Caribbean cook searching for flavors of home
Nov. 23—BELDEN — When Kalil Newton-Delacoudray was growing up in the eastern Caribbean, her mother worked, and her grandmother, who lived with the family, did most of the cooking.
But neither one of them taught her to cook.
"I guess you were just supposed to absorb it organically," said Newton-Delacoudray, 49. "My grandmother cooked every single day of my life. I would come home at lunch from school and have a fresh hot meal. I'm not a huge fan of leftovers to this day because I grew up having something fresh every day."
Newton-Delacoudray finished high school when she was 17 and went on to teach elementary school for eight years in St. Kitts, part of the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Leeward Islands.
"I got my green card, and I didn't expect to leave, but I knew if I didn't leave then, I'd never leave," she said.
She moved to the Virgin Islands and met her soon-to-be husband, Theo, when he was home for a visit. The lived in St. Croix for the next 10 years, but left in 2012 because of the economic downturn.
"Theo moved to Tupelo in October 2012 for a job with Toyota, and I joined the following July," she said. The couple share three grown children and one teenager, Joshua, a junior at Tupelo High School.
"When I got here and really started to cook, I would try to get the flavor of my mother's cooking, my grandmother's cooking," Newton-Delacoudray said. "I knew what they used. That memory would take over, and that palate still serves me well. I was searching for the flavor of home."
Newton-Delacoudray cooks just about every day for her family and has taught three Cooking as a First Language classes on Caribbean cooking for the Tupelo community.
"Most traditional foods are considered sides, like macaroni pie, fried plantains, peas and rice," she said. "We eat all types of protein — stewed pork, roast pork, curried mutton, curried chicken, oxtails. The West Indies were largely made up of former slaves. We ate what was leftover. If you ate beef, you didn't eat steak. You got the oxtail. It's peasant food there, but a delicacy here."
Since moving to Mississippi, Newton-Delacoudray has learned to make such Southern delicacies as shrimp and grits, collard greens with smoked turkey, and pan-seared steak.
But it's the food from her home that she enjoys sharing. She's done some catering, and she and Theo would like to open a restaurant here, if they could find the right spot.
"I cook for friends and the public, trying out dishes to see what people like," she said. "I'm trying to introduce Caribbean cooking to the community. Tupelo has been very good to us. The people are open to trying new food. I like exposing their taste buds to something new."
DO YOU KNOW A GOOD COOK? Send your nominations to Ginna Parsons, Cook of the Week, P.O. Box 909, Tupelo, MS 38802. Or you can call (662) 678-1581 or email them to ginna.parsons@journalinc.com.
ROAST PORK SHOULDER
1 (5- to 8-pound) bone-in pork shoulder
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons green seasoning—
Season pork with garlic, salt, pepper and green seasoning. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Bring meat to room temperature. Cover and bake at 325 degrees until the meat is fork tender or the center bone is loose. Allow 35 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature reads about 165 degrees.
— Green seasoning is a blend of fresh thyme, garlic, onion, hot peppers and scallions.
RICE AND PIGEON PEAS
4 cups water
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 scallions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 Scotch bonnet chile pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 can Goya green pigeon peas, drained
1 can coconut milk
3 cups raw rice
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in onion, scallions, garlic, thyme, Scotch bonnet, salt and oil. Add peas and coconut milk. Stir in the rice, cover, and simmer over low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard thyme stems, scallions and Scotch bonnet. Using a fork, fluff the rice and peas. Serve hot.
STEWED SALTFISH
1 pound saltfish or salted pollock—
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
If using saltfish, soak fish overnight. Boil in fresh water. Skin, debone and flake fish. (If using salted pollock, there's no need to skin and debone.)
Heat oil in a skillet. Saute pepper, celery, onion, tomatoes and tomato paste. Add fish with enough water to cover. Simmer until fish is done. Serve with Johnny cakes.
Note: Stewed saltfish is the national dish of St. Kitts and Nevis. Saltfish and Johnny cakes are usually prepared for Sunday breakfast, along with hardboiled eggs and avocado.
JOHNNY CAKES
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup water
Vegetable oil, for frying
Combine flour, salt, baking powder, butter, sugar and water. Knead into a ball. Let rest about 30 minutes. Roll into 20 to 24 small balls. Fry in vegetable oil.
SORREL DRINK
1 pound dried sorrel sepals
1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
10 whole cloves
Piece of dried orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon raw rice
8 cups cold water
3 cups sugar, or to taste
Wash sorrel and put in a large jar. Add ginger, cloves, dried orange peel, cinnamon stick and rice. Pour cold water in and allow to stand for 3 days. Strain and add sugar. This drink is meant to be really sweet, so add more sugar to taste. Chill. Serve cold.
Note: Sorrel is a traditional drink usually served around Christmastime.
POTATO STUFFING
3 pounds russet potatoes
Salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 stalk celery, minced
1/2 medium bell pepper, minced
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 heaping teaspoons parsley
Dash of black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1 cup milk
1/4 cup raisins
Peel potatoes and boil in salted water. Drain and mash.
While potatoes are boiling, heat oil and butter in a skillet. Add onions, celery and bell pepper. Sauté over low heat until tender. Add thyme, tomato sauce, parsley, black pepper and brown sugar. Cook about 5 minutes.
Add onion mixture to mashed potatoes and mix thoroughly. Add milk to achieve desired consistency, and raisins. The mixture should be a little more moist than mashed potatoes. Pour potato mixture into a greased casserole and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top should be golden brown when done.
PUMPKIN FRITTERS
4 ounces fresh pumpkin or pure pumpkin
1 egg, well beaten
3/4 cup milk
Pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of salt
Cooking oil
Boil pumpkin until tender. Mash pumpkin and add egg, milk and cinnamon (if using pure pumpkin, simply combine it with egg, milk and cinnamon). Combine flour, baking powder and salt and add to pumpkin mixture to make a thick batter. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a skillet and fry like pancakes. Add more oil as needed.
