IT’S hard to imagine how the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judges have managed to keep up with the rate at which we’ve been eating since our official meetings this year began in April. The truth is, we are all foodies, so we are at it all-year round in some way.

Although it may be natural for each of us to critique every morsel we bite into, it is refreshing to just sit and enjoy whatever comes, without ‘judging’ what we are consuming. So it was last month, when one of the judges hosted the rest of us in a beautiful home overlooking Kingston. The idea was for each judge to cook, or have catered, their best dish.

Nevada Powe

Greeted with a pumpkin bisque that Nevada Powe calls “a staple in the Powe home”, we found it difficult not to ask for a second cup, but with a sense of what was to come, we decided to hold off. It is basically “Karen Neita’s reinterpretation of a recipe given to her by Norma Shirley about 15 years ago,” Powe recounted, “and the secret ingredients are the Sherry and a whiff of white rum.” The exact recipe was not revealed, but I intend to attempt to replicate it soon, as it was delicious.

Next up were the hors d’oeuvres, made by moi, all of which were carefully chosen because they collectively incorporate the comfort foods I like to devour at any given time.

Rochelle Cameron

brought us back to our local cuisine with Marcia Leyow’s curried mutton “because it’s really a Jamaican national dish, and everyone likes it, even those who don’t eat meat.” she quipped… similar to the people who don’t eat pork, but will certainly devour bacon once its aroma starts filling the air.

Suitably served alongside the curried mutton was a curried seafood lasagne which is “an old Neita family recipe that was originally on the side of a cornflakes box”, Powe informed me. “Michelle Neita keeps revising it,” he went on, “and the secret is in the mix of cheeses, herbs and curry.” Nevada insists that “The Neita girls, alone or together, are two of the best cooks in Jamaica, as they both like to experiment and fuse interesting flavours, extending the reach of comfort food by adding a little zing.” Indeed!

Cathrine Kennedy

She dished the dirt on her lasagne. “It’s actually Carina Melville’s beef lasagne,” she confessed. “I would have made my own if I had had time. So Carina made it for me, as she does a fabulous one,” she boasted on her behalf. “Lasagne is essentially comfort food, and it is my favourite Sunday dish,” Kennedy concluded.

Toni Spence

Next came Toni Spence’s herb-crusted chicken breast, stuffed with callaloo and cheese. “As a woman on the go,” she said followed by a laugh “you want something that is quick, but reminiscent of an exquisite dining experience.” Although she made it herself, the recipe is from her sister. “The whole stuffed idea makes it more interesting and appealing to me,” she insisted.

Annaliesa Lindsay

One of the hits of the night was Annaliesa Lindsay’s BBQ ribs, which “I seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder,” she explained, “and then marinated them in a mixture I made with plum sauce, soy sauce and honey, and chopped garlic, onion, escallion, thyme and Scotchie.” This was left to marinate for at least a day. “And the mango salsa,” she went on, “contained Bombay mangoes, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, escallion, Scotchie, salt and pepper to taste, and lime juice.” The two were scrumptious together, and separately.

NMW

Our conceptualiser chose to bring a chicken pot pie made by Mario Machado as she “wanted the perfect comfort food — wholesome and delicious — without the fanfare, for our get-together. Plus, I was having the flu.” No wonder, after executing such a finely tuned and exquisite event five days earlier. “Who makes a better pie than Mario?” A rhetorical question of course, because NMW already knows the answer to that one!

Arnella Chin

Her macaroni and cheese was chosen because “It was the easiest thing to cook in such a short space of time after work,” she said. Arnella has been baking this pasta for a long time, “Since Immaculate days,” she said, “where I learned how to make it. And everyone in my family loves it.”

Jodi Henriques

Chin’s best buddie, Jodi Henriques, brought along her mum’s green bean casserole, which is “the first thing that disappears at Christmas dinner, or any birthday”, she bragged. Her husband Sean was so taken with this recipe that he promised Jodi “If you learn how to make this, I’ll marry you.” Tick!

Matthew Hogarth

The judge who will never leave the table (as long as NMW has anything to say about it), Matthew Hogarth, brought along his mushroom bread pudding because Cathrine Kennedy insisted on it. “It’s a standard request from all our friends,” Kennedy told us, “and his wife Lisa married him for it.”

“Having lived in the Cayman Islands for three years in the nineties,” Hogarth related his story, “I naturally became a fan of Tortuga Rum cakes. Also, having Robert and Carlene Hamaty as neighbours only made this addiction worse. I have tried to replicate the recipe the best way I can… with Appleton V/X rum of course!”

Odette Dixon-Neath

There was barely room for the desserts brought by Odette Dixon-Neath, who was hell-bent on bringing a chocolate cake, and wisely chose Nadene Lazarus to construct her Death By Chocolate Cake and chocolate cupcakes. However, just for good measure, Nadene’s Guava Mini Cheesecake was tossed into the mix, which concluded my favourite tastes.

MENU FOR JUDGES’ FAVOURITE TASTES:

Pumpkin Soup – Nevada Powe

Spicy ‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin Tuna Rolls – Emma Sharp Dalton-Brown

‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin Trini Tuna Tartar – Emma Sharp Dalton-Brown

Chicken Liver Pâté with Home-made Bread – Emma Sharp Dalton-Brown

Roasted Ratatouille-Inspired Salsa with Home-made Bread – Emma Sharp Dalton-Brown

Curried Mutton & Rice – Rochelle Cameron

Curry Seafood Lasagne – Nevada Powe

Beef Lasagna – Cathrine Kennedy

Herb-crusted Chicken Breast Stuffed with Callaloo & Cheese – Toni Spence

BBQ Ribs – Annaliesa Lindsay

Chicken Pot Pie – Novia McDonald-Whyte

Macaroni & Cheese – Arnella Chin

Green Bean Casserole – Jodi Henriques

Mushroom Bread Pudding – Matthew Hogarth

Rum Cake – Matthew Hogarth

Death by Chocolate Cake – Odette Dixon-Neath

Chocolate Cupcakes – Odette Dixon-Neath

Guava Cheesecake – Chosen by Odette for Emma (a special favourite!)

Spicy ‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin Tuna Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:

10 oz ‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin tuna, chopped up into very small cubes (eatfresh.ja@gmail.com )

4 tblsps home-made mayonnaise

4 tsps Siracha chilli sauce

10 oz raw sushi rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon caster sugar

4 teaspoons rice vinegar

4 nori seaweed sheets

Method:

1. Cook the sushi rice with the salt according to instructions.

2. Place in a bowl and mix in the sugar and vinegar. Allow to cool completely.

3. Mix together the mayonnaise and Siracha chilli sauce. Use half of it to mix with the tuna and place the other half in a dipping bowl.

4. Place a nori sheet on a sushi mat and cover half the nori sheet with rice, about 1/2 cm thickness. 5 Place a quarter of the spicy tuna along the middle.

6. Use the sushi mat to roll it up. Wrap with cling film and place on a plate in the fridge.

7. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

8. This can be prepared a few hours before eating.

9. When ready, trim the ends with a very sharp knife, then cut the remaining rolls into 8, cleaning the knife between each slice.

10. Serve on a platter along with the remaining spicy sauce.

‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin Tuna Tartar Trini-Style

Ingredients:

10 oz ‘Eat FRESH’ Black Fin Tuna, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes (eatfresh.ja@gmail.com)

A few drops of very hot Trini pepper sauce (it is hotter than Jamaican pepper sauce) 1.5 fl oz fresh lime juice 1.5 fl oz Extra Virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon minced Chadon Beni with a dash of vinegar (use cilantro as an alternative)

Sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix the pepper sauce, lime juice, olive oil and Chadon Beni in a glass bottle.

2. Place the chopped tuna in a bowl, and just before serving, pour the Trini-style sauce over the top and coat evenly, adding a little sea salt to taste.

3. Serve in Oriental spoons on a platter.

Chicken Liver Pate:

Basically the recipe is secret, but here is a guideline to making your own.

Use a fair amount of butter for starters. Melt half of what you, are using in a pan, saute some onion, then garlic, and remove from pan. Next, fry up your chicken livers (I use Best Dressed because they are packaged very tightly and do not ‘leak’ in your fridge or freezer), until just cooked through. Pour in a little tipple, and cook for a minute or so. Pour all the ingredients into a food processor, along with the other half of butter, and whiz until smooth. Serve with your favourite bread. I use a bread recipe inspired by Jamie Oliver.

Roasted Ratatouille-Inspired Salsa:

Ingredients:

4 fl oz Extra Virgin olive oil

1 Potosi Farms purple eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (veggies@potosifarms.com  )

1 Potosi Farms white eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 Potosi Farms small red onions, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2-3 Potosi Farms green peppers, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (of course use Potosi Farms if they have them)

1 handful Potosi Farms lemon basil, finely chopped

4 small cloves of garlic, skins left on 3 plummy tomatoes, seeded & chopped into 1/4 inch cubes

2-4 small green chili peppers, finely chopped Sea salt & black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Place all the vegetables in a very large roasting pan along with 2 fl oz olive oil, mix well, and roast for about 25 minutes until soft and about to turn golden. Remove from the oven and pick the garlic out.

3. Pour all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl, and mix in the chili peppers.

4. Squeeze the garlic out into a small bowl, add a little olive oil and mix well. Mix this into the roasted vegetables.

5. Season with salt and pepper, more lemon basil and chilies if you like, and leave to sit overnight in the fridge to absorb all the flavours.

6. Check seasonings and serve as a salsa with freshly baked bread.

Savoury Mushroom Bread Pudding: Matthew’s rough recipe

I have always been a fan of traditional bread puddings, coupled with the fact that I was bored with the usual rice or potato-based side dishes. So I explored this recipe.

The ingredients include button mushrooms (you can use any kind of mushrooms, although shitake mushrooms are definitely not recommended), parsley, garlic, shallots, parmesan cheese, in addition to the custard.

Layer up the seasoned mushrooms with bread and the custard and bake in the oven at 300°F so as not to overcook the eggs in the custard.

Green Bean Casserole:

Ingredients:

1 can French cut green beans

1 can Niblets corn 1 cup sour cream

1 cup Mozzarella cheese

1 small onion, diced

1 can cream of celery soup

Topping:

1 row of Ritz crackers, crumbled up

3/4 stick of butter, melted

3/4 cup of slivered almonds

Method:

1. Drain all vegetables well.

2. Mix all other ingredients.

3. Add vegetables without stirring too much.

4. Mix together the topping ingredients. Spread over the top and bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

Mac n Cheese: Rough Recipe

Ingredients:

Pasta Shells

Bread Crumbs

Sauce:

Cooking cream

Mozzarella cheese

Cheddar cheese

Parmesan

Garlic

Onions

Green pepper

Salt & pepper to taste

Worcestershire sauce

Paprika

Method:

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together.

2. Pour the sauce over cooked pasta shells

3. Spread bread crumbs on top and bake for 30 to 45 minutes in an oven at 400°F.

“I don’t have exact measurements,” Arnella says, “and I season to taste. But you put enough sauce so that it’s creamy and doesn’t harden when it sits out.”

Chicken Pot Pie by Mario Machado

Family Size: Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 whole roasted chicken (after roasting, remove all meat; discard bones and skin)

2 tbsp butter

2 onions (diced)

1 peg garlic (finely chopped)

1 cup frozen green peas

1 1/2 lbs of cooked diced Irish potatoes

1 1/2 cups milk 1cup heavy cream

1 tsp Lawry’s Seasoning

1lb store-bought Puff Pastry

1 egg (made into egg wash)

Mushrooms (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cube chicken meat and set aside.

Sauté onions and garlic in the butter until tender. Do not brown

When onions are ready, add all other ingredients (except pastry and egg wash).

Simmer for five minutes. Place all ingredients into a 12-inch Pyrex baking dish. Brush edges with egg wash.

Roll out Puff Pastry into a sheet large enough to cover dish. Seal edges and brush with egg wash.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immediately.