Is there a certain food or meal that takes you back to your childhood? Perhaps there is a meal that evokes a story in your family? The dish comes to the table and someone invariably says, "Remember the time when....."
Our favourite dishes are usually not gourmet fare nor are they cooked up a Michelin chef, although those are nice too. Our best meals are often those that have been , lovingly prepared by mothers, grandmothers or dads :-). Such food is unpretentious and honest. It makes use of readily available local ingredients and carves a spot in our psyche that makes it extra special.
Some weeks ago we received a bag of fresh corn. My father was immediately transported to his youth and spoke excitedly about making Green Corn Dumplings. 'Green' meaning raw corn, straight off the cob. I became curious as to the taste. Calls to various family members directed me to my Aunt in Union Island who told me how to make them.
All told it was a fun project and a look back in time to when Caribbean islanders were more directly involved with the food that they ate, from it's cultivation, to processing and cooking.
My four year old enthusiastically helped with the grinding of the corn, hopefully creating his own nostalgic ties to this traditional food. For my part, I remembered my Carib grandmother who grew corn and ground her own cornflour. My brother remembered the time when... "all the corn had to be harvested early because of Hurricane David and we glutted ourselves on roasted corn".
Green Corn Dumplings
Rough approximations.
Ingredients
8 cups Green Corn
1 1/2 tbs white flour
1/4 cup warm water, slightly brackish ( translation: slightly salted- don't you just love the Vincy turn of phrase?)
A pot spoon of flour ( Ah yes, the standard measuring spoon of West Indian cooks:-)
Method
Mix together flour and corn. Make a well in the center of the corn and slowly add 1/4 cup or less, warm, salted water stirring until it comes together - enough that you can shape it with your hand. Make your dumplings in the shape that you prefer and place in coconut milk which has come to a rolling boil. Traditionally in St Vincent and the Grenadines these dumplings are served in a soup that is called Boilin.
Once the dumplings were cooked, we added some well seasoned dolphin (Mahi- Mahi) fish steaks on top of the dumplings and simmered until they were cooked.
Many of my parent's generation are of the opinion that the convenience of processed foods means that we sacrifice taste and nutrition for ease of preparation. What do you think? In this instance I am inclined to agree. These dumplings were a treat and so full of flavour that it was akin to eating an actual boiled corn. Simply put they taste like corn and you will be amazed after eating them to discover that in comparison processed cornmeal doesn't actually taste like corn at all.
