Sweet Treats and other Foods with Deceptive Names

Foods in Saint Lucia reflect the history of the plantation. The Saint Lucian diet includes a lot of starches, some meat, and very little vegetables. A common meal would be a chicken leg, beans, macaroni and cheese, rice and a bake. The starches eaten here include various kinds of yams, dasheen, bananas and plantains, sweet potatoes, and breadfruit. Most are boiled. For the most part, foods are not spicy. You are on the wrong island if you are looking for Jerk Chicken. Typical meats are pork hocks, pig tail, chicken back, and saltfish, which is cod. Traditional foods are prepared in coal pots; pots heated on coals. Bread is particularly important in the diet. A typical breakfast might be a roll or a bake and salad.

Although there doesn't seem to be an obesity problem here, Saint Lucian's sadly have a high rate of Diabetes, most likely brought on by their thirst for sugary foods. As much as I like sugar, much of it is even too sweet for me.


Cocoa Tea

It's not really tea, they just call it that. It's a hot chocolate drink. Saint Lucians usually use evaporated milk to make this drink because fresh milk is very expensive. They prefer it very sweet. I found this recipe on the internet It was posted by La Haut Plantation Inn and Restaurant in Soufriere.

Cocoa tea is a rich, local breakfast drink. In past times, tiny flour dumplings were boiled in the Cocoa tea, making the drink a complete meal -- the cocoa tea being the drink and the dumplings replacing the bread. I have to say this is the best cocoa I've had.

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated local cocoa stick

2 cups water

1 cup milk (cream, evaporated, powdered, or low-fat)

Sugar to sweeten

Vanilla

Bay leaf

Cinnamon Stick

Nutmeg

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Put water to boil with cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Boil for about 15 minutes. Grate cocoa stick and add to boiling water; boil for another 10 minutes. Add cream (or evaporated milk, powdered milk, or low-fat milk to reduce calories). Sweeten to taste. Mix the cornstarch with water and slowly add to the boiling mixture, stirring all the time. Add vanilla. Strain and serve.

Guava Cheese

It's not really cheese, they just call it that. It's a candy thickened jelly mixture. A chewy fudge-like sweet, Guava Cheese is best made with fresh guavas. They are a rich source of vitamin C -from 3-6 times more than in oranges to almost 30 times more than that found in bananas! Most of this vitamin C is found in the skin of the fruit. I've also seen Mango Cheese. This recipe has more technology involved. Most people do not have food processors. Neil's mother makes great cheese and says that she has many burns on her arms from making the cheese. Neema says it's the best cheese she's had. This isn't her recipe - it's one I found on the internet; this is a VERY sugary treat. It is excellent and a small piece is enough to satisfy my craving for sugar.

• 1 kg soft guavas
• Sugar (amount based on how much pulp you get out of the guavas)

Preparation:

• Cut the guavas into quarters and remove the seeds.
• Put the seeds in a sieve and add a small amount of water. Rub into the sieve and press down with a flat spoon so as to extract the pulp surrounding the seeds, into a bowl kept below the sieve.
• Blend the gauva pieces to smooth pulp in your food processor. Measure how many cups of pulp you have - include the pulp removed from around the seeds.
• Put all the pulp into a large, flat, heavy-bottomed dish on a medium flame.
• Add sugar to the amount of one cup less than the number of cups of guava pulp. For example, if you had 6 cups of pulp, add 5 cups of sugar to it.
• Cook, stirring frequently, till it becomes hard to stir and the guava cheese begins to come away from the sides of the pan.
• Grease a platter and spoon the guava cheese onto it. Spread into a thick layer.
• Allow to cool a little and while still warm, cut into diamond shapes.
• When completely cooled, store in an air-tight container.

Saint Lucia Bake

It's not baked, they are fried. Bakes are readily available throughout the island. They are eaten as a snack or can be accompanied with a meal. Some are filled with salt fish or cheese while others are plain. Still others can be slightly sweetened with coconut.

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
about 2 cups water
1 cup oil for deep frying

Instructions

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Knead for about ten minutes then let rest for half an hour or more

Cut in pieces and roll each piece five to six inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick. Fry in hot oil, turn once, and fry until brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

The National Dish is Salt Fish and Green Figs

Salt Fish isn’t real salty; it’s dried and preserved in salt. Because it is preserved, Salt Fish is found on grocery store shelves and not in the refrigerated section. Green figs are bananas.

Early slaves discovered that saltfish was a good source of protein. Side dishes include cassava, corn (often blackened), and sweet potatoes - all of which point to the early people of Saint Lucia, the Arawak and Carib, and their influence on island food.

Ingredients

4 pounds green bananas

¼ Cup Chopped Celery

¼ Cup chopped parsley

3 Garlic Cloves

¼ Cup Chopped Bell Peppers

2 pounds salt fish

1 tbs. Chicken Seasoning

¼ C Vegetable Oil

PREPARATION :

Prepare Bananas:

Remove the skin of the green bananas, clean them and place them in a pan of warm water. Add salt and chicken flavored seasoning to the water. Cover the pan and let it boil until bananas are thoroughly cooked. Let the green bananas stand in the pot and slightly cool.

Clean salt fish under running water. Cut it into several small pieces, place in a pan to boil in adequate water for 20 minutes. Remove from water and place in a container of cool water. When cooled, shred and place in a bowl.

Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add celery, parsley, onion, garlic and peppers, seasoning. Stir continuously for two (2) minutes; add salt fish and mix. Taste for salt as the salt is what that brings out the flavor.

Remove bananas form the water, placing chop and place onto a plate. Add salt fish.

We call the avocado – they say pear

Oranges and tangerines are green – not orange

Finally, the Star Fruit - it's sweet, but not deceptive. It's interesting because I've never seen them in California.