There are so many things I’d never touch even with a 10ft pole as a child, but I find myself having cravings for the very same things as I grew older. Fish, Fried Ochro, Pumpkin, Water Cress and any of the more stronger tasting greens like Chorai. But I’ve always been a huge fan of dasheen bush baggie (sp) and due to necessity, I’ve grown very fond of Swiss Card. To this day I still won’t touch “Caraili” or in most cases cooked goat. I can only imagine how dificult it was for my mom having to cook to please the appetite of 4 children. It’s a good thing both my mom and dad never made a fuss about food.
Every spring one of the first plants to hit the dirt in our small backyard garden is Swiss Chard. I usually go overboard by planting too much and end up having more than I could possibly cook in one season. At least Caron’s friend’s mom loves the stuff and accepts the extras without any force đŸ™‚
You’ll need…
1 bundle Swiss Chard (wash and cut – see image below)
1 chili pepper (optional)
2 tablespoon coconut cream (optional)
Salt * Only if you don’t use the salted cod.
dash black pepper
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic crushed/sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 tablespoon salted cod (optional) * please excuse my measurement.. I didn’t know how else to explain this.
Start by washing each leaf of the chard under running water. The chard we get here in Canada seems to have been grown in sandy soil, so washing is very important. Cut out the tips of the stalk (area that may be brown or discolored) but don’t remove all the white stem..we’ll be using that as well. Grab a few leaves and wrap them tightly, then with a sharp knife on a cutting board, start slicing into thin strips.
After you’ve sliced the entire bundle of Chard, place in a drainer and run cold water over it again to ensure any sand/dirt is completely removed.
Peel and sliced the garlic and onion, as well as the chili pepper.
I usually soak the piece of salted cod in hot water for about 10 minutes, then I strip into pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan under med-high heat. Then add the strips of salted cod and allow to cook from about 3 minutes. Then add the onion, garlic and chili. Allow this to cook until it starts going golden brown (about 3-5minutes).
At this point you can start adding the sliced Swiss chard to the pot. It will pile up quite a bit, but as it cooks, it will decrease in size. Keep adding as it goes down in size. Then cover the pot and allow to cook on a low heat. it will release it’s own natural juices. Don’t forget to add a dash of black pepper.
After about 15 minutes or so, add the coconut cream and stir everything around so the cream gets to flavor everything. Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes (until all the liquid dries up and everything starts to melt). You may prefer to keep things a bit more crunchy (like a stir fry). The choice is yours… just control the cooking time.
* Salt – since I added the salted codfish, there will be no need for adding additional salt. However if you choose not to use the fish, please taste and add salt as to your liking. The coconut cream (milk) is also optional, but I find that it really enhances the dish so I do recommend that you do use it.
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Do you ever wonder how things get their name? I remember my mom had a kitchen garden at the back of our house, where she’d grow things that usually ended up on our plate.. Things like herbs, peppers, tomato, eggplant, ground provisions etc. One of the peppers she grew was called “bird” pepper, which is known as Thai chili or Tabasco peppers here in north America. Why “bird”? not sure, but as a kid I do remember when the trees were laden with those bright red peppers, we’d see birds coming to feed on them. You’d also find these pepper trees in the most out-of-place spots. Simply because the birds would feed, digest and then wherever their dropping fell.. there was the chance that a tree would grow there.
As with any trip to Trinidad and Tobago, breakfast means sourcing out the best doubles in Port Of Spain as I usually arrive with a severe craving. I came to learn that the doubles vendors are not only judged on the size, texture and taste of the doubles itself, but what makes a doubles considered the “best” is the chutney and other accompanying hot sauces the vendor provides. Without that “good pepper”, an excellent doubles could easily go unnoticed.
You’re probably thinking… “but Chris, you’ve already posted a 
This recipe post is inspired by a conversation I had with a lady at the grocery store recently. I recall when we first moved to Canada, finding any food closely related to what we enjoyed in the Caribbean was almost impossible. If you didn’t source out a specialty store, you had to settle for typical North American food. How times have changed. I can now go to just about any grocery store and find things such as yams, eddoes, dasheen, plantain, cassava, ochro … even bodi!
Not sure of this should be classified as a recipe or not, but I do know it’s affectionately known as “bache” or bachelor food among the people I know. “Bache” usually refers to any food that can be cooked (or not) in under 5 minutes… basically something fast. As a youth this was the norm as part of Good Friday lunch. It’s true that we had access to tons of fresh fish being that we lived on islands, but somehow that salmon that came in a can still made it’s way onto our menu. You either had it on rice or with lovely ground provisions, like yam, eddoes and dasheen. My dad used to top his with olive oil, something only in my adult life did I learn to appreciate.
