli
* cinnamon stick, cardamom (elaichi) pods, cloves
* 4 cups water
* 1/2 cup sugar (preferably white, granulated)

* 175 ml (1/2 tin approx) tin evaporated milk plus equivalent water
* 195 ml (1/ tin approx) tin condensed milk plus equivalent water
* 1 tsp almond essence
* 1/2 cup ground blanched almonds (if desired)
* raisins, cherries etc (if desired)

Parching
1. Heat a heavy-bottomed pot. Add vermicelli (breaking up into small pieces before or in the pot) and whole spices.
2. Stir frequently until all noodles are brown, but not burnt. There will be some unevenness in the colours, some being beige to dark brown, that is normal.
3. Empty out into a metal bowl or tray and let cool.
Note: You can store parched sawine for a long time, just keep (with spices) in a sealed bag or container. If you might need to hang on it to it forever, keep it in the fridge but you might want to reparch it before making the sawine.

Sawine
1. In a pot big enough to fit 2.5-3 litres, put parched sawine, sugar and the 4 cups of water to boil. You may add ground almonds to this.
2. Boil until just cooked (try not to overcook as it will just continue to cook in the hot water and then over time will soak in all the liquid anyway).
3. Meanwhile, mix the evaporated milk, condensed milk and almond essence (mix VERY well)  and heat gently. (Mom sometimes adds almonds to this as well). Don’t let it come to a boil. On Saturday, Mom heated the milk in my microwave!
4. Add milk to sawine when ready to serve.
5. Just before serving, you may add raisins and cherries etc. Or you can keep these in bowls for guests to add as they like. If nut allergies are a problem, then keep the almonds out of the cooking and put on the side as well.

Notes:
1. As this is a small batch, which will not stick around for long, I am going to condone breaking one of the rules and say that you could just boil everything together if you wanted. I would insist, however, that if you were making a larger batch, or were making this in advance, that you boil them separately to achieve the consistency the Rules advocate.
2. If you are going to refrigerate, then wait till both liquids are cool, then mix and store in fridge. You will need to add some more milk before reheating, although I wouldn’t reheat – just top up with a little plain milk and stir.
3. Some people do not like biting into whole cardamom. I hate biting into whole cloves. When the sawine has boiled, most of the cloves and cardamom will have floated up to the top – retrieve them as much as possible and discard.
4. Experiment with spices – a dear friend of mine, from Jamaica,*** the first time I ever made this by myself, decided when she tried it, that anything with milk and cinnamon could benefit from nutmeg, and thereafter we had it with nutmeg!

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* People have asked me for a sawine cake recipe – I think this one by Guyana Gyal seems a good one to try.

**Mom also has a horror of things spoiling and many foods have certain rules or steps to follow to ensure that they don’t go bad – she is a pro at cooking large amounts of food, and it is on these occasions, particularly for events where food tends to stay out in uncertain conditions, that one has to be very careful.

*** Rone was a frequent visitor and commenter on this blog, and passed away completely unexpectedly a year ago. I’ve had her in mind all throughout this post, and I guess this one’s for her.
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I have decided, that although Eid ul Fitr has passed for this year, that I shall attempt to post recipes for all the things we made for this Eid. After all, people will still be looking for them next year, or indeed for Eid ul Adha (which is just a couple months away).  And it should help with the number of posts…always a concern for a blogger…

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