ShawtyCat

Oh...I EAT dessert! Don't get me wrong. I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I believe that since I am always cooking and don't really eat much of my cooking, I am accustomed to very small portions. Then when I do go to eat out....I will order just an entree or an appetizer and dessert. Years of not eating my cooking has left me with a very small appetite.

No my mother does not taste. No one in my family tastes. (My grandmother would harp at anyone who dared to lift ladle to mouth. I guess they got tired of her germ lecture) Maybe it is because I learned by watching everyone else As for salting my food...I don't know how I do it. I can't even explain it to myselft. I just ....know. Maybe its because Ive been doing it for so long??

And here I thought it was just me. I went through this as well, though our lecture encompassed sharing candy and soda bottles. I think this is why I am such a skinny cook. For some reason I am never hungry after cooking and eat very little.

That's a good question. I didn't realise it until you asked. I don't taste .....I don't know why I don't ...maybe its a habit but I tend not to taste. Not even when I am baking. Everything always comes out tasting great though. I don't understand it myself.

We have a Jam like that but it is called Gooseberry Jam. It is made with these very sour light green berries. We eat the berries by them selves with a little salt. But the preferred way to eat them is in Gooseberry Jam. Maybe they add more gooseberries in the middle of this to imitate this jam you are talking about?

We use a tamarind sauce to serve with pork but I think that's just my mom. And I know there is a drink with tamarind but Id have to ask my mom about that as well.

Tamarind Balls come in a variety of sizes....it all depends on who is making them Tamarind Balls are basically made with sugar and tamarind. There is a spice that is used to give it the nice, hot, biting flavor but Id have to call my mom back. She just went to bed. Ill post the mystery ingredient tomorrow. They are exactly as you described: sour, sweet and spicy. We still have the old ladies in Barbados. It wouldn't be Barbados without them. The tamarind balls are sold loose. She'd have a bunch of them in a tupperware container (a while back it was just a bowl with a dish cloth covering it) or a jar. They were sold at 10 cent each. Maybe its inflation but I wanted to buy some and found the price had risen to 25 cents each. I dont think anyone ever thought to add them to the jam but, man oh man, that's a great idea.

This is something Id have to make though....I can only find Tamarind Balls at the Asian market.

I guess Ill have to post a copy of this when I get to The Food of Barbados Part II Tamarind Jam Tamarinds Sugar Water Cinnamon Stick Add everything to the pot and reduce. Dont reduce too much or you will end up with Tamarind Paste. Strain to remove seeds and cinnamon stick. I love this when it is still hot but you can bottle it after its cooled a little. I loved this, Gooseberry Jam and Tamarind Balls. You know....I don't think my food is all that different from yours.

Oh I love Tamarind. We have a Tamarind tree in our backyard in Barbados. When the tamarinds are ripe we would pick a bunch of them shell them and make Tamarind Balls, Tamarind Jam or just eat them plain with a little salt. I especially love tamarind jam. Its something every little kid in Barbados eats. There is usually a snack vendor (a little old lady with a stall) parked outside of the school around lunch time and when school lets out. She sells sweets, corn curls (or cheese puffs as Americans like to call them), ackees, black bit** (don't worry its candy ) and suck-a-bubbies. But the one thing that kids would line up for was Tamarind or Gooseberry Jam. The lady would bring her pot out on one of those portable stoves and we would get it fresh. Yum Yum Yum.. Brings back great memories.

I personally thought the portions were too big. In fact they were huge. My hubby on the other hand pointed out that he's getting his moneys worth. After all the entrees cost very close to $20. No one has really explained why they hate the Cheesecake Factory. Is it the food? The wait? The crowd? The service? The cheesecakes suck?? What?

I sub ap for cake flour and since I found out about this one; add a box of puddin mix to the dry ingredients of my scratch cakes.

Hey! I substitute with the chopped bottled stuff when Ive run out of garlic cloves and cant get to the supermarket. I also have a bottle of garlic powder stashed for really desparate times. I really do prefer fresh garlic. But I do have both a pepper mill and powdered black pepper.

Im one of those crazy amateurs.....I make a weekly menu for home, prep all my meat and chop some of my veggies so that my cooking time is shorter. I tried following a recipe once and after whipping out bowl after bowl and some of my coffee mugs, I decided to do it this way. Less dishes to clean, since I didn't have my dishwasher then.

Geez, guilty again! I keep this up and I'll be in Cooking jail for life.

GUILTY as charged.

Thank you Miss J. I posted this thread to let everyone know the true local dishes on my island. Everyone seems to keep lumping all West Indians into only the Jamaicans, Cubans and Bahamians. You don't know how many times Ive been asked if Im Jamaican. Or asked to translate when, frankly, I have no clue what they're saying either. There is more out there than just those islands. I do cook Fish Cakes....you'll find the process for those within my first post. As for his dipping sauce.....can you describe what it looked like?? I could have some of our personal Bajan hot sauce or something he made himself. This thread will focus more on dinner and appetizers. I will be posting another one (Part II) which will be Desserts and Snacks. Like Sugar Cakes, Sweet Bread, Lead Pipes, Ham Cutters and Black Cake. For someone who's never been to Barbados..it should make an interersting read. Jodi

Thank you very much for the post 201....it is a lovely restaurant and I will be adding it to my list of restaurants to eat at. I never thought someone would actually take the time to do an online search. I was expecting to find someone who had actually been to a totally Caribbean/West Indian restaurant. Thank you, Rebecca's sounds like it is a nice Spanish restaurant and the food sounds good. I did a search on Citysearch.com and only found one totally Caribbean restaurant in New Jersey: Katmandu in Trenton but it has no reviews. Has anyone been to this place?? This is kind of what I'm looking for: Maroons - New York Curry Goat, Pepper Pot, Escoveitched Fish, Roti, Ital Stew, Rice & Peas, Callaloo, Cod Fish Cakes, Cookup Rice, Pelau, Oxtail and Peas & Rice, Steamed Red Snapper and Jerk Chicken/Pork. This is what you would find on a Caribbean menu. You will probably also find a few Southern dishes on one as well. Some Southern Food is very close to what we eat in the West Indies. If I can find out what is on the menu of Katmandu maybe I can find out if it is truly a West Indian/Caribbean restaurant. Thanks again. Jodi

Ack!!!!! My food is prepackaged?? Hmmm, that actually doesn't surprise me. But I'd of thought I'd be able to tell the packaged stuff. My salmon didn't even taste like the "Ive been fozen and defrosted just for you" kind. My asparagus looked like the frozen veggie kind but I wasn't planning on eating it. We were directed to go there by the rave reviews everyone that we asked gave us. I found the food to be great... It wasn't something Id write home to mom about but it didn't kill me. So, what gives? Question: Why do you think people are flocking to the Cheesecake Factory, even with those ridiculous wait times, etc. etc.???

No no Suvir....that's my cooking technique. Im always pressed for time when cooking (3 kids) so I try to keep it simple. I do lots of one pot, or pan, meals. Hmmm most of it is spin offs of Indian cooking. Well thats the reason Im West Indian.....East Indian cuisine is also on my little island as well.

No Suvir....its West Indian Cooking 101! Really though....that sounds like someone trying a recipe for the first time and didn't think the whole thing through. Its more like Mise en "who added those whipped egg whites"! Or a one pot meal!

Ah....what sweet Gnocchi you have my dear....

I definately have to second Fat Guy! I made that mistake once and that one bad egg f***** up my night. Especially since it was the LAST f****** egg of the 30 ounces of eggs I needed for my THREE batches of brownies! Oh well, live and learn. I also have to add this one: Sifting powdered sugar into my Cream Cheese Icing and not checking to make sure I lowered the setting on my mixer to low. I looked like I got hit with a bag of flour.

You know.... I saw that place on Central Ave a few years back when I had to take a bus to work. No car then you see. From the glance I got out of the bus window I saw that is almost a clone to Linn's Place in Paterson (and others throughout the NYC Boroughs), very small, very dark and not very inviting. I usually stick to take out when going to Linn's (so do many other customers) and never stay to actually eat in the tiny room occupied by a few tables, chairs and very bad lighting. Do you think there are no upscale, classy and, dare I say, roomier Caribbean restaurants due to lack of a customer base?? You know, customers who are not west indian or west indian decent? I'm surprised that someone hasn't opened one. I know that many people, other than myself, drive a few miles just to get to Linn's. What do you think is keeping someone from opening one?

Okay, Ive looked and Ive searched and I still end up driving to Paterson, NJ to Linn's Place just to find a West Indian/Caribbean restaurant in New Jersey. Are there no caribbean restaurants in Jersey?? Other than the little bodega looking places??