Breadfruit Oil-Down

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Breadfruit Oil-Down is a curry dish of the English-speaking southern Caribbean and particularly common in Trinidad and Tobago , Grenada and Barbados .

Etymology and history

The dish goes back to slaves of African descent. The breadfruit tree ("breadfruit") was introduced in 1793 by William Bligh in the Caribbean as a cheap and nutritious self-catering option for plantation slaves . The part of the name "Oil-Down" describes the preparation method of simmering ingredients in coconut milk until the milk has boiled down to a small residue of oil. An early written preparation instruction can be found in the Handbook of Trinidad Cookery from 1907. In Grenada it is considered a national dish . There it is just called Oil-Down without mentioning the main ingredient.

preparation

In addition to breadfruit and coconut milk, the dish contains onions, garlic, thyme and mild chillies (pimiento pepper) for the taste and hot chillies (often Scotch Bonnet ) for the heat. Frequently used further ingredients are the leaves of the taro plant (dasheen leaves) and spring onions; numerous other vegetables, herbs and spices are used according to personal taste. If necessary, all ingredients are cut into bite-sized pieces. Some vegetables and herbs are fried. Then the coconut milk is stirred in and brought to the boil, then the remaining ingredients are added. In some recipes, the cut ingredients are simply added to a saucepan one at a time. The subsequent cooking time is 30–45 minutes.

The addition of meat or fish is optional. Historically, slaves were only able to get inferior parts of meat such as pork feet or tails. The optional use of pig's feet for breadfruit oil-down has persisted after the end of slavery, but nowadays higher-quality meat parts from various animals or fish are also used. The meat or fish is usually pre-cooked, especially when it comes to inferior parts that need a long cooking time to become tender. Meat is then boiled again with the dish, while fish is only added at the end. The addition of dumplings is typical for Grenada. Alternatively, cassava can be used instead of breadfruit .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ramin Ganeshram: Sweet Hands. Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago . Hippocrene Books, New York 2012, ISBN 0-7818-1125-2 , pp. 105 .
  2. ↑ Danielle Delon (Ed.): A Handbook of Trinidad Cookery 1907 . Cassique Publications, Port of Spain 2016, ISBN 978-976-95415-5-9 , pp. 51 .
  3. ↑ Gov.gd: Oil down - National Dish of Grenada. Retrieved September 2, 2017 .
  4. ^ The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago. Naparima Girls' High School Cookbook . 2nd Edition. Naparima Girls' High School, San Fernando 2002, ISBN 976-8173-65-3 , pp.  117 .
  5. ^ Oil Down. In: SimplyTriniCooking.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017 .
  6. ↑ CaribbeanPot.com: An Unconventional Grenadian Oil Down. Retrieved September 2, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Meatless Cassava Oiled down. In: TriniGourmet.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017 .