This month's Kitchen Trotter globecooking destination is Martinique, a French overseas territory located in the Caribbean. That sounds like the perfect tropical island cuisine to put some colour and sparkle into next week's menu plan to counteract the rather dreary weather we've been having here lately !
The first ingredient I pulled out was a tub of Bè Rouj, a Creole condiment whose name comes from "beurre rouge" or red butter.
You can't go far wrong with chocolate and Chocolat Elot is apparently a bit of an institution in Martinique, where it has existed for a century.
Staying on the theme of sweet treats, a packet of tropical-sounding mango blancmange. I haven't eaten blancmange since the 1970's and it was pink and served with jelly !
Next I discovered the worryingly named Sauce Chien (Dog Sauce) spices, but they are actually a blend of onions, garlic, parsley and chilli. Phew !
Aha, this is what I was expecting as soon as I saw the destination - Colombo paste, for creating the classic pork colombo, I would imagine. It's a dish I've often eaten at the school canteen but I'm sure that version is not very authentic !
The pouch of Bois d'Inde (India Wood) smells of mouldy leaves, but apparently that's normal !
There should also be a bag of rum sweets but they were missing so I've emailed them and they'll be sending them on. This month's bonus gadget was a little device that you press into a citrus fruit so that you can spray the juice directly from the fruit - sounds convenient and good fun too !
The first recipe is one that I've often heard of and seen ready made in the supermarkets - Accras de Cabillaud, spicy cod fritters.
Rather than pork colombo, there is a recipe for sweet potato colombo.
Poulet roussi creole is a marinated chicken dish.
And the dessert is for blancmange crumble with Elot chocolate.
Keep an eye on the blog over the coming weeks to see how I get on with these recipes and in the meantime, you might like to check out my country-by-country globecooking index.
A lot of exotic ingredients. I've never heard of pork Colombo, be rouj or dog paste. Looking forward to seeing what you cook with them.
ReplyDeleteLOL Dog paste really doesn't sound appetising - it sounds like something you'd scrape off your shoe !
Delete