From my brief visit in October, my mind is still filled with images of broken-down buildings on many streets in Port au Prince – and that was before the earthquake. But there was much positive images from that trip as well – the hospitality of the people, the views from the Hotel Montana (which was hit hard by the quake), the lovely Caribbean food, the art and music that people surround themselves with. As a lawyer, it was also most telling that we were there the day they voted out the Prime Minister, yet life (outside Government offices) went on as normal, without the violence and chaos that in previous times might have met any of the frequent hiccoughs in the stability of the administration.

Hard enough for Haiti to be hit like this…worse that it hit the capital so hard. There is much being said, and much more will continue to be said about the adequacy of the immediate international response to actually get aid on the ground. The fact that even now, ten days later essential aid is not getting to people, rescue efforts amid the rubble seem to never have started in some areas, and still people are dying. I am not an expert on disaster responses, but I do feel that alot of that has to be because the quake hit Port au Prince leaving the government, in terms of persons and manpower, physical buildings and mental state, in shambles. Even the UN mission office was devastated and key relief agency personnel were lost. Lessons to learn for those of us who live in even smaller islands where we centralise our entire official administration in one single crammed capital. Not to name names – I try not to do that in this blog, but seriously, who would take the reins if Port of Spain were to be hit? The Mayor of San Fernando???).

Most of our Caribbean governments have received the disfavour of regional commenters (and of course bloggers) for slow or insufficient responses, whether it be for holding to a wait-and-see attitude or pledging relatively small sums to the aid effort. Again, I am not an expert. But I do know that none of us is equipped to deal with the disaster of the kind Haiti is experiencing. Not individually. Another lesson to learn for our own benefit. The response had to be international to secure the best of the best for Haiti, ever the poor outside child. If the response failed, we, the whole world failed. Not just the Caribbean. That’s not to let our people off the hook though. We might be small and only a few of us have standing militaries and heavy rescue and transportation equipment, and even if we were not the best placed for the immediate rescue and relief efforts, that is just the first stage. Haiti is our Caribbean sister. The responsibility to be there for Haiti and Haitians will not end for us. It does not end when the city is cleaned up and the emergency volunteers have left. Not even when things appear to be functioning with normal administration systems. The level of destruction Haiti has experienced cannot be reversed overnight. Or even in a few years. They had little foundation to begin with.

So, Caribbean leaders, I am not going to calculate what you have pledged in this the first ten days since the earthquake. Your accounting should continue for years and years into the future. We cannot leave Haiti to be rebuilt by the superpowers. Our first independent sister should not be subjected to newer forms of colonialism, well-meaning as they may be, not if all of us who celebrate the history beginning with Toussaint L’Ouverture really believe what we’re talking about when we take the victory of the black people in Haiti as part of our Caribbean history.

Maybe this is why I took this long to post…too much to say that I usually try to stay away from on this blog. I cannot end without noting that there have been responses from the Caribbean. It may not be reported, it may not be considered great by the international news media, or sadly even by the regional media, but there is a system in the Caribbean to respond to disasters and it was triggered. If you visit the website of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) you will see updates on the actions taken. Operations started with the Jamaica Defence Force including relief supplies and medical personnel. CDEMA is also coordinating and reporting on its member countries’ relief efforts. The Caribbean Community is also compiling volunteer information via a questionnaire on its website, so fill out the form if you have some special skill or time to give to relief efforts.

“Nationals of the Caribbean Community including French, French Creole Patois speakers, who are willing to make available their expertise and services to the Community’s response to this tragedy, are invited to submit contact details and other information using the questionnaire provided”

Although the focus right now is on financial contributions and medical assistance, it appears the information will be compiled for further relief efforts. I reiterate that I make no comment on the adequacy or efficiency of this action, but know that it is there.

And that’s just official responses, as in governments. The outpourings of private citizens and organisations, NGOs and commercial entities are encouraging. And I hope they persist. Check in with Global Voices Online special coverage on Haiti to get citizen-media updates, including from bloggers in Haiti right now.

As to where else you can make contributions, the listing on CNN is a good start as it gives you information on various organisations from which you can make your choice.

If you want to offer something more tangible than money, Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi have provided some information on the ShelterBox, a system designed to shelter 10 people, something really needed in Haiti right now.

So, go help. But remember the help shouldn’t disappear when the global attention moves on to something else.

Courtesy this job, I have been to Grenada quite a few times in the last few years. It’s generally just to Grand Anse, and usually not enough to time to do more than the hotel (cue sigh about the supposed glamour of a job-with-travel). Due to the number of visits, however, I do have a few ideas. Grenada is probably my next favourite island after T&T. Or it alternates with Dominica (who would not love a country that is tiny yet still 2/3 uninhabitable because of gorgeous rain forested mountain?). And occasionally sentimentality about the 2.5 years (over a 12 year period) lived in Barbados.

But no. Back to the point. I decided the last time that Grenada was my favourite other Caribbean island. Decisions are helpful to know how you feel. Try it. It’s life-changing.

Grenada is a small island with rainforest and natural features like waterfalls and volcanic crater lakes, the expected gorgeous Caribbean beach and coastal views, narrow winding and steep little roads right in town and through the rainforest, and gorgeous colour everywhere. It is the Spice Isle, being the source of great things like the nutmeg pictured above, which I picked up from nder a tree just growing on the side of a road…incredible. Because of this, it is also the source of the incredibly delicious treat called nutmeg ice cream. Which, when done well, is like the richest, creamiest eggnog-y ice cream. Oh so good. On my first trip to Grenada, my aunt packed me up with 2 large  containers of this island specialty to take to Trinidad (just before the days of liquid restrictions on hand luggage), which I dutifully dropped off with her sister (my mother) and continued my travels. Upon my return a mere week later, there was NONE left. Nary a drop. It was that good.

While Grenada may seem like a typical Caribbean island there are a few features that are worth noting. One of the iconic views of Grenada is of the Carenage. The Carenage is the inner harbour in downtown St. George’s surrounded by hills and colourful houses and buildings picturesquely crammed onto those hills. It reminds me somewhat of the harbour towns in the Highlands and the Hebridean Islands. Obviously much warmer The Carenage is a bustling transportation and shopping hub, with markets and duty free shopping, and is always busy. And yes, the blues are that blue. I did no colour-tweaking at all on the most recent photos (new Sigma 50mm f2.8 lens has been great!).

Then there’s Grand Anse – there on the right. Home of many hotels and shopping around this gorgeous bay, it’s where I usually stay. Convenient because of the malls, supermarket and restaurants (and dentists, which I needed the last time) with easy access to that lovely beach. The view on the right is from the Flamboyant Hotel, which is up the hill the bay, giving you spectacular views.

There is more than just the beach to Grenada, however. In the Grand Etang Rainforest Reserve you’ll see lush rainforest (naturally), waterfalls, crater lakes and more. Annandale Falls is a pretty waterfall in the midst of tropical foliage. There’s a little area you can swim in, and people do jump although that may not be advisable… The Falls are in the Grand Etang Rainforest but very accessible from the road – a short walk past vendors and over a sulphur-laden stream. There is another waterfall people visit, but I have not yet been.

Of course, you don’t have to leave your hotel to experience wildlife. In Grand Anse in particular, they come to you…crabs. Big and small. Red crabs dot the roadways, coming out of every little hole in the dirt by the drains and ditches. Better yet, big ones suddenly appear in the night in the hotel as you walk to your room!

If you’re not partial to crabs in their live form, then head up to the Gouyave Fish Friday Festival (pronounced Gwah-v). Every Friday, the people in this little coastal town come out in the narrow streets and set up tents, stoves, grills etc and serve up seafood and local delicacies every where you look. It’s a bit of a drive from Grand Anse (taxi can cost about EC$200-220 round-trip) but it’s worth it if you go hungry and ready to try out everything. You can have all kinds of seafood obviously – fried, steamed or grilled fish, served with breadfruit, or fried bakes or chips. Crab backs. Coconut fried shrimp. Fish cakes. Nutmeg Ice Cream. Fresh Juices. Lots of different vendors to try different hands. The photo on the right is snapper wrapped in foil with onions and peppers and seasoning and cooked on a grill. Served with fried bakes. You may not always find a place to sit, but stick around people will have to get up and move eventually.

More formal dining is available of course. You can visit my  Eating Out: Grenada set on Flickr for views of food at The Beach House, Coconut Beach, Flamboyant and Le Chatueau. I highly recommend the Beach House – it’s an open building right on the beach and their food is excellent.

One of the popular tourist sites in Grenada is the agro-tourism of the Belmont Estate, which is a 17th century plantation where you can see their cocoa processing, organic farm, lovely gardens and dine at their restaurant. I can’t speak to the restaurant, since when I visited it was Ramadan and while my colleagues enjoyed lunch, I sat in the gardens and tried out my new lens on the lovely flowers and greenery. But I did see the cocoa laid out to dry, and a fruit stand with the estate’s produce.

Leapers’ Hill or Le Morne De Sauteurs is located in the northern part of the island where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean, and was named so by the French settlers after the indigenous Carib Amerindians, were defeated by the French for possesion of the island. Rather than facing submission to the French, the last few remaining Caribs jumped off the high cliff that is now called Leapers’ Hill. There’s a monument on the hill on the cemetary, from where you can get some nice views of Kick-em Jenny (a still active volcano off the coast of Grenada). The Information Centre is closed on Sundays, so take note.

Lots of things are closed on Sundays actually… like the Grenada Chocolate Company. Home to that lovely Organic Dark Chocolate in the pretty packaging. Sigh. If you’re headed to Grenada, make sure to schedule a visit on one of the other 6 days of the week.

There are many more photos in my Grenada set on Flickr.

I hope you enjoyed this little visit to Grenada, one of T&T’s closest neighbours. I realise I have been failing on the travel elements of this blog, so why not catch up so that I start 2010 on a good note!

According to Wikipedia, za’atar i’s generally a combination of ground dried herbs such as oregano, thyme and marjoram, with toasted sesame seeds and salt. And then there’s the sumac. Which isn’t necessarily found in all varieties – Wikipedia says it’s a Lebanese addition, perhaps. Sumac is used in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean as spice to add some sourness or tangy taste, hint of citrus, to dishes. It’s found as a ground red (or dark purple) spice and people use it as a seasoning in all kinds of dishes, or just over a salad (see salad at right which we had in Saudi Arabia last year after the Hajj). I wanted my za’atar sour-ish, so I wanted the sumac version.

So to get back to the sumac. We bought some when we went to Hajj last year. We weren’t entirely sure what we were looking for, but in a trip to one of the big stores (a Bin Dawud) we looked all throughout the spice counter just to see what they sold (such big spice counters!). In addition to our trying to figure out what was good saffron (and that is yet another story we haven’t told**), we saw this huge tub behind the counter with a reddish ground spice. Hmm…we asked what it was. The guy looked confused…confused that we were asking I think, he seemed to understand but not speak English but was most likely wondering who on earth doesn’t know what sumac is? After a few tries, with the salesperson becoming increasingly amused we figured it must be sumac and bought up a big bag (might have been a pound…it’s light stuff, but the deciding how much to buy further delighted the man behind the counter I am sure.

So this Eid I had sumac. I had sesame seeds. I even had dried oregano and thyme. Za’atar was my destiny. Za’atar has a complex flavour – nuttiness from the toasted sesame seeds (which is enhanced if you use a little geera/cumin like I did, the tang from the sumac and the thyme and oregano rounding out the overall depth. In addition to dipping some fresh bread (of any kind, doesn’t have to be pita) into this, I’ve used it for chicken, in pasta, baked on a flat bread/pizza dough…possibilities abound.

ZA’ATAR RECIPE (so easy)

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds (toasted)
• 2 tbs dried thyme
• 2 tbs dried oregano
• 1 tbs sumac (or a bit more)
• 1 tbs geera (cumin)

I left out salt, since I figured I could add that to taste depending on need and use of the za’atar, but if you are making a batch for a specific use, go ahead and add the salt – about 1 tsp.

Toasting sesame seeds is great, because I love the smell and the magic of seeing the shiny goldenness appear – but be very careful, since it goes from a hint of gold to black very vast. The seeds are very small after all.  I used a small non-stick pan, stirred frequently, and when many started to get shiny and golden (even if still lots of white) I turned off the heat and kept stirring in the pan till they were evenly brown.

You could just mix all ingredients together, or do as I did,  and zap them briefly in my coffee grinder. Which doesn’t really grind tiny sesame seeds, but everything gets mixed together very evenly.

Also…those amounts up there – VERY subjective. You might want more sumac, or less thyme. Or no cumin at all.  Add marjoram. Play around with the amounts. If you don’t have access to sumac, add some lemon salt or lime/lemon zest for the sourness (see Arabic Bites, a great blog by two sisters, for a recipe for Za’atar and Arabic Pizza (manosha).

For Eid, I did a chicken kebab inspired dish, using lots of za’atar, that was apparently a hit even for fussy pre-teens. And more recently I added it to some whole wheat  pasta and that was just lovely. I have no photos of these meals, but will post the chicken recipe soon enough. When I was in Trinidad for Eid ul Adha last month, Lilandra and I made pizza and used one of the pizzas as a za’atar flatbread. Yum.

—————————————-

* A quick word as to pronounciation. Lilandra and I were recently shocked to hear Mario Batali and Alton Brown mangling this word on Iron Chef America (old episode I guess, can’t remember the secret ingredient) with variations given and ALL wrong. It is not pronounced zaTAH or zaTARR… Stress the first syllable, ZAHtar and if you want to get technical, the Arabic has an ‘ayn in the middle, which gives a in-the-back-of-your-throat vowel sound and hence the apostrophe in some spellings to indicate it’s like za-ahtar.

** The saffron story – I started to write it here, and decided that perhaps I should post on our much-neglected Hajj blog!

It’s that time of the Islamic calendar again – Eid ul Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice. It falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah, which is the month in which Hajj falls (hence name, if you recognise the root syllables).

So today (or yesterday, as we are behind over here) the Hujaaj or pilgrims would have spent the day in prayer on Mount Arafat (photo on the right). It’s one of the pillars of the Hajj where you spend the hours between the midday prayer and sunset making supplications, or personal prayers (du’a). It is the day when prayers will be answered and most Hujaaj have a list of prayers to make from friends and family for this day. If you are not performing Hajj this year, you fast and still make du’a.

You spend the day in tents, which are not permanent and as they are only for the day are not airconditioned, made from regular tent fabric. Still, rows and rows and rows! And of course people…you leave at sunset…if your bus is there…OR you get time to take photos of the empty tents…Arafat is also where I got that photo of the camel!

This is technically the Big Eid, the bigger of the 2 official Muslim festivals, but in T&T it tends to get overtaken by Eid ul Fitr which has a holiday and is preceded by a month of fasting. In Guyana and Suriname, Eid ul Adha is a holiday, so those Muslims will have the day off tomorrow. Those of us lucky enough to be caught in the CHOGM holiday bracket (schools and POS government offices) can also take the day to celebrate. As this Eid can be celebrated over 3 days, many persons are also taking the opportunity to have the sacrifice or Kurbani done tomorrow, Saturday.

I am in Trinidad until tomorrow night, so Lilandra and I are making baklava (done), apple crumble (done, and so good, nice balance of tart and sweet), pizza (getting there) and a flatbread with za’atar (one of those things I am to post soon). Today Mom also made fresh kachourie for iftar (breaking of the fast) and tomorrow we make mutton biriyani!

I am still on the road more or less until the week after, so more posts then!

Photos should be at least transferred before you reach 220 shots…

Earth crust displacement theory is the best device ever for a screenwriter who needs the earth to move to suit the bare threads of a plot…or just to get his characters from Vegas to a precise location in remote China on time…

Photos of places you have never been to before and are unlikely to revisit soon should be saved on your hard drive as soon as possible…

Don’t go sticking your memory card in strange computers, even if just to view the photos…

The passport office might be able to deliver some of those 26,000 unclaimed passports it alleges are sitting in the office if it would just tell people if their passports were ready over the phone, before forcing them to make the trek to line up again and again…

Don’t stick your memory card in alien computers without moving the teeny switch to lock it…

No matter how cool, colourful,  appropriate and appreciated the gifts you buy, the 3 year old niece will still ask how come she didn’t get a pen too, like her mother got…

When you lose all 220 photos of Eid food (for which recipes are still to be posted), your first glimpses of Haiti, rare family get-togethers, seminar for your newsletter, brilliant flamboyant in Guyana, top local performers in Haiti, great Indian food in Barbados and Trinidad, (did I say Haiti?) try not to cry or smash the alien computer that ate them on contact.

SIGH.

And that’s why I haven’t posted the za’atar chicken recipe yet or anything else. That and I’ve been so overwhelmed at work that I got my boss to give me this week off which I am spending in the homeland and avoiding the computer.

The photo is unrelated to this post. I am just liking my 50mm f2.8 lens. This is at the Belmont Estate in Grenada, from September…which apart from a few of my Eid food shots, is the last set of photos I have…except for the couple hundred on the camera now…darn…getting to it NOW!

But that brings us to today. Geocities is closing today. I cannot do better than XKCD who redesigned the site to reflect the design elements, html broken code and all, that became the characteristic geocities look, from all those users similarly wading in the very shallow end of html.

It’s almost at the end of the day already so there’s not much to say. I just felt the need to steal a few minutes from my beyond-overwhelming work day to remember when I first thought I could be famous online.

*Superstitions of T&T is what I ended up with. An idea, a beginning…

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.

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).

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…

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!