Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Trini Tuesday-Buljol

I learned to make many local dishes when I lived in Trinidad and several of them are favorites for my kids. Many times the ingredients have not been available in local grocery stores but a year ago a specifically Trinidadian grocery store opened up in the middle of the Poconos. Yay!!!! My son asked for buljol for dinner the other day so I thought I'd share it with you all.

buljol

Buljol:
From the French patois, "Brûlê Gueule," or "burn mouth," a mixture of shredded, de-salted codfish, oil, onion, tomatoes, black, hot and/or sweet peppers, etc. Apparently the original recipe called for really hot peppers -- hence the name "burn mouth."
-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.


This is a recipe that everyone makes but everyone makes a little differently. I did some searching for authentic recipes and came up with such variations. They all had the same ingredients for the most part but how they readied them was different. I will simply give you my variation. Since it is more or less a salad sort of thing you can play around with the amount of the ingredients to suit yourself. It's most commonly eaten for breakfast in Trinidad but we generally eat if for dinner or lunch. It's great in the hot weather.

BULJOL a la Lime
8-12 oz. pack of saltcod or other salt preserved mild fish
1 large onion
1 bell pepper
1 hot pepper, (jalapena, habanero, whatever floats your boat, this is optional if you don't like it hot)
1 large or two medium tomatoes
2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
Black pepper to taste

-Soak the saltcod overnight in about 8 cups of water. Change the water in the morning and a couple times during the day. Boil it in fresh water, drain, and boil again. It smells really fishy and gross during this process but it will taste fine if you've soaked it and rinsed it. Honest, I promise.
-Drain again and gently squeeze out excess water. Flake finely with two forks or your fingers.
-Finely dice all the veggies.
-Mix veggies, fish, lemon juice, and pepper.
-Serve it cold on hard rolls with sliced, hardboiled eggs, or avocado (called 'zaboca' in Trinidad).

By the way, this is very low calorie food.


Enjoy! Happy Trini Tuesday!

17 comments:

S said...

Well now, I must tell you that I love trying and making foods from other lands......and becoming quite good at making meals that cause my house to smell like curry for three days afterwards...I hate fish, so, even though this might sound yummy....to you :P Blech! Ain't going near it!
LOL I do love foods from other lands though!

Anonymous said...

I am thinking this sounds good, but I don't want the house stinking like fish. More recipes though, more, more!

lime said...

bare, fair enough. next time will be anon-fish recipe!

logo, it smells more like low tide than like fish. it's a really salty ocean smell, not so much fishy smell, but even so , the smell goes away fast. and hey...all 3 of my kids ask for the stuff,ya know???

Stephanie said...

How bout I let you prepare it and I'll just pop in for a taste???

Love the idea of foods from other lands - Lime has Trini food & Susie has India - sharing is good - bring it on!

The Village Idiot said...

it sounds like a hot variation of ceviche!! and having said that..now I am hungry!

Bsoholic said...

Mmmm, I love fish, so I bet this is great!

Anonymous said...

wow that looks good I need to try that sometime.

Jericho said...

I believe dinner shared with you & yours would be a wonderfully tasty and enjoyable time. ;) (just say when)

James Goodman said...

Oh, wow that looks and sounds yummy.

Anonymous said...

thanks for bringing the warm breezes of Trinidad to your blog today.
I feel totally refreshed.
tc

Moosekahl said...

that looks amazingly yummy and healthy. Might have to give that dish a try. Thanks for sharing.

David said...

Wow, That looks so good.

Breazy said...

MMMMMMM It looks delicious and as long as it doesn't have that stinky fishy taste then I am all for it !

Robin said...

I never thought I'd eat codfish, but you make this sound yummy. I'll be coming back here when I can eat food that isn't being shipped to me ;)

S said...

OK now Im gonna have to post what I cooked the other night for dinner.....at my blog..come over and see it on wed

CozyMama said...

sounds good to me!!!

Unknown said...

Great recipe!