There are three things that are always in stock in my mom’s pantry, onions, garlic and ginger. We use ginger in so many dishes it’s not funny! I suspect it’s a holdover from the Chinese part of her heritage Most recently I used ginger in a sweet, rather than savoury, recipe when I made my mom a batch of Friendship Cookies for Mother’s Day. As a result, I thought that this... 

This light salad is simple enough to assemble in minutes yet elegant enough to serve to company. The lemon juice really gives the beans much needed ‘sparkle’. Be sure to sprinkle liberally with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper for even more flavour and flair Tweet  Read More →

Late last year I wrote at some length on how ras-al-hanout had become one of my must-have ingredients. I had at that time promised the recipe, but it’s taken me a while to get around to actually sharing it As my supply was running low I figured this was as good a time as any to share this little ‘secret’, especially with those who may find their way here via Weekend Herb Blogging,... 

This recipe is a great flavorful way to use up ends of vegetables that you may have on hand. As everything is prepared in the oven cleanup is a cinch and your time is freed up for other things Tweet  Read More →

I have no idea why coconut and curry go together so well, but I’m sooo glad that they do This rice recipe leaves the rice grains moist and creamy Tweet  Read More →

As I mentioned long ago my past attempts at roti making have been nothing short of tragic. My mother has been hiding her tawa away from me for the past few years as a result, eyeing me suspiciously whenever I would plead for the co-ordinates to its whereabouts. I pleaded with every school of logic I could come up with. I was older now, wiser. How could I maintain a site called TriniGourmet and not... 

We don’t have spring here in Trinidad but after 5 years in New England I have pretty sniffly memories of that time of year. And I don’t mean sniffly nostalgic, I mean sniffly achoo sniffly… aiaiiai allergies! Other than that it really was lovely to see the earth spring back to life, bringing with it lots of young vegetables and fresh flavours. This recipe seemed perfect for Meeta’s... 

Jamaican Festival has to be one of my most favorite things ever. Seriously. It is just delicious. Slightly sweet cornmeal fried ‘dumplings’, they are traditionally served alongside spicy meat dishes, such as Jamaica’s infamous ‘jerk’. The sweetness offsets the meat, pepper and spices most sublimely, and the doughy texture is ideal for soaking up gravy and sauces. The... 

When I read that YumSugar was having an American Idol Food Challenge my mind instantly went to Paula Abdul’s bizarre TV appearances earlier this year when promoting the current season. Here in Trinidad we don’t get FOX (the channel that airs American Idol) so I’ve never seen an entire episode, but as we get many of the channels that discuss and analyse the results and controversies... 

Is there a Trini who hasn’t chomped on an aloo pie? It seems that I’ve been eating them as long as I can remember. They were a staple in both my primary and secondary schools’ cafeterias (or as we call them ‘tuck shops’). They are also easily found in the bakeries and eateries in and around Port-of-Spain should I want a cheap and filling lunch or breakfast. So what are... 

Well it’s been a while since I have posted a bread recipe. With rising bread prices here in Trinidad my mother and I have now committed to making our own bread on a full time basis rather than occasionally. Although my ciabatta bread recipe has been really popular don’t think that I don’t have a huge backlog of other recipes that I want to try. This one here (Brother’s Bread)... 

When I first read about Beck ‘n Posh’s British food challenge (titled Fish n Quips) I was immediately filled with curiousity, excitement and fear. You see, and I hope I don’t offend too many, most of my memories of eating in England are far from fond. Outside of fish n chips nothing really appealed to me or was anything that I wanted to taste a second time. Some of this may have... 

This recipe comes from the GraceFoods.com website and is my contribution this week to Weekend Herb Blogging (hosted this time around by What Did You Eat?) Tweet  Read More →

So what is the ‘surprise’? Probably the pack of heat that this recipe delivers I used a whole scotch bonnet this time but would probably reduce that to 1/2 the next time I make this. It was a hit with my mom tho Unfortunately my digital camera has officially passed away so I have had to use my cameraphone to take shots As I clear out my backlog of recipes you’ll see a mix... 

Although this is one of the last of the items in my Blogging by Mail package to be written up it actually was the first item to be opened. My mother is a nut addict and I had never tasted macadamia nuts before so it seemed like a no-brainer. Plus there was wasabi, and I haven’t had anything wasabi-related in years I really enjoyed these nuts because they reminded me of Brazil nuts (though... 

This has to be one of my favorite recent recipes. Its twist (for me) comes from the addition of mango chutney near the end. This really gives it a sweet n savoury kick that is hard for others to put their finger on. Since this recipe I’ve taken to adding a spoonful of chutney into my curry dishes as a matter of course Because I used chive from our little herb garden (see below), I have also... 

At the time that I am writing this Passover is a little less than 24 hours away from ending*, and I’m starting to daydream about all sorts of leavened goodness. For those who don’t already know Passover is an 8 day period in the Jewish calender where observers remember and relive the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. Although most attention is spent on the seders (ceremonial dinners) that mark... 

This post was originally published on April 8, 2007. It has been updated once since then. I love hot sauce but I never had a hot sauce like this! Eva said that she picked it up on her latest trip to SE. Asia, which instantly made it doubly OOOOO to me From the minute I saw it’s cloudy brown colour I knew it had to have tamarind, and reading the list of ingredients showed I was right ... 

Sea Salt! I love Sea Salt! I started buying it a few years ago after TruValu stopped stocking kosher salt. I loved its coarse texture, intense flavour and of course, being the health hippy that I was raised to be, its trace mineral goodness. Normally I buy Celtic Sea Salt at HiLo -at an obscene price- but lately Cuisine (a local brand) has been producing a sea salt that is very affordable. I don’t... 

In February I made several dishes based on the start of the Chinese New Year. This was one of them, I’ll be posting the other 2 in the near future as well. Tweet  Read More →