Staff writer - Nyasha Watson
Christmas is fast approaching and a lot a persons are making preparation for the festive season. And one of the most important things in any celebration for people in the Caribbean is of course food and lots of it. Thus I will be sharing with you one of my favourite Christmas meals to conclude my lessons on cooking; hopefully these mini lessons have been beneficial to you.
Rice and peas is now easier to prepare with pre-packaged coconut milk and peas! Therefore, you will put the peas on the pot with the water, salt, pimento, hot pepper, escallion and thyme and allow it to boil for ten minutes. Then you will add the coconut milk and rice. And then you will need to turn down the stove and allow it to cook for between fifteen to twenty minutes.
Now to the meat curried goat. You will first need to season the mutton with escallion, garlic, pepper, curry powder and salt. Hopefully you would have remembered the secret method of allowing the meat to marinate overnight.
Therefore the following morning you will first need to scrape the seasoning off the meat before putting it into the hot oil. Then you will have to let the meat fry until it is brown and then add two cups of water. Add more water if necessary to make the meat soft.
When it is soft you will then add the remaining seasoning and potatoes to the meat. Then you will turn down the stove and allow cooking for another half an hour. The entire process should take you between two to three hours.
Finally, the sorrel drink, a favourite for Caribbean people around Christmas time. First you are going to cut the sorrel sepals from the seeds. And then you will have to wash the sepals. Then you will have to put the sepals into a crock jar and add ginger, cloves, pimento and cinnamon leaves. Afterwards, you will pour boiling water in the jar and then cover it with a cloth and set aside for either twenty four hours or forty eighth hours.
Then after the time has elapsed, you will then strain the sorrel and sweeten it with sugar. If you are over eighteen!!… then you can also add a little rum to the drink. Finally you will pour the drink in different containers and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
There you have it one of my favourite Christmas meals, hope you will enjoy it too. And remember it is always wiser to eat what you cook.
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