We came back to the US in 1993. I have been back to the island to visit maybe 6 times and I have had friends from there visit me about 4 times. Now let me tell you, when you go to visit Trinidad, all your friends there call and say, 'Oh gosh gyul yuh could bring meh a few items in yuh bag? I would pay fuh dem on yuh arrival.' And if you are a friend at all, you pack your belongings in one bag and carry a whole separate bag full of the items on the shopping list from your friends. I have carried all manner of shoes, clothes, school supplies, baby items, electronics, and almost anything else you can imagine in my bags when I have gone back to Trinidad because I can get it cheaper here than they can get it there. Do I mind? Not at all because....This leaves me an empty bag that I can now fill up in Trinidad with the stuff I either can't find here or I can find cheaper there. On my returns to the US I have lugged big iron pots in my bag. I've also loaded up on yards and yards of batik fabric and local arts & crafts. I've bought 4 pair of handmade sandals in one shot because if one pair wears out I want to have a next pair as backup before I get back there. And foods... I tellin yuh, I have carried back a grocery store in my bag. Hot sauce, green seasoning, guava jams, homemade pepper sauce, chutneys, freshly made roti skins (from aunty, fuh de chirren), Milo, oh and cocoa powder....oh gosh, I feelin' fuh it now! Now over the years I have found little sources here and there for some of these things. I will no longer have to carefully pack a one or two years' supply of glass bottled condiments in my luggage so I can season my food. I still can't find the cocoa I like here but that comes in a tin so now I just have more room for that in my bags.
I am very excited about all of this. One thing I have never carried back in my bags nor do I intend to buy in the store even though I see it is now available is the item below.
See what they are? Can you make out the label? Can you tell what's inside the package? Did you guess chicken feet? Good for you. Your prize is a nice plate of stewed chicken feet for dinner! Yes, people really eat them and yes I have too. It was quite interesting to watch them being prepared and realize that was going to be dinner. It's not the worst thing I've ever had to eat. I'd chose it over liver any day of the week. But I will not be spending money on them or ever having an intense craving for Pied du Poulet. It's just a nice indication of the Trini Arrival in my corner of the world though.
Tune in next week for the tale of Dave and the Fish Heads. Hhhmmm, sounds like a good name for a rock band...
25 comments:
You get everything in bottles & in India we have a variety of condiments to choose from.
I buy very few as such, except the basics and I prepare my own masalas.They are my own specialty secrets and some are passed down from granmas too!
Those are chicken legs...I have heard that they are edible, but can't imagine eating them myself!!
oops! chicken feet!
I wonder what the "green sauce" is made of, and what you'd put it on, and most importantly does it taste good?
Also, post 9-11 have you had problems with some of the items you'd bring to them and/or bring back?
Anyways, yay for a taste of Trini in your corner! :D
mona, i now those fmaily secrets are to be guarded tightly
bs, less than a year after 9/11 i had no problem at all. i even came back with a jar full of formaldehyde and gigantic bugs. as for the green seasoning...it is generally a mix of celery, thyme, chives nad a local thing called chadon beni. it is used to season any and all meat, poultry and fish before cooking it in any fashion.
more on the green sauce....it imparts a somewhat neutral flavor to the meats. trinis hate the smell of raw meat and this along with washing the meat in lemon juice and water takes that smell out. you don't use green seasoning like a relish, just a s a base season prior to cooking.
Man! All these foods. Chicken feet are also a delicacy (!!??) up in northeastern Brazil, along with guava jam, hot-pepper sauce ( of which I make a wicked version: take an empty soy sauce bottle fill it with whole malageta peppers, put in a clove of garlic, ,half fill it with virgin olive oil, then fill it up with cachaça...sugar cane rum...then leave for a couple o months in a cool darkish place...BLOWS YER FRICKIN' BRAINS!!!!). Now I feel hungry
EEEEOW
No chicken feet, please
Ack! Lime, do chicken feet taste like chicken?
I cannot eat stuff that still looks like the animal it came from...no, not even a chicken leg...
It must be first made to look like a thinly sliced deli meat and packaged in plastic before Im touching it.
Thanks for the epicurean tour!
Ewwwwwwwwwwww chicken feet. bleah!!!
The rest sounds lovely - just put together a batch of my own family's chutney - YUM. I think I would enjoy the foods and condiments of Trinidad emmensely! Thanks for a great and yummy post (except for the giant bugs and poultry feet) :)
OMG...that just does not even look remotely appetizing. I suppose if I were starving after a month I may want to devour one of them. Well, ok, maybe not even then....ewwwwww!!!! But some of that other stuff sounds good. I guess I can't complain we always had blood n' tongue and head cheese in the house. WHICH I refused on all attempts to try. Ain't even gonna go there ;o)
Oh, lordy! I was getting so hungry as I read along (and wishing for some nice arts and crafts too!) and then came the flippin' chicken feet. Ew. I'm not hungry anymore.
Thanks for sharing, sistuh!
hypersonic, your sauce sounds like some killer good stuff
logo, where's your sense of adventure?
s, they taste like whatever you cook them in, only rubbery
tsduff, chutney is goooood
jillie, i'd eat chicken feet again before i'd eat head cheese
cindra, so ya still wanna come over for dinner?
I'm still stuck on chicken feet. My brain refuses to budge away from them. Are the toenails still on? ICK ICK ICK!
I'm gonna have nightmares. I just know it.
Well, I've seen chicken feet in stores in the south when I was a kid, but I had completely forgotten about them. Ugh.
Good post. Now I'm hungry. Again. But not for chicken feet.
Only had chicken feet once, and not stewed. These were done Szechuan style - more crispy than rubbery. Not something I'll rush back to eating... they rank right up there with stir fried jellyfish.
I think I would have to pass on the chicken feet too! But now that it's pumpkin season I plan on making a pot of stewed pumpkin with the recipe you gave me :)
that is so cool you found them in your grocery store.
chicken feet NOT!!
tc
I will never EVER forget when my father brought home a bag full of chicken feet. We were very poor. He was in law school. These feet were a gift from a friend who worked in a processing plant. They were free to us. My father took out a propane torch and singed the skin. The smell of burning skin scales stays with me. We made a soup. We ate them.
crabby, yes you see toenails, but they get cut off before you eat them
tlp, i hear ya, sister
boysenberry, stir fried jellyfish? urp...i'll pass
moose, mmmm, stewed pumpkin..yummy....
top cat, it was a surprise to say the least
gawpo, oh my that is a very poignant memory.
My God that's gross.
YAAAYYYYY on the sauces
... but ....
NIX on the chicken feet!
My Father-in-law was Polish, they have a dish that they serve with hard boiled eggs and chicken feet called cocinina(?)...
Love food posts..
Love Trini..xoxox
You don't like chicken feet? How come... lol.
Cantonese love them as well. It's all about the texture and the fun while nibbling, you know :).
Great post - lucky you and of course I'm glad you can have a taste from homeland! And from my earlier post, you know you can get it in Oslo, Norway too :-)
Btw: You know I love to eat it, so I'm looking forward to your Fish Head Post!
I'm going to whaaarrrffff all over my keyboard...
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