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Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, COLUMN TIME. I've been busy but I have to think of what I can do as soon as finances will allow, to somehow expand my kitchen and help with preparation of food and washing up. I'm not good with anyone underfoot, so need an area that I can stick another sink and some work space to accommodate help. I turned my back porch into a new kitchen and added on another back porch, so I think I'll have to turn the new back porch into a work area and add on another back porch. Soon it'll be a house of back porches!

I've been putting various things in the Saturday vegetable market which have been going well. The souse (pickled pork) has been going well, so has the Buljol, chicken pies and jams and jellies. Also the sweet pies have been doing well.

Souse is made with the ends of the pig i.e.: feet, head, tongue, etc. But I prefer a lean souse so even though I put in some of feet, ears, etc. for those who like them, I concentrate more on lean meat. The head does have a lot of very tender meat so I use that, but I leave out the ears, they are too grisly. Sorry to all you vegetarians out there, including my two daughters!

Souse

Get a young pig's head and feet. Wash and clean well. Boil in salted water until tender. Take out and plunge into cold water until cool. Take out and cut into pieces, skin and cut the tongue into slices lengthways and divide the feet in half. Put the souse into a bowl, make a brine with hot water, lime juice, salt and chopped hot red pepper, cover the souse and let marinate for an hour or two. Chop onion, cucumber, garlic and hot red pepper together, steep in a little brine and serve over the souse.

As I said, I will take a piece of pork leg or shoulder and tongue and treat the same way, that way you don't get all the fatty parts. Some but not all!

This is a typical Saturday morning favourite, along with black pudding, which is a pudding made with the blood of the pig and sweet potatoes, pumpkin and different seasonings. The intestines (after being well washed with salted water) are stuffed loosely and tied at intervals. They are then put into boiling water and cooked until the juice does not run out when pricked. They are then cut in pieces and served with the souse. Any leftovers are sliced and fried next day.

We had a lady who worked on the plantation who made best pudding and souse I have ever eaten and every time my father killed a pig, Evie came in to make the pudding and souse. It started at 4 a.m. and was ready by lunch time. She used to get very annoyed with us, as there is an old superstition that unless everyone is quite quiet and the kitchen is very quiet, the pudding will burst. So of course we would go and shout over the pot to see if it did burst, Evie would get quite cross and quarrel with us and throw us out of the kitchen. Of course if the pudding did burst, it was more likely because it was probably resting on the bottom of the saucepan, but we would get blamed! Evie is still alive today, about 90 by now and too old to do it anymore and the ones who cook it today, don't know how, so cut corners.

Enough of that though! Today I had some friends of Fleur's on holiday from England for lunch. She sent some nice things for Nat and I and I have to send her back some Pepper Jelly and the last of the Guava Jelly I have in stock.

I made it fairly simple, did Flying Fish, coleslaw with apples, nuts etc. and a salad and made bread. Gave them Buljol to start (always have some in the freezer) and Coconut Cream Pie for dessert.

It was a nice day, my sister and brother-in-law came and my mother and my two 'surrogate' grandson's, Jake 4 and Brandon 2. My niece just had number 3, Drew, so we were giving her a break. I have none yet so we share! At the rate mine are going I might never have any, but I hope still.

Bon Appetit
Cath