Offerings from The Kitchen Table is a moveable feast, so this week we’re dining in Treasure Beach, Jamaica. Also on the menu is an import from Trinidad and a Jamaican export from London, because no cuisine, not even an island cuisine, is an island.
Aperitif
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? – Black Uhuru
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Entrée
Welcome to Jamrock – Damian Marley
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Meat Course
My Jamaican Guy – Grace Jones
Fade Away – Junior Byles
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Fish Course
Crazy Baldhead – Bob Marley & The Wailers
Your Recipe – Aswad
Fisherman – The Congos
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Do You Need a Top Up?
Rum & Coca Cola – Lord Invader
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Amuse Bouche
Ghost Dance – Prince Buster
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Heavy Pudding
Having a Party – Lee Scratch Perry
Promised Land - Dennis Brown
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Blue Mountain Coffee
Keep on Skanking – Bob Marley & The Wailers
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“One for the Road”
Jamayca Farewell – Harry Belafonte
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Comments
blurb / recipes continued:
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And tomorrow for breakfast:
Cornmeal Porridge: Put 1 measure of cornmeal to 1 of water with a pinch of salt in your pot and heat it slowly whilst stirring continuously to avoid clumping. As it thickens, add milk bit by bit until your desired consistency is reached and all of the crunch (but not quite all of the bite) is gone from the cornmeal. For me that’s about 10 minutes, but you’ll have your own preference. Add nutmeg and sugar to taste. Serve and swoon.
Peanut Porridge: Soak 2 measures of redskinned peanuts in water for 2 days, then put in the blender with 1 measure of water and 1 of chopped, raw yam. Blend to desired consistency (mostly smooth with some small lumps for me please) and then put in the pot with 1 more measure of water or milk. Stirring continuously, cook until the yam thickens the porridge and any peanut lumps are cooked through and really soft. Add sugar to taste, stir until melted, serve, savour, and keep on running till sundown.
This traditional ITAL recipe was given to me by chef Jah Son Africa and must, he says, only be shared in exchange for something of value. I gave him the Yorkshire Pudding recipe you hear in the show – make sure you get as good a trade if you pass it on. Money has no value around the kitchen table, but recipes score double - so do share again if you get a good one and post it in the comments box below.
(Also, being ITAL, this recipe contains no salt, but if you’re not strictly adhering to Rastafarianism you might want to add a pinch of salt at the soaking stage).
One Love.