Book of Days Tales

Today is Independence Day in Grenada, an island nation consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent. It measures 344 square kilometers (133 sq mi), with an estimated population of 110,000.  It is one of the world’s largest exporters of nutmeg and mace (both products of the same tree).

The oil down is the national dish of Grenada. The name refers to the fact that the dish is cooked in coconut milk until all the milk is absorbed, leaving a bit of coconut oil in the bottom of the pot. Early recipes call for a mixture of salted pigtail, pigs’ feet, salt beef and chicken, dumplings made from flour, and vegetables like breadfruit, green banana, yam, and potatoes. Callaloo leaves are sometimes used to retain the steam and for extra flavor. This recipe is adapted from one on the official government web site.

http://www.gov.gd/articles/grenada_oil_down.html

I’m not sure I trust politicians to teach me how to cook, but the recipe seems sound.  I have not made this yet because of my inability to get crucial ingredients.  They are reasonably easy to find canned in places with large Caribbean immigrant populations, although what passes for callaloo varies from island to island in the Caribbean.

Dasheen refers to the whole taro plant, tubers (taro) and leaves (callaloo).  The original recipe was not clearly written so I had to rewrite most of it (among other things the dasheen was mentioned in the ingredients list, but not in the instructions!). Don’t let civil servants write recipes! As you can imagine there are as many variants of boil down as there are cooks. There is a saying in Grenada, “Cooking is just like religion. Recipes don’t make a cook any more than sermons make a saint.”   The flour dumplings are akin to dumplings in the south of the U.S., that is, flour and water pasta.

Grenadian Oil Down

Ingredients

8-10 young dasheen tops, chopped
1 sprig celery, chive, and thyme
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 green peppers chopped
1 lb flour dumplings
2 tsps tumeric
½ lb salt meat (pre-soaked overnight)
1 large breadfruit
2 cups coconut milk
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 whole hot chile

Instructions:

Wash and peel the breadfruit. Cut it into 8 sections and cut away the center.

Wash and scrape the meat. Cut it into bite-sized pieces and rinse it in lime juice and water.

Put all the ingredients into a large stock pot.  Simmer partially covered until the meat and vegetables are tender and the coconut milk is completely reduced.