It is believed that when Portuguese sailors discovered Barbados, they decided to name the island after the bearded fig trees they found there. The trees have long hanging roots that resemble beards, hence "Los Barbados", which means "The Bearded Ones".
The national dish of Barbados is Flying Fish and Cou Cou. I looked for flying fish at the Tropical Market in Roxbury, but they were out. Since haddock was the only white fish we could find fresh this week, that's what I went with. It actually held up pretty well for being marinated, breaded, and fried. I used a recipe I found on Boston.com. They just ran an article last week on the national dish of Barbados, and even mention the Tropical Market! Check out the article here.
Cou cou is basically a Caribbean version of polenta. I made it by boiling sliced okra and onions for ten minutes, then draining them and reserving the okra water. I put the okra and onions back into the pot and added cornmeal that had been mixed with salt and water. Over medium heat, I cooked the mixture and stirred constantly, occasionally adding the warm okra stock. When the cou cou thickened to a polenta-like consistency, I set the burner to low and let it sit while I fried the fish.
I served the fish and cou cou with a lemon wedge and Tabasco, and Ted and I both devoured our plates. If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the warm white sand oozing up between my toes. All that was missing was an ice cold Carib....
Barbados will not, sadly, be our vacation destination. The overall score for the meal earned an admirable 3.75, but still not our highest score to date. Regardless, I would highly recommend trying the fried flying fish recipe with your favorite firm white fish!
No comments:
Post a Comment