I am extremely excited to share that I have an essay published in the just-released anthology, ROOTS: Where Food Comes From & Where It Takes Us, published by Open Road Media and the BlogHer publishing network. From the official description: “ROOTS is an exploration of food’s rich interconnection with culture, memory and discovery. The anthology’s deeply personal essays serve up family history, local lore and tantalizing stories of worlds newly discovered through food, accompanied by original photography and a collection of recipes that, no matter how far flung, taste like home.” In my essay, “Meeting My Mother-in-Law, Eating Her Armadillo,” I recall my first visit to my husband’s home in Trinidad, as remembered through taste. It’s perfect timing, as we just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary!
As a bonus for my loyal readers, here is my Trinidadian curry recipe, which is not in the e-book:
Trinidadian Curry
Curry lovers will find the Trinidadian-style curry to be quite different from Indian or Southeast Asian curries in that no coconut milk or cream is added to the sauce. The result is a more intense curry flavor and a thinner sauce.
Ingredients
2-3 lbs of meat on the bone, cut in 2”-3” chunks: can be chicken (only dark meat), goat, or even tattoo if you’ve got some
curry powder, Trinidad blend if at all possible
rum, such as Trinidad’s Vat 19
green seasoning (a homemade blend of various herbs including cilantro, culantro, chives and others)
salt
black pepper
pepper sauce (Scotch bonnet or habanero)
garlic, 2-3 cloves, minced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 potatoes, cubed
canola oil
Technique
1. Marinate cut-up meat in rum, green seasoning, salt pepper, pepper sauce, garlic, and onions, all to taste, for at least an hour and up to a day in advance.
2. Saute marinated meat in a hot pan with copious oil. Brown on both sides. Once meat is browned, add potatoes and continue to stir.
3. Stir curry powder- a few tablespoons up to ¼ cup- with enough water to make a pourable thick slurry. Add to the browned meat and stir.
4. Lower heat and add water to cover. Simmer until meat is falling off the bone and sauce has thickened slightly.
Serve with an Indian flatbread, or roti, of your choice. Curries in Trinidad are served with either dhalpourie roti, which is distinctively filled with dried, ground chick peas, or paratha, a multilayered, buttery flatbread. Both are difficult to obtain outside of Trinidad. You can substitute naan or paratha from your local Indian or Pakistani place. The way you eat this is to wrap the roti around some of your curry filling, and eat it like a burrito. The curry can also be eaten with rice. Wash it down with sorrel or Carib beer. Play some calypso, soca or steel band in the background, and enjoy your fete.
____________________________________
You can purchase the e-book from any of the following sources to read my essay, as well as those of 39 other contributors.
Thank you for your support!
Apple: http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/roots/id648670885?mt=11
Open Road: http://www.openroadmedia.com/roots
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/roots-stacy-morrison/1115409233?ean=9781453297094
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17938134-roots
spicebox travels 