SERVING AT SEA BY SHIRLEY HALL
A Marvelous Meatless Day There are good Fish Fridays and then there are great Fish Fridays. If you aren’t on an island such as St. Lucia, Barbados or Grenada, where a public Fish Friday is happening, you can do it yourself. Fried sardines with “provision”, plantain balls and a simple salad make one of the best Caribbean meatless meals. If it sounds like too much work, get each of your buddy boats to make one dish, then gang up for your own authentic Fish Friday island feast. “Provision” is an umbrella term for many tubers and root crops, such as dasheen, tannia, eddoes, sweet potatoes, yams, etcetera. Many readers are now turning up their noses at the thought of sardines. We’re not talking about the tinned ones here. No other fish can quite compare with a stack of these fresh, well-cleaned and seasoned, small silver-sided fish. Ask for fresh sardines in the market; they should be gutted. If you can’t get them, any small, oily fish such as smelts (about six to eight whole fish per pound) will do. To clean, hold the fish by the tail on a cutting board and scrape off the scales (there will not be many) with a knife. Do this ashore, or on deck. Wash the fish with cold water.
WE ARE SITUATED IN CALLIAQUA, ST. VINCENT or you can call us at Tel: 456-2983 or Fax: 456-2987 gourmetfood@vincysurf.com
We offer an excellent selection of imported cheese, exotic meats, salami, turkey, prosciutto, juices, etc. Seafood, shrimp, prawns, smoked & fresh salmon, fish, lamb, steaks, frozen bread such as baguettes, petit pain, multi grain breads, croissants, etc. Provisioning for yacht charters, large or small orders for restaurants, hotels, villas or simply to enjoy at home are accepted.
ALSO IN BEQUIA
Tel: 458-3485 Ocar, Downstairs Coco’s
info@marigotbeachclub.com www.marigotbeachclub.com
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Simple Salad 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced 3 tomatoes, sliced 1/2 head of lettuce, chopped into one-inch pieces 1/2 medium red onion, sliced into thin strips In a bowl combine everything. Dress with your favorite dressing, or something as simple as fresh lemon juice.
CARIBBEAN COMPASS
Plantain Balls 3 pounds ripe (not over-ripe) plantains 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 leaves chadon bene, minced 1 small onion, chopped small 2 small pimentos, seeded and minced salt and spices to taste 1/4 Cup seasoned breadcrumbs Place unpeeled plantains in a medium pot and cover with water. Add salt and boil covered for ten minutes, remove and stick with a knife. If knife goes through easily, the plantain is ready to drain. Peel plantains and put in a large bowl. With a sturdy fork, spoon, or potato masher — and even using your hands — smash plantain as finely as possible. Remove all lumps. Combine plantain with all other ingredients except the breadcrumbs, and mix as if kneading flour. Break mixture into palm-sized pieces and roll into balls about two inches in diameter. Then roll balls into seasoned breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for ten minutes at 350°F. Serve hot or cold.
JULY 2012
Shirley’s Fried Sardines 2 pounds sardines, as fresh as possible, cleaned salt green seasoning 1 Cup oil (for frying) 1 egg 1/2 Cup milk 1 Cup flour Season whole fish with salt and bottled green seasoning (buy this in any West Indian market); put everything into a plastic bag and let it marinate in the fridge at least an hour before frying. Heat the oil in a sizable skillet. Combine egg and milk in a small bowl. Drain sardines, dip in the milk-and-egg mixture, and then dredge in flour. Sardines should retain a thin coating of flour. Once the oil is hot, carefully drop in the sardines, a few at a time, and fry until golden brown. Continue process until all are fried. Fried sardines are terrific on hops bread dressed with thin cucumber slices and your favorite condiments.
Boiled and Fried Provision 1 dasheen peeled and sliced into one-inch-thick circles 1 1/2 pounds of yam, peeled and chopped into one-inch cubes 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, and sliced into one-inch-thick circles 1 1/2 pound cassava, peeled and halved, removing the core string 3 tannia, peeled and sliced 1 Tablespoon salt 2 pimentos, whole 2 Tablespoons cooking oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, chopped small 1 teaspoon Golden Ray margarine (or butter) chopped chives for garnish Put all the provision in a pot and cover with water. Add salt and pimentos. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and reserve pimentos. Set provision aside. In the same pot add oil and bring to a medium heat. Add garlic, onion and the pimentos. Sauté, crushing the pimentos with a spoon. Add the boiled provision and the Golden Ray margarine, frying slightly. Stir ingredients again, remove to serving plate and garnish with chives.