Good evening Raffies!
Today it is very windy in the Netherlands and I have felt like my car and I were about to fly away on my way to work.
The time has come to leave the letter “A” behind and start with the countries starting with the letter “B”. Tonight was Bahamas opened the dances with the renowned crack conch and peas and rice. This dish is incredibly simple to make and uses ingredients that most of us already happen to have at home, apart from the crayfish. The whole is battered crayfish accompanied by rice, peas, tomatoes and onions. I really liked this dish, especially because I started thinking about the fact that there is quite a lot of people who happen to eat this on a regular basis and here I am with my husband making a big event out of a normal meal.
Now my husband is left with cleaning up the dishes while I am at my computer writing to you. I have the feeling that through this challenge I am getting to know the countries by perceiving a glimpse of the rich cultures and traditions that each and every single country has to offer. Isn’t this fascinating? I really hope that someday I will be lucky enough to be able to travel all these wonderful countries and get to know all the incredible people and listen to the stories they have to tell.
If you want to try and make this dish yourselves, here is a nice recipe that can help you out:
Ingredients:
300 g conch or crayfish (I used crayfish for I could not get the conch)
2-4 cups water
300 g flour
1tsp black pepper
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp fresh thyme
1 egg
1 cup peas
2 cups rice
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tomato, thinly chopped
2 slices bacon or salted pork, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme
Oil for frying
Begin by making the batter for your fish. Mix the flour, egg, pepper, thyme and salt into a batter. Add water until you have a sticky paste. Be careful not to make it too watery.
Cut your conch or crayfish into pieces and mix in the batter so that the pieces are fully covered with the batter.
Deep fry in oil until golden brown and set aside.
Fry the bacon or salted pork in a pan until crunchy. Add the onion, pepper, tomato, peas and tomato paste. Mix well and season with thyme and salt and pepper.
Add 3 cups of water, mix well and bring to a boil. Add the rice and stir again. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for about 20-30 minutes.
Serve the rice with the conch.
For now, I wish you a great evening and I’ll see you again tomorrow with a new dish!
Take care!
Love,
Raffi
