Anansi Goes To Lunch Pdf

[Yamila Comejo]

Myfamily hail from the West Indies or, more precisely, I should say that we are proud Jamaicans. That point of geographic specificity is an important one since, contrary to common belief, it is far from the case that those of us who hail from the Greater and Lesser Antilles are cut from a common cultural stock. We do, of course, share a common colonial history but, for us, the differences between Jamaicans, Barbadians and Trinidadians are as profound as those that separate the French and the English.

Over the years I have come to appreciate, and revel in, just how much of Uncle Bob I have inherited; whether directly, in my early childhood, or indirectly via my father, his son Jeremy. These include key aspects of my personality, my world view, my likes and dislikes, my mannerisms and so much more, which remind me of him every day.

So here goes. This is my first go at recounting a recipe, so I take no responsibility for the outcome and you enter here at your own risk. All I can promise is that this always works really well for me.

Now peel the garlic cloves, crush them with the side of a knife and add them to the pot. Prepare the spring onions by topping and tailing them, peeling of the outer layer and chopping into 2-3cm length. Also crush these with the side of the knife and add them to the pan.

Now you should have an excellent cooking liquor for the rice. Remove the bacon bone, if you are using it, the bunch of thyme (which should now have lost all its leaves) and the whole chilli. Separate this liquor from the beans by passing it through a sieve, reserving both the liquor and the beans.

Return the bean mixture to the pan. Get hold of a potato masher and mash about 1/3 of the beans into a paste. At this stage if there are any large pieces of spring onion left you should make sure that these are also mashed into the bean paste.

Now use a cup to measure the cooking liquor back into the pan. You will need to have twice as many cups of this liquor as you have cups of rice to cook. So, if necessary add a cup or two of water to bring your liquid up to the right volume.

Stir the beans, bean paste and cooking liquor together thoroughly. Now check the liquid for flavour. It should be about as salty as you would usually have the water for cooking rice in. If necessary add extra salt and grind in some black pepper.

Once you are happy with the favour of your liquid, measure in your cups of rice and bring everything gently to the boil. Cover and turn the heat as low as you can get it. Now cook this just as you normally would in the absorption method for rice. This should take 20-25 minutes, the dish is ready when the rice is cooked (just past the al dente phase).

This is the very best accompaniment for any stew or curry. I particularly like to have it with fricasee chicken or curried goat, two Jamaican favourites. Indeed curried goat was the very best thing about school lunches when I was a pickney.

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