Vaneisa: To the lady of the goat; why Franka is an outstanding cuisine ambassador

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 The Little Store the same day of our outing.

Writer and media personality Franka Philip promotes Goatober in October 2019 at the Namdevco Farmers Market, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.
(via Franka Philip)

I was intrigued by her description of what she wanted to achieve. Goat meat is a curry house by itself in these parts, but I was not surprised because Franka is the one who brought the Goatober concept to Trinidad and Tobago about five years ago.

I was awakened that morning at 3.30 by a furious migraine crushing the left side of my face. Yet, however much I was suffering, there was no way I was going to miss out on seeing what she had concocted.

I know that Franka is an excellent cook—that’s fairly common knowledge, because she is also an excellent food writer—and we have often discussed the concepts that shape the way we approach dishes.

I enjoy hearing the elements that come together in the creation of her meals; it’s not just about ingredients and technique. When I got there, the goat leg was still smoking away, looking like a festival all on its own. A few friends were also there—all save one, were strangers to me.

When do we eat?
Illustration: Vector Images

She was painstakingly tending this leg, monitoring the heat degree by degree, adding and subtracting coals to maintain the precise temperature she wanted. She’d been at it for hours, and just watching for half an hour, I knew I could never do that. Ever.

And here’s what she served that memorable Sunday of unexpected pleasures. A roasted breadfruit mash with kale that was topped off with a dollop of heavy cream and a handful of blue cheese.

This was the latest version of the roasted breadfruits she had been experimenting with (the last one had left me swooning from its delicate elegance) and this one was different, though no less enchanting.

An ochro rice where for some inexplicable reason, every rice grain and ochro cube seemed to be extremely plumped up. A cous cous salad with five fingers, cucumbers, tomatoes, cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Red beans, lying down with some rude looking pig tails while a clump of fine thyme stood up erectly, giving it an old-time rustic look.

Franka Philip prepares a meal.
Photo: Jordon Briggs

She sliced some tri tips and ribs, and we started to savour this repast while the goat rested.

The goat was unlike anything I have tasted before. She carved the pink flesh into thin strips, and it was like chewing bliss. I can scarcely find words to describe it, except to say that this is why I chose to write about the food and Franka’s culinary skill.

You see, one of the things that has always struck me with Franka is the philosophical approach she takes. She believes in sustainable cuisine. This was the basis of her connection to the Goatober concept, introduced to the UK as a month-long celebration of goat dishes during the month of October.

Chef James Whetlor, author of Goat – Cooking and Eating, does a goat butchery demo for 2019 Goatober TT in Centeno.
Photo: Franka Philip

Chef James Whetlor had written a book, Goat: Cooking and Eating, with many recipes far removed from our beloved curried goat, and he explained that young billy goats were being euthanized because they were deemed useless (not producing either milk or babies) and he was determined to demonstrate that goat meat was versatile and tasty.

Typical of her, she reached out and invited Whetlor to come to Trinidad in 2019 to launch her GoatoberTT where chef Bianca Bianco put out an array of goat-based dishes, and she worked with local goat farmers.

Unlike me, Franka is a social butterfly. She is everywhere, friends with everyone, and a storehouse of information about local and international happenings.

Chef Bianca Savary-Bianco, lead chef for GoatoberTT, plates a dish for the event at SoundForge in October 2019.
Photo: Marlon James

When it comes down to food, she has all the traits of a true cook: passion, obsession, continuous curiosity, and she is innovative and experimental, unafraid of flops. To me this is what makes her an outstanding ambassador for the multi-cultural cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago.

Her food is of this place, but it is out of this world. I mean, look at the menu for last Sunday. All of it can be said to represent common fare in terms of the ingredients. But none of it stuck to tradition.

At some point while we ate and the silenced room was just sighing in delight someone managed to say that she had a sweet hand. Franka, who still had not taken a plate, said reverentially, that her mother, Madge, was the one with the sweet hand that she wished she had inherited.

Nyssa Pierre, the current CWI media manager, takes a photo of a dish presented by Chef James Cochran at a Goatober TT event held at Krave Restaurant, San Fernando in October 2019.
The menu is Goat kromeski, with pickled mango, smoked yogurt and crispy shallots.
(via Franka Philip)

No matter the simplicity of the fare they had when she was growing up, there always seemed to be some magical ingredient to elevate it. And she missed that.

It struck me that this fidelity to her roots, combined with her knowledge of international cuisines and her penchant for experimenting, lies at the heart of her sublime concoctions.

Over time, it has inspired me to try things more boldly. I even tried a variation of her breadfruit, different, but tasty!

A child helps to prepare a meal.

I know she has been thinking of writing a culinary book of sorts, I believe it will be unlike anything we have ever seen and I hope it will happen soon. There is no better time.

Madge would be so proud of her legacy.

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