Eating &Drinking .....on the Streets: Hungry and its lunchitime in St. Helena

Eating &Drinking .....on the Streets: Hungry and its lunchitime in St. Helena

Hungry and its lunchitime in St. Helena

Pholourie, Saheena, Baiganee and Kuchorie make a mouth full. A meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, either way, you would not be hungry after having two or even three of them, except for pholourie, of which you would have to have about ten or more of those little round orbs in order to be satisfied.

These Indian delicacies are common snack food found all around the country. There is a diverse array of food in St. Helena. It is lunchtime, I am hungry and all I am craving for is Baiganee. Some people called it a snack, but if you have two or three Baiganees, you can make it a meal for lunch or any other meal. The best thing about it is the fact that these snacks are easy on the pocket, a meal for under 20 dollars and that includes a drink.

Baiganee
Baiganee is a vegetarian delight made with baigan also known as melongene or eggplant, cut thin, dipped in a split peas batter and fried. It is served with channa, sweet sauce (mango, tamarind or pommecythere chutney) and pepper, all optional, you can decide if you want it with channa or not or just with sweet sauce only, heavy, slight or no pepper at all. It is entirely up to your taste and preference.

A mother and daughter team, Fatty and Pinky have been selling these snacks for about two years or more. Fatty could not remember when they started; she said that they wanted to work for themselves and wanted to work close to home, so they did a quick survey and assessed the area. They recognised that there were so many doubles vendors in St. Helena so they wanted to do something different from the rest. Her family knew how to make Saheena, Baiganee and the other snacks really well so they decided to let this work for them. That was the genesis of the business.  Although they opened at eleven in the morning, their day begin at 4 am as they have to do their chores, prep for the days' delights and ensure everything is in order to be ready for their customers and to be on time, every time.  As Fatty said consistency is the name of the game.

If you love eggplant and never had Baiganee before, try it!. It is very good, I love these snacks and if you are a vegan, then this is a perfect meal for you, you will just love it.

See photos here!

Find out more about Baiganee and how to make this delicious snack

Stay tuned for more

Tunapuna for Souse

Tunapuna for souse 

It is never to late to be enlightened because you are never too old to learn.  All along I thought that Souse was a ‘trini ting’.  That is until I researched its origin. Almost every continent on the planet has some version of Head Cheese or Souse or whatever other names it is called, too much to mention in my blog. If you want to know more about the different names and versions you can search the Internet.

'Trini' souse is bite size pieces of meat seasoned well, boiled or cooked and then soaked in a mixture of water, lime juice, cucumber, onion, salt, pepper and seasoning. Usually a gelatin or gluey type meat is used such as pigfoot, cow skin, chicken etc. It is not a meal, but for when you are liming, partying or socializing. Which led me to Tunapuna for souse.

In front of the Bulldog bar in Tunapuna is the Original Sweet Hand - the place for souse. Pigfoot, Chicken foot, Cow Skin, Cow Heel (only on Fridays) and Pigtail, yes Pigtail souse – that was a first timer.

Oniel and Michelle, a husband and wife team started their souse business about five years ago.  At first they were trying to raise funds for a rhythm band that they were members off but things did not work out, so they decided to set up shop for themselves. Knowing that his wife has a sweet hand and that she could make any dish taste good, Oniel encouraged Michelle to start selling corn soup, which they eventually changed to selling Souse.

For meat lovers it is one of the best tasting souse around and the secret is in their sauces. When the sauce is being dashed on your meat, it is done in a rhyme and rhythm motion; Shadon beni, Lime, Garlic, Pepper. The taste was just right and it was definitely worth the trip!

See photos here

Next we eating Polourie, Saheena and Baiganee . So stay tuned

Geera Pork in Cunupia

The food culture in Trinidad and Tobago continues to evolve, so much so that you can buy Geera Pork on the streets. In Cunupia, two young men set up their stall from five in the evening, ready and waiting for their customers.  They did not have to wait long for them to show up, because some of their regulars were sitting in their cars, waiting for them to start. The menu of Black Pudding, Souse, Geera Pork and Geera Chicken were the offerings of the day.

Geera Pork is the blog order of the day!

Geera pork is small pieces of pork marinated in herbs and spices and cooked with geera. Geera also know as cumin is a spice that originated in and around India, brought to our shores by our East Indian fore fathers. This spice with its distinct flavour and aroma combined with different meats is part of the cuisine of many different cultures and tasty dishes. It is not known where the Geera Pork thing started, but this “cutters” can be found in many circles. 

For three years, 20-year-old UWI Management and Agriculture student Keon along with his cousin Kevin have been serving up some serious delicious cutters at the corner of Esmeralda and the Southern Main Road, Cunupia. These guys turned their hobby and their passion for dabbling in food into a money making venture and are doing a fine job at it.

Not everyone can master the art of cooking this dish. so it might just be worth your while to  order up than to venture in. If you think you can handle it then try this recipe

You can also check my Facebook page for tips on preparing the pork for cooking

Next blog we will talk about Souse.  So stay tuned!