Barbados Cuisine

After spending some time with family and friends in Quebec cottage country this month, circumstances have allowed me the chance to spend time with more family and friends, this time with the location being the island of Barbados. While visiting the tropics would be better during the icy grip of winter instead of the dog days of summer, I'm not going to look a gift visit to my parents' place of birth in the mouth. From upscale restaurants to colourful street food markets and vendors, Barbados is a Caribbean island with a rich choice of cuisine. Slaves from West Africa who were brought to Barbados in the 1600s were very influential in the country's traditions and foods, along with influences from England, Portugal, and Spain. The British influence is the most prevalent, as they decided to begin growing sugar cane in Barbados in the 1640s, making sugar one of the most common foods on the island, along with corn, fish, guava, molasses, potatoes, rice, and rum. Barbados' national dish is flying fish and cou cou (similar to polenta), traditionally served on Fridays, with the fish cooked either fried, or steamed. If you can't make it down to Barbados to sample this dish, here are the recipes for them to bring the island to your dinner table at any time of the year.

Ingredients: Fried Flying Fish
Source: http://www.alleasyrecipes.com/

6 flying fish (or any filleted white fish)
75 g green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime
1 onion, chopped
½ hot pepper, chopped
2.5 g ground thyme
2.5 g ground cloves
2.5 g salt
2.5 g black pepper
bread crumbs or flour
oil for frying

1. Wash and debone the fish if necessary and place the fillets in a bowl.
2. Combine the juice from the lime with the green onions, onion, garlic, hot pepper, thyme, cloves, salt and pepper. Marinate the fish in this mixture for at least 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. While the oil is heating up, coat the fish in either breadcrumbs or flour, and fry the fillets until they brown or for 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Serve with either cou cou, vegetables or rice.

Ingredients: Cou cou
Source: http://www.barbados.org/

240 g corn meal
90 g okra, with the tops and bottoms removed, and chopped into rings (either fresh or frozen can be used)
45 mL butter
2.5 g salt
1 medium onion, chopped

1. In a bowl, combine the cornmeal with enough water to cover the meal, then set the bowlaside.
2. Place the sliced okras in a saucepan with some water, the chopped onion and the salt. Bring to a medium boil for a few minutes until the okras soften. Strain the okras into a bowl, setting aside the liquid.
3. Add about a quarter of the okra liquid back into the saucepan and add the soaked meal. You'll need a whisk or wooden stick to stir the cou cou as it cooks. (In Barbados they use a flat wooden spoon known as a 'cou cou stick'). Stir the mixture constantly to avoid lumping.
4. Add more of the okra liquid gradually. You can tell you're nearly finished when the cou cou starts to bubble gently at the surface. At this point add in the cooked okra slices and continue stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.

Slow Cooker Brisket

At some point if you watch enough BBQ shows on TV, you're going to want to cook a brisket. This is the problem that presents itself to me. Though it's considered the holy grail of barbecuing, brisket can be cooked many ways. By far the most popular way is by cooking it slowly over indirect heat from a wood fire. By smoking the meat, the smoke from the wood and the burnt dripping juices further enhance the brisket's flavor, along with marinating the meat, or rubbing it with a spice rub. Brisket done this way is popular in Texas; once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends, which are popular with fans of Kansas City-style barbecue. It can even be featured as a main course option in a traditional New England boiled dinner. But as a New York Jets fan, I don't care much for anything that comes out of New England. Because I also don't own a smoker, I'm going to use my slow cooker to break down the connective tissue in the meat to make it taste good. Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue fame may consider what I'm doing sacrilegious, but the grilling the brisket will get on my gas grill while I'm grilling up some vegetables to go with this meal will have to do. I'll make it up to him the next time I'm in Austin, TX.

Ingredients  

beef brisket (I used about 750 g from a beef brisket pot roast cut in strips)
1 284 mL can beef broth
1 284 mL can beef consommé
1 packet of onion soup mix

1. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat with some olive oil. While the pan is heating up, take the brisket out of its packaging and pat it dry. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper. 
2. Sear the brisket until a golden brown crust appears on both sides of the meat. Remove and place the meat in the slow-cooker, fatty side up.
3. Pour in the beef broth, the beef consommé, the contents of the soup packet, and 284 mL of water. Cover and cook in the slow cooker on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until the brisket is very tender. 
4. Let the brisket rest for at least 20 minutes before serving in the slow cooker set on the "warm" setting, or transferred to a baking dish and covered tightly with aluminum foil while resting. The meat can be served with its juices.