Last Sunday, my friend, Franka Philip, invited me to pop over to her home to sample the leg of goat we had procured from Ali’s Meats on Pasea Main Road in Tunapuna. We had been talking about how she planned to smoke it, and she had bought some kindling from …
Read More »Vaneisa: The remarkable Razif—and his masterful food photos
Who said posting about what you had for breakfast is so banal? I did. In my last column. I am not retracting it as a general observation, but there was an anomaly. An exceptional exception. His name? Razif Khan, a man who shared photos on Facebook of his meals—breakfast, lunch …
Read More »Vaneisa: 11 days of pepperpot
It was tempting to write a headline that said 12 days of pepperpot, but I cannot tell a lie. The pepperpot that has been sitting sturdily on my stovetop has been only going for 11 days. It is the remnants of the excursion into learning how to make the dish …
Read More »Vaneisa: What does “taste authentic” mean?
Last year, sensing that the Christmas season might be the last one where all the family would be in one place, I got a bit carried away. Abandoning prudence, I declared an open house and set about cooking on an unprecedented scale. In advance, I made more than 200 pastelles …
Read More »Vaneisa: Mixed appeal—candied fruits versus cherished Christmas memories
I have never liked mixed peel, those little cubes of candied fruit of red, green and yellow that are ubiquitous ornaments for all manner of sweet treats. As a child, I thought they were spiteful additions to sweet breads, coconut drops, fruit cakes and the like. I reasoned that they …
Read More »Vaneisa: Making market; the “old-time feeling of neighbourliness” within a noble profession
Inside Madeo’s mini mart, the place in Aranjuez where I buy dahi, a tray with eight breadfruits the size of grapefruits sat on the counter. I had never seen such small ones being offered for sale, but since Madeo was always keen to market unusual fare, I was intrigued. They …
Read More »Vaneisa: Stuffing on memories—what makes you think of Christmas?
Every now and then it feels necessary to step back from the daily bombardment of unpleasant news that can wrench your spirit into a forlorn space. It helps to summon cheerful thoughts that remind us that there is beauty around us, and that life very often goes on inside our …
Read More »