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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Creole Cooking

ALERT! This is not a fashion post...

Welcome, welcome,
So as many of you know if you've been following my blog for even a day lol; I am Haitian.  With that being said, I love, adore and delight in the goodness that is Haitian food.  You may ask what constitutes as Haitian food and how is it any different from other Caribbean foods like our neighbor the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, or Jamaica.  I will admit that we eat almost the same staple dishes (rice, root vegetables, lots and lots of meat and fresh being that we are islands) and they are seasoned almost the same way (Adobo, bouillon cubes, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet peppers).  However, just like your Mom, Grandma Agnes, and Aunt Chrissy make their turkey differently using almost identical ingredients, that is what separates Caribbean food.  As much as I love my homeland's traditional dishes I must admit that I do not cook them often.  The prep and cook time is sooo long and tedious that I am no longer hungry once the meal is ready.  I sucked up my impatience and took one for the team on Thursday.  Another thing with most Haitian cooks (and I sure most longtime cooks as well); we don't use measurements we cook by sight.  There are many sites that have recipes for Haitian meals, but one of my favorites and most accurate is Poto Mitan.  Without further ado ladies and gents, I present to you Rice and Pigeon Peas with Fried Red Snapper:


 I have my fish scaled and gutted in the market to save myself time & energy before cleaning it with vinegar & limes

 Mortar & pestle 

Pound bouillon cube, hot pepper, scallions and garlic

 It should resemble a fine paste

 Pour over fish and toss

Staple veggies for cooking

Dice onions and tomatoes, fry with a little adobo and prepared seasonings.  Rinse pigeon peas and toss in 

 Rinse and toss in a couple of cloves

 Coat fish in flour, this prevents the fish from burning too quickly

Heat oil and fry fish until it is golden brown on both sides.
Remove skin from plantains


Cut at an angle, not too thin not too thick

Fry to a light golden color, then flatten with a plantain presser 

Voila!

9 comments:

  1. Oh my!! looks yummy!
    So u fry your plantains unripe??
    I wonder how it tastes.
    I usually have to wait till they're ripe before frying them.

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  2. @Dith There are sweet plantains & green plantains. The sweet ones are soft and the skin is usually golden. I fried two, and one of them looked green but it was definitely sweet. I prefer green though.

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  3. This looks very yummy, one question though. I have asked this many times before, and I never got an answer that made a lot of sense, eske gen yon moun ki ka di'm pouki nou meté, jiròf nan manje? WHY WHY WHY? Oh and banan'n dous pi bon, not too ripe though.

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  4. @anon good question, i don't know the answer 2 that but cloves are used to treat indigestion so maybe thats why. I only do it because that's how i was taught to cook.

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  5. ummmm just delicious! i love everything you've prepared here. that snapper looks so yummy.

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  6. That looks like the bomb!!! You must share more recipes in the future!

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  7. Thnx ladies, @simplychic I LOVE Caribbean prepared fish @Abbie, girl I will try but I do not cook often.

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  8. Oh gosh, yum!

    www.plentyforpennies.com

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  9. Girllll....that food looks so dag-gone good!!!

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