Category: The Caribbean

Riceycoco

Greetings friends and welcome to Jamaica!  Today, on the back of my trip to tropical FNQ (Far North Queensland), I am featuring a recipe from the Caribbean. Riceycoco comes to us via the pages of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). It also comes very high on the list of words I find pleasant to say!  And that is all the justification I needed to make it!

 

Riceycoco

 

Riceycoco, is as the name suggests, rice cooked in coconut milk.  It is traditionally eaten for breakfast which reminded me of a Sri Lankan dish called Kiribath (milk rice).  There the difference ends.  Kiribath is eaten with chutneys and sambols as a savoury dish whereas Riceycoco is sweet.    I am not fond of a sweet breakfast so I ate mine as a dessert, similar to a rice pudding.  To amp up the tropical vibes, I added some mango to the mix.  

Riceycoco2Rice and coconut milk is a classic in many Asian countries and I enjoyed the twist of having a sweet version of something I am more familiar with as a savoury dish.  It was also a nice reminder of the tropics now we are back in cold, grey Melbourne! Its also a very soothing comfort food – a little bit like being cocooned in a warm cuddlepillar!

Daisy - Cuddlepillar

Riceycoco – The Recipe & Notes

 

Riceycoco Recipe

  • I used coconut milk from a can instead of fresh coconut milk.
  • I also swapped out the brown sugar for maple syrup.
  • I served some additional coconut milk on the side.  
  • This would also be spectacular with a dollop of coconut yoghurt.

If you want to be reminded of the tropics, like a sweet breakfast or want the nursery comfort of a rice pudding why not give Riceycocoa try  Even just so you get to say the name a few times!  

Have a great week!

The Zombie’s Secret

Hello friends and welcome to a spooky edition of Retro Food for Modern Times. Today, via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972) we will be discovering The Zombie’s Secret. And also learning that some things are better left undiscovered. But we will get to that! So what is The Zombie’s Secret? 

 

So, if not brains, then what is The Zombie’s Secret?  What if I were to drop you a clue that this recipe comes from the Caribbean chapter of GHWC?  Oh…I hear you say.  It’s a cocktail.  I bet it has lots of rum and is so potent it will turn you into the walking dead!  No, but the cocktail in the link looks and sounds delish!!! 

This is the Zombie’s Secret:

The Zombie's Secret1

Turns out, The Zombie’s Secret is a weird fruit salad with a coffee cream topping.  I’ll be honest here,  I didn’t love this.  I’m not a great lover of bananas and this was all a bit same-same in terms of texture.  Bananas are kind of mushy as are avocados, as is cream cheese which also felt like it didn’t belong when I was adding it.  It did, however, give the dish a cheesecakey vibe which was one of the nicest things about it.  I toasted my coconut which added some much-needed crunch. Maybe the soft texture of banana, avocado, cream cheese, and cream is the texture of brains?  Maybe this is the secret for vegetarian zombies?  Maybe all the vitamins and minerals contained in bananas and avocados give our brain-hungry friends their beautiful hair and skin? Who knew discovering this secret would learn to so many questions?

 

The Zombie’s Secret – Recipe

 

The Zombie's Secret2

 

The Zombie's Secret Recipe

The flavours in this were surprisingly good, it was really the lack of texture that let it down.  I think someone (not me because ewww bananas) could use these ingredients and make a lovely cheesecake.  Coconut crumb base, avocado, and cream cheese filling, topped with some bananas and the coffee spiked cream maybe with a little of Caribbean rum thrown in! 

Now that sounds like a secret worth sharing!  

Have a great week!  

 

Moors and Christians

I love food that has an evocative/unusual name so as soon as I saw a recipe for something called Moors and Christians in the Caribbean chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972), I knew it was something I wanted to cook.  Moors and Christians 2

This dish which is a mix of black beans and rice comes from Cuba and looks back to the time of conflict between the Moors and Christians in Spain.  It represents the end of this conflict and how two different cultures can live side by side in harmony.  Which is a heartwarming story for a lovely spot of comfort food!  

Moors and Christians was a great side dish to a very non-Cuban lamb and potato curry we were having that night for dinner.  I  could also see myself just eating it with a little pico de gallo-style salad.  Or mixed some pulled beef or chicken as a burrito filling!  

Moors and Christians

 

Moors and Christians – The Recipe

Moors and Christians recipe

 

 

This looks to be a very simple version of Moors and Christians.  There are some more elaborate versions on the internet if you want something more fancy!0 

I was also fascinated to see that my dish which I cooked without a picture reference was a lot paler than most of the other dishes.  I think this might be because I cheated a little bit and used canned black beans.  

Travel Aspirations

I am fairly sure that Moors and Christians is the first Cuban-inspired food I have eaten.  And reflecting on it reawakened a long-held desire of mine to travel there.  I first got the urge after watching The Beuna Vista Social Club many years ago.  The music, the dancing, the culture really spoke to me!  Now that we can travel again, I guess I better start saving!  

Havana here I come!

Have a great week!