Janet's Trini Christmas Lyme

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The last Monday of November was a night to remember as a dozen Trinidadians living in Kingston, along with their Jamaican spouses, and the High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Iva Gloudon, her mum Una and daughter Shania gathered at Janet and Steve Hanna's home for a Trini Christmas Lyme. The pair are no strangers to entertaining, and as Christmas Parang music was played in lieu of carols, guests lymed outside where the Hannas had wheeled their portable bar!

In typical Trini style, Janet, who moved here to marry Steve a decade ago, whipped up a variety of Trini treats, while accepting help from other fellow countrymen and women. These natives from the twin-island republic don't do food and drink in halves! Greeting each person with Greg Dalton-Brown's Ponch de Crème (like eggnog) and her sorrel with white rum, Janet kept her friends' glasses full all evening!

It wasn't long before all of us were ready to start the feast. Zarna Herrera Drummond whetted our appetites with Buljohl (similar to pick-up saltfish) and Crix crackers, and Janet treated us to shrimp wontons, a Chinese speciality her family often serves over Christmas. It's not unusual for each ethnicity in Trinidad and Tobago to add a bit of their own culture and cuisine to the festivities. According to Natasha Bakon, who couldn't make it that night, her Indian family back home will always cook up some curry duck and roti.

With beverage in hand, Zarna started frying the garlic pork, which Heidi Lalor had marinating from several days before. Upon Heidi's advice, it was done on the outdoor stove; otherwise the Hannas' house would still smell of bacon well into next year! In the dutch pot adjacent to the pork simmered Indi Couch's creamy corn soup - a dish normally guzzled down in the wee hours of the morning, after a fete!

Once the crispy, yet succulent swine was cooked, it was enjoyed alongside Janet's garlic potatoes, pig foot souse, cucumber chow and baked ham. The latter went particularly well with Greg's home-made Hops bread and Liz Emmanuel Murray's Creole pepper sauce. Of course, no Christmas feast in Trinidad is complete without Pastelles, which were handmade by Racquel Goddard, and no Trini meal is complete without Mother-In-Law sauce, which is a pepper sauce that Scott Clarke had concocted.

The final touches were baked by Greg, who made a moist Black Cake, and Liz, who pulled together two loaves of stunningly divine Sweet Breads. A call for more Ponch de Crème was in order. It was by sheer luck that the second bottle was in fact found (there was a moment of panic there!) under a mound of ice in the cooler.

Menu

Sorrel - Janet

Ponche de Crème - Greg

Bujol and Crix - Zarna

Pig Foot Souse - Janet

Shrimp wontons - Janet

Pastelles - Racquel

Cucumber Chow - Janet

Mother-In-Law sauce - Liz

Garlic Pork - Heidi, Zarna and the Trini men

Garlic potatoes - Janet

Baked ham - Janet and Greg's oven

Hops - Greg

Sweet Bread - Liz

— Emma Dalton Brown

We've got these Trini Christmas recipes and more in our Christmas Cookbook available FREE next week Monday, December 19 2011.

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Janet's Trini Christmas Lyme