Ann's Blog
Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou:
March 10, 2012
Lunch at The Boathouse
The Boathouse is where our Canadian friends Carolyn and Rick live during the part of the year that they’re in the Caribbean. A year or so ago, they “swallowed the anchor” – sailor-speak for moved ashore – and the sweet little place they now rent sits above Tyrrel Bay. They can keep track of boats coming and going from their living room window. Receta’s hook was barely down when Carolyn called on the VHF radio to say, “Welcome to Carriacou.”
She and Rick are having an island-style barbecue grill made for them – the type you see along roadsides and outside rum shops throughout the Caribbean, except downsized for home use – and Carolyn was hoping it would arrive while we were anchored in Tyrrel Bay so she could invite us for grilled lobsters. But the barbecue builder was operating on island time, and when Carolyn called a couple days after we arrived to say, “Come for lunch,” she announced that their friend Devante would be cooking fish. Inside.
“Can I come early to watch?” I asked immediately. I knew that Devante, who’s Grenadian, had been showing Carolyn how to cook various local dishes, and I didn’t want to miss a chance to pick up some kitchen secrets.
I was allowed in the kitchen to watch, and take notes, but not lift a knife (or any other implement) to help. Lunch – closer to dinner, actually – was to feature baked, individual-sized red snappers, callaloo with pumpkin, Israeli couscous, and green beans. Devante would do the fish and callaloo; Carolyn, the couscous and green beans. Sherwin (from the nearby Lambi Queen restaurant), who had also been invited, would do his signature dish for dessert: bananas flambé. (I was permitted to bring a couple hors d’oeuvres to ward off starvation while the cooking was going on.)
Let me report that if you’re looking for an easy, delicious way to cook small whole fish, such as snappers, you can’t beat what Devante did:
– Arrange the fish in a baking pan and make long slashes through the skin on top (to allow the seasonings to penetrate).
– Sprinkle with bottled green seasoning. Grate onion and garlic over top; for eight fish, Devante used a couple of onions and about half a head of garlic. (For this dish, he said, grating is preferable than chopping, because the onion and garlic season the fish better and melt into the sauce.)
– Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, and curry. Dot with butter (3–4 tbsp, in this case).
– Slice 4 small green bell peppers on top. Bake in 325˚–350˚F oven, until the fish is just cooked through.
While the fish were in the oven, Devante got the callaloo started. I cook callaloo frequently, but I had never done it exactly his way. I sure will now:
– Chop a big bunch of callaloo and slice a good-sized wedge of pumpkin (about 1½ lbs). Put in a large pot.
– Add about 8–10 cloves of garlic, chopped, and 1 chopped onion. Sprinkle in about 1 tbsp of brown sugar, about 1 tbsp of curry, about 4–5 cloves broken into pieces, some salt and pepper. (Nothing was measured, of course, so the amounts are all approximate.) Add a little water and a bit of the bottled green seasoning, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes until callaloo is soft. Stir occasionally, and “jook the pumpkin,” Devante said. “Jook” is a West Indian word for “stab” or “poke” – in this case, with a knife, to break the pumpkin into pieces so it almost dissolves and forms a sauce as it cooks.
When it came time for dessert, Sherwin took over. His version of bananas flambé featured two ingredients that set them apart from your run-of-the-mill flaming fruit: pineapple juice and “Jack.” On Carriacou, “Jack” means Jack Iron rum – much better for flambéing than your ordinary rum, since it’s overproof. That’s an understatement.
– Peel and cut ripe bananas in half, then slice each half horizontally.
– Melt a little butter in a frying pan large enough to hold the bananas in one layer. Add some pineapple juice, then put in the bananas. Sprinkle with about 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Cook for a few minutes until the sugar melts and the mixture is bubbling.
– Pour in the Jack, and ignite. I can pretty much guarantee the bananas will still be blazing when they reach the table.
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Sounds Wonderful, we will be arriving in Carriacou in late April as we are Chartering a 46ft out of True Blue Bay. Can’t wait!!!
Oh, how I wish I could “really” cook! Sounds absolutely magnificent. Your food writing is always fabulous.
Hello Ann,
Perfect timing…I have callaloo and pumpkin in my fridge from Bequia and as we are leaving the boat in Martinique in a few days (for a few weeks) I was looking for a new way to use them – not that anyone on board ever objects to your cream of callaloo soup. Thank you, and bonne navigation.
Ann, you always come up with the most simple recipes. This one reminds me of the Maya style of cooking snapper, but we wrap it in banana leaf or hoja santa.
Thanks for sharing!
Cyndi in Mexico