New to the board

[islandflava]

Hi, I just discovered this board and I'm very excited about all the great things I can learn. I am from Trinidad in the Caribbean and I do small scale catering. I really love cake decorating but I am going to be solidifying the catering side this year so I know that I would get just the help I am looking for here. This is a great board!

[cape chef]

Welcome islandflavor,

Nice to have someone from the South pacific with us. I really think you will enjoy cheftalk, Take your time to browse the boards. Theres a catering forum as well.
all I ask is one recipe from you!
Welcome
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[islandflava]

Thank you cape chef, I know I will enjoy it here. What recipe are you interested in? I would be happy to share any of our local dishes. Trinidad is not in the South Pacific though, we are the last
island in the Caribbean Sea, that's just between Florida and South America, about 10 miles before Venezuela.

[cape chef]

I new that, I was just seeing if you were paying attention

Share with us any of your local recipes, perhapes based on fin fish.
Thanks
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[momoreg]

Welcome to cheftalk, islandflava. I am a cake decorator too, and an ex-caterer. Look how much we have in common, and we've never even met.

I'd love to hear more about your food experiences down there in Trinidad.

[Jim]

Islandflava,
Welcome aboard! Good to see the ChefTalk community expanding to the islands! I am sure you will everybody helpful and supportive.

[Isa]

Welcome to Chef Talk Islandflava!


Must be nice to be under the sun at this time of the year.

[panini]

Hi Islandflava,
Had a great friend from Trinidad, he used to make me some sort of black rum cake, it had fruits soaked for a long time. I never did get a recipe before he passed. I also believed he said it was used for weddings. Ever heard of it? Would love to make it in his memory.
thanks
panini

[Mezzaluna]

Welcome, islandflava. Thinking of what you see out your window, and what I see out mine (ahhh... winter in Wisconsin), I'd love to visit and swap recipes! As Cape Chef suggested, some fish recipes would be great to hear about.

[islandflava]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Cape chef , I would look up some of those local fish recipes and get back to you however, panini I have the black rum cake recipe of the top of my head. Its a cake done especially for Christmas and very easy to remember, I just had a piece! The recipe is

Christmas Black Cake

1lb (2cups) butter
1lb (2cups) sugar
1lb (2cups) flour
1lb (8-12) eggs
1lb (2cups) each of prunes, raisins, sultanas, currants,
1/2 lb (1 cup) cherries
1/4lb (1/2 cup) mixed peel
4 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. miced spice
1/2 tsp.grated nutmeg
1 bottle (750ml) of Cherry Brandy
1 bottle (750ml) of rum
1/2 bottle (375ml) of browning*

Soak fruits in cherry brandy. This could be done months in advance, it gives it a very good flavour, however if pressed for time, they could be soaked the night before. Seeds must be removed from the prunes.

Browning
1 lb brown sugar
1/2c. hot water

Burn sugar, add water gradually. Mix well and leave it to cool. Browning is also available in supermarkets already bottled.

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs one at a time
3. Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add gradually to dry ingredients.
4. Mix in fruit and browning.
5. Put in greased tins doubly lined with brown paper.
6. Bake at 250 for 3 hours or until done
7. Remove from oven and soak while hot with rum. Do not remove cake from the tin until cooled.

This cake is used traditionally for weddings because of the length of time it took to decorate the wedding cake. It could stay for months at a time. However, if it is to be used for a wedding cake then it must not be soaked with rum after baking. Once it is being iced the rum will seep out and melt the icing, not a nice experience! Also, small squares of this cake are given out in decorated boxes as favours at the wedding. Beware,according to how it is soaked, one can get drunk from eating it. Recovering alcoholics are advised not to be near it at Christmas time, a time characterized by much drinking here in Trinidad. Let me know how it comes out if you try it.

[Nicko]

Welcome islandflava glad you are here. If you have any questions please feel free to contact myself (nicko@cheftalk.com) or any of the moderators.

[panini]

Islandflava,
Thank you very much, you have made my day. I will purchase fruits today and start marinading. One question, no rum in the soaking process? Just the brandy?
Thanks again,
panini

[islandflava]

Sorry to take so long to reply, I have been having trouble getting online. Panini, you can soak the fruits in both the brandy and the rum at the same time and use everything in the cake. I spoke to a caterer friend of mine and she suggests that you bake at 200 degrees instead as a hotter stove tends to cause a crust to form. However, it may take about 8 hours to bake. She also says to put a small bowl of water beneath it while baking. Immediately after you take the cake out of the oven add the additional rum, not too much at a time. However, if you really want it rummy keep adding rum when you feel that the last set has soaked in completely. The reason why there are so many little alterations is because its a recipe that has been passed down from many generations and tends to vary from family to family. You may need to experiment a bit ie more rum, less rum, or crust or no crust but it tastes great either way.

[islandflava]

Cape chef, I haven't forgotten you. I have been looking up some fish dishes for you. I needed to make sure that they were from Trinidad. The dishes we have here originated from many different parts of the world including other Caribbean countries. So far I can give you a couple choices, I don't want to post all at the same time so you could let me know which you prefer first. Now one of the most popular dishes in T&T is Curried Cascadura which is a fresh water scavenger. It is exoskeletal and considered a delicacy. They say that if you eat it you will die in Trinidad! Another popular dish is Stewed Fish which is simply fried fish in a sauce made with onions, tomatoes and coconut milk. This goes well with "Oil down" which not orginally from here but is a Caribbean favourite. Trinidad is more known for its saltfish dishes , the most popular of which is Saltfish Buljol which comprises of scalded saltfish, onions, sweet peppers, tomatoes etc. There are many variations of saltfish dishes if you are interested in finding out more. I hope I haven't given you too many choices but let me know what you are interested in trying and I will give you the recipes .

[cape chef]

Thank you islandflava,


The Buljol sounds very interesting, I would enjoy seeing this recipe posted. Perhapes when ypu have time you can right this recipe in the "recipe forum"

I appreciate you taking the time to share this imformation with the community.
BTW, Whats the weather like today in T&T?
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