Thursday, December 28, 2006

 

Christmas Food

During the season it's a time when persons traditionally cook up a storm. The refrigerator is stocked with all kinds of meat including the must have ham. Sorrel, gingerbeer, mauby and the requisite liquor are also staples in most homes.

I've been wondering what is St Vincent's special Christmas meal or if we really have one. Most homes would bake black cakes which are fruit and predominantly rum based. However, it's not unique to Vincentians neither is the green peas stew that features heavily around this time of year.

I recall one Christmas spent in Barbados where the specialty was something called jug jug. I don't have a vivid memory of the taste but I recall it being meat based and having either corn or peas cooked along with the meat. Last Christmas my aunt's Guyanese tenants cooked up pepperpot and offered me some. It was really hot but very tasty, I must admit. Trinidadians always talk about pastelles which I gather is a cornmeal pasty filled with meat,raisins etc and steamed in banana leaves. Am sure the other islands more than likely have something unique to them but am yet to find something special to us. Well at least we have Nine Mornings but am still a tad jealous.

Comments:
Nine days before Christm(excluding Sundays) people get up in the early hours and head into Kingstown for the festivities. There are also bicycle races, roller-skating, carolling, string band serenaders and dancing at nightclubs to keep everyone busy and thoroughly exhausted.

A Bajan blogger will have to educate you on the jug jug:)
 
Yeah a lot of cookings go on at this time of year. In Jamaica it's all about the ham and Christmas Pudding (black fruit cake).
 
In Canada, we cook up all the Jamaican food (sorrel, ginger beer, rice and peas, oxtail, ham, and add a bit of Canadiana i.e. turkey stuffing, Cranberry sauce etc. etc) and of course the cold weather. This year not a millimetre of snow!!

The Appleton on the rocks is used to ward off the cold!! :-)
 
Jug Jug? Interesting. I've always wanted to try pepperpot.
 
Jug Jug I have heard of but never had. Nine Mornings???
 
If am not mistaken, Jdid blogged about jug-jug some time ago ... or he commented about it ... or was it Jdid ... Anyway, sorrel, cake, ham, gimme de Christmas -- also curry, but then curry's nice all year round -- except now dem start clone de few likkle cold-weather goat dem. Grab any recipe yu want offa de Net; after noh island don't own noh dish, Kami, Happy New Year!
 
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