From Tar Hams to Salt Butter
...PoS grocery takes shoppers back to old-time days
Credit to Author : Charles Kong Soo
Sing Chong Supermarket on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, is a modern supermarket, but shoppers can feel as if they stepped through a time warp to the old-time days of Chinese shopkeepers and parlours on the village corner.In one section of the supermarket you can find loose salt butter, table margarine, lard and peanut butter packed neatly in white wrapping paper just like in "Mr Chin's" shop from a bygone era.
The culinary treasure that attracts foodies and tantalises the taste buds of the golden generation alike, however, is the tar ham hanging from the ceiling. This is the same type of ham granny and grandpa used to boil in a biscuit tin over a wood fire or pitch-oil stove in the backyard and sometimes baked after in a coalpot tin oven or mud oven.
Anthony Low, the supermarket's owner, said since his father, Johnson Achong Low opened Sing Chong's in the 1940s they were importing premium tar hams or soak and boil hams as they were also called.He said, "Since I was 14 years old and working with my father, in those days we were bringing in Darling Downs ham from Australia and Swift's ham from the US encased in tar."Tar and Darling Downs ham got expensive, and when Government banned ham importations in the '70s it became too prohibitive.
"When the market opened up in the '80s I began bringing in this brand, 'Piggy' ham every year."Low's son, Christopher, said he knew of the ham hanging from the supermarket's ceiling since he was small.He said when the distributor was no longer importing salt hams, the supermarket decided to source it for itself.Christopher said there were not many other supermarkets selling the traditional hams.
Low said not everyone had a fridge in the early days, that the ham didn't need refrigeration, and it could last for three years with just some loss in weight.He said even when it was cooked, the ham could be left outside covered and it wouldn't spoil.Low said people started using big pots to cook their hams in when they became available, and the unique smell given off by the ham cooking in the yard wafting in the open air could be detected by neighbours a great distance away.
He said he kept at least 12 hams for himself and boils one every month to share with his family, friends and employees, and it goes very fast.Low said a customer bought a soak and boil ham and returned it on Christmas eve 2012 "burnt like charcoal," asking him if he knew how to cook it.The man said his mother had died and she cooked the ham for his family every year when she was alive.He had never learned how to prepare the ham, and he had put it in the oven to bake.
Low gave the man the cooking instructions: soak the ham for three to four days, add lime or sugar, discard the water every day, boil for at least two hours until done, bake after if so desired, adding cloves and pine for a different flavour.He gave the man a replacement ham. The man returned to him after Boxing Day to say thanks as it came out "perfectly" like his mother's.Low's plan is to ask the manufacturers to place cooking instructions with the hams in the next shipment.
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According to Historian Angelo Bissessarsingh tar hams were made locally in the South-West peninsula from the '30s up to the early '50s
Source: Virtual Museum of TT, Dec 24, 2021

While parang music is being played in the background, Trinidadian kitchens will be busy making pastelles during the holiday season.
Pastelles are a Caribbean dish similar to tamales and are traditionally made at this time of the year, says Arielle Neils, executive chef with Kitchener, Ont.'s the Compass Group, including in her home.
"It's said that they are a very old dish coming from Spanish influence," Neils says of the Trinidadian version she loves to prepare. "Making them brings me back to being in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother at Christmas time."
Beef or chicken is sautéed with capers, olives, raisins and other aromatics, which are then stuffed into a pocket of corn flour dough and wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf.
"It's important to note that we use corn flour, not cornmeal," Neils said.
Grandmother taught her to cookShe has been making pastelles since she was seven years old in Chaguanas in central Trinidad, helping her grandmother, who was a chef and caterer.
"My grandmother was the first person who taught me to cook. She's still with us and represents the mix of cultures that is Trinidad," Neils says. "When I was 13 years old, my grandmother took a catering job for a huge number of pastelles. It took us two days to make them all. We worked very hard and they surprised me by getting me a cellphone when we were done."


Learning to cook at a grandmother's elbow is a common memory shared by many chefs. From a dough-making perspective, Neils learned the importance of touch and feel — how a successful pastelle dough must be pliant and malleable.
"My grandmother taught me to squeeze the dough and if a crack forms, it needs more liquid because it is too dry."
Typically eaten close to Christmas Day, pastelles seem to inspire people to assemble them much earlier, according to Neils.
"I was looking on Facebook in November and people have already started making and eating pastelles."
'Heart, passion and love' go into pastellesThe process isn't necessarily difficult, but there are several steps so Neils advises getting all your ingredients ready and waiting before starting to cook. While some cooks boil pastelles, she prefers to steam them for a better texture. 
She said you can omit the butter and meat in the ingredients and use lentils for vegan pastelles.
Neils recommends visiting Latin and West Indian grocery stores for supplies such as green seasoning and banana leaves.
"As for the Scotch bonnets, if you don't like too much heat, remove the seeds and membrane, or leave them out all together," she said. 
The tactile act of working the dough and folding it into banana leaves also stirs memories of childhood for Neils.
"Making pastelles, I start to feel warm inside. There is heart, passion and love that goes into making them," she said, adding it's important for her to pass along the tradition to her son.
"Pastelles … bring me fond memories of working in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother; they feed the soul and create happiness and fulfilment.
"They are the ultimate Christmas food in my culture."


Beef pastelles by chef Arielle NeilsIngredients
For the dough:

• 1 cup corn flour
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1¼ cup water
  
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• ½ teaspoons beef bouillon cube
  

For the filling:

• 3 tablespoons green seasoning (available in West Indian food stores)
  
• ½ lb ground beef
  
• ¼  cup diced onions
  
• ¼ cup chopped pimento peppers
  
• ¼ cup diced celery (optional)
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped pimento-stuffed olives
  
• ¼ cup raisins
  
• 1 teaspoons capers
  
• ¼ cup sliced green onion 
  
• 2 sprigs chopped Italian parsley
  
• 1 teaspoon annatto paste
  
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  
• Salt
  
• Black pepper
  
• 6 pieces banana leaf measuring 9 inches by 9 inches
  
• Butcher's twine
  
• ¼ cup canola oil
  

Method:
Marinate ground beef with green seasoning and refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Add marinated ground beef to a hot pan and cook for six minutes or until meat is browned. 
Add onions, celery and garlic, sauté for three minutes, then add pimento peppers, olives, capers, Worcestershire, annatto, raisins, salt and pepper. Sauté until peppers and raisins have softened and any liquid has evaporated (about four to five minutes).
Turn off heat and add green onions and Italian parsley, then set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl add warm water and butter. In another medium bowl add corn flour, beef bouillon and sugar (pinch of salt and pepper is optional). 
Once butter is melted in water, begin adding the water mix little by little to the corn flour until dough comes together and is very soft.
Divide the dough into six roughly equal parts.
Wash and dry your hands and then rub your palms together with oil. 
Spoon the dough into your oiled hands and shape into a ball, one by one; they don't need to be perfect spheres.  
Cover the dough balls with a wet towel and set aside.
Add water to a pot or steamer, place on medium-high heat and allow water to come to a boil. A colander over a pot of boiling water also works well.
Cut seven pieces of banana leaf and use a brush to oil the flat side of the banana leaf.
Method for banana-leaf wrappers:
Ensure banana leaf is on a flat surface and place dough in the middle of the greased side of the banana leaf; cover with another piece of banana leaf, greased side down to touch the dough then press dough to open up (it doesn't have to be a perfect circle). If using a tortilla press, follow the same method and continue with all the dough balls. Feel free to stack them in the press.
Add cooked meat to the middle of the opened up pastelle dough.
Gently fold the leaves in two opposite sides, one at a time over the filling, then fold in the remaining two ends to enclose the pastelle.
If boiling, cut pieces of butcher's twine and tie around the pastelle in the banana leaves so they don't open when boiling. If steaming, skip this step as you can steam seam side down.
Steam or boil for 15 to 20 minutes then remove from heat and allow to cool for five minutes in a colander. 
Unfold, eat and enjoy!
These can be refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for up to three months then steamed or boiled as you go. If steaming before freezing, they can be reheated (two at a time) in a microwave with a small bowl of water beside them.
​Source: CBC News, Dec 11, 2021

Courtesy Newsday.

FOR Vidya Maharaj, home is where the heart is, and one of the ways she expresses her love is through food.
Maharaj runs a successful India-fusion vegetarian restaurant in Miami called Diya, where she is proud to show off her Indo-Trinidadian heritage. 
Serving up aloo-pies and doubles with her twist, Maharaj enjoys experimenting in the kitchen and surprising customers’ palettes with an array of flavours.
Originally from Sangre Grande, Maharaj left high school to further her studies in the United States.
She says food was not initially part of her plan, but acknowledges that life itself can take you down many paths. 
Maharaj said right after she graduated from Northeastern College, she went to Miami to become a doctor, but instead she became a scientist.
“I am the vice-president of a biotech company that submits FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approved new drugs and therapies during the day, and at night, I am chef,” she said.
Maharaj says it took some convincing from her brother to share her passion for cooking with the world.
“Diya was established in November 2018 and was officially opened for fine dining in January 2019. The name Diya is a combination of my mom’s name (Daya) and my name Vidya,” she said.
Maharaj is the executive chef at Diya, and as a bonus, she works with her family: her younger brother Dharam, his wife Valeri, and her older brother Muneshwar. Her 20-month old niece Rani is also a part of the family’s food legacy.
Although her brother, Dharam, actually established the restaurant, Maharaj says it was her intervention at a critical stage that caused it to thrive. 
She said, “My brother always loved my cooking and wanted me to open a restaurant. He said I had it in me to be an amazing chef. I declined as I was at the height of my career in the biotech world. I finally said yes in January 2019 when I attended his soft opening and realized he would lose all his money if I didn’t intervene.
“I told my job it was a family emergency and immediately took four days off. It was a Tuesday. I told him we would do a reopening on Friday night. I started on the menu on my way home and tried to incorporate things I like and a fusion of Miami.” 
Maharaj said she never doubted that she could be an integral part of a successful restaurant. She was more concerned that her brother, Dharam, would lose it all.
“He and his wife had just had a baby girl two months before. I had to step in. Love for my family was greater than anything. I am lucky I have a very supportive husband who lets me do these things,” she said.
Maharaj had absolutely no professional culinary background, but her gamble paid off.
She said, “We serve fusion traditional Indian cuisine. In the beginning, we used to serve up traditional Trini aloo pie and doubles and Indian street food. It changed due to manpower and popularity as a result of the pandemic. I moved towards more traditional Indian cuisine and, recently, world fusion. For example, we do kofta pasta, a spin on traditional malai kofta. We still serve doubles but on an elevated level and call it channa taco.”
Maharaj says her fusion of traditional Indian cuisine costs between $10 - $30US per dish, and her channa taco is popular with customers.
The pandemic has not only been a colossal global-health crisis, but it has also been the toughest challenge for the restaurant industry to date. While some countries have been able to roll back restrictions, some restaurants may never reopen.
Maharaj says in the ever-changing economic landscape, Diya has had to adapt and refine its fine-dining restaurant model to move forward in the new normal.
She said, “We opened before the pandemic and had to do whatever it took to stay open. We are growing by the day, and people are saying our dishes are different but worth Michelin stars. We pride ourselves on service, food, and presentation.” 
For first-timers to the restaurant, Maharaj recommends they try Gobi Manchurian, channa taco (doubles), kofta pasta, and their signature ras malai tres leches.
Given the present economic landscape, she does not plan on opening a branch of Diya in Trinidad soon, but is planning on expanding her menu to include more elevated Asian cuisine.
The restaurant is located at Sunset Harbour in Miami.  Source: Sunday Express, Aug 4, 2021